Yow! Get that noise out of my head!

Lstening to Anoushka Shankar's, ( the daughter of the Sitar master Ravi Shankar), Homage to Yehudy Menuhin, ( a close friend of Ravi Shankar and used to play with him), presented in Konzerthaus, Berlin. Indian classical music especially played with the sitar is most soothing and meditative for the spirit. Anoushka Shankar has always been one of my favorite musicians who has carried the classical Indian instrument into the future of musical entertainment. The melodic sound of the Sitar can be both soothing and at the same time melancholic like the feeling of time slipping away into the past and can never be regained.  Hence the tunes were to be enjoyed to the fullest in the moment without any thought or interruptions; it is a continuous unbroken flow of sound and vibrations that stimulates your inner being with harmony.

The classical Indian music often begins is a very slow rhythm and gradually gathers momentum building up to a rapid and glorious crescendo as the Sitar accompanied by the Veenar and Tabla each complementing the other like in a long conversation. Nothing like a harmonious tune to pick up your spirits even when the energy is low and there is the need to re-energize and revitalize. Sounds in the form of vibrations is an important ingredient to meditation, to the alignment of the energy frequencies Aldous Huxley wrote, "After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressable is music." Some music are more potent and affects the frequencies of the human body that allows for a smooth flow of energy distribution throughout the entire physical, psychological as well as the spiritual system. Even the loud and funky music has the same effects relatively for the better or for the worse depending upon the individual's health and personality or what kind pf drug he was under the influence of. Scientists in the related field have made discoveries of how sound affects our human system inside out, like how every cell reacts to certain resonance while on some other cases how the neurons becomes more settled to certain tones of music.

Meditators often makes use of sound in the form of repetitious chanting or simply repeating a sound like most famously sound of Om as used by the Hindus. For those who have been doing long term of meditation throughout their lives would agree that the sound or sounds that they employ can transport their consciousness to a much higher level of  awakening or at the very least their physical sense awareness. When combined with mindfulness breathing exercises, the energy flow carried by the vibrational sound can be felt flowing up and down the spinal column while at the same time releasing all blocked points like the shoulders would drop automatically or the neck would lock into position and so forth. Bells used in most Buddhist temples to start off a sitting session in the Zendo helps to set this vibratory resonance into motion for the alignment of those sitting, it sort of gathers together all the seventy eighty odd peoples' consciousness into one focal vibratory sound, just like a starter's gun sitting off the runners.

Needless to say, one needs to avoid as much as possible any form of noise that disrupts and even damage the senses in one way or another. Factory workers and laborers handling heavy drilling tools or chainsaws for example, not only suffers their eardrums but more so in their inner organs. One of the reasons why the wearing of proper safety equipment when performing any work involving loud noises is crucial.  The detrimental effect of 'bad noise', may not be immediately notice, however over a long repetitive exposure the effect will creep up on one when age and physical decadence starts to set in. The sure way of compensating the bombardments of obnoxious loud noises from a work related environment for a laborer is to arrive home and after a good meal falls off to deep. In deep sleep much of the repair happens in deep sleep the body revives itself to some degree. Meditation is a more sure way and has a more long term effect in healing the body and the senses resulting from work related exposure. Just as any drug has a short term effect in relieving any pain or pressure, meditation has prolong healing effect and only improves with time. 
#anoushkashankar,#aldoushuxley,#meditation