Meditation Music or silence?

A lot of people use meditation music for sleeping to. There is quite a lot of meditation music that can be very conducive to sleeping. The relaxing sounds allow you to float off into a dreamlike state and provide a fantasy type soundtrack for going to sleep to. I myself like very much going to sleep to the sound of zen meditation music, the sound of the Japanese bamboo flutes or the Shakuhachi.

There are other types of meditation music however that make the whole process of meditation a little easier for the beginner. There are a lot of meditations that have a voice over giving narrated instructions on how to do the meditation. This is commonly referred to as a guided meditation. I find that this can really help, especially if you are not that used to meditation. It is rather like being led on a fantasy journey or even like going to the cinema, you let the beautiful music wash over you and let your mind imagine the scene that the narrator is portraying. They are doing all of the hard work for you, you don’t have to do anything.

Now some might argue that this is the whole point of meditation that you don’t have to do anything at all, you simply need to get yourself into that space between the ticking and tocking of the clock…  to bring yourself into the moment with no distractions. A guided meditation can definitely help in this respect.

There are those however who argue that any sort of music is a complete distraction when it comes to meditation and that you should be ‘concentrating’ on not concentrating, ‘trying’ to not try, or simply emptying your mind of thoughts and allowing any thoughts or distractions that do arise to simply float on by and be released.

What ever your point of view you should just remember what you are trying to achieve with the meditation and choose your own form of getting this. If you want to meditate to clear out stress and to relax then a guided meditation or a meditation with music will probably be conducive to this but if you are seeking spiritual advancement and are used to meditation then maybe a silent meditation technique is for you. For those really adept at meditation they will be able to meditate in any condition with meditation music or background noise, they will be able to get into that sacred meditative state without being distracted by their surroundings.