Challenges on the Path

05. Satsang Cafe - General Discussions on AYP
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Hello Yogani Sir,

Warm greetings for your enlightened efforts.

Most of life’s pivotal decisions come after careful study and thorough analysis of the situation. But what if one of these crucial life decisions depends on the routine of daily yogic practice!

The problem, specifically, lies in the inability to make a decision, and in the troubling mental confusion resulting from this inability. That is the reason I am writing to you.

The neighborhood where I live is so crowded that not a single minute of silence can pass without being disturbed by the loud noise of motorcycles and the shouting of people, since my room’s window opens directly onto the street. There is absolutely no quiet, except during the hours after midnight.

Through the course of my yoga practice, my nature has become sensitive to sounds. I have begun sinking deeply into meditation, and in the midst of this depth a motorcycle passes by, causing my whole body to shiver and my heart to jolt suddenly. This leads to anger, disturbance, and a withdrawal from inner silence. Because of this constant and unbearable noise, I have begun preparing myself and seriously considering changing my place of residence.

In a distant rural village overlooking the coast, we have an old house, and I have been given the opportunity to go and live there. Certainly, I would gain the peace I need for meditation, but this would mean giving up my current home and the environment I have lived in for nearly thirty years. There are also risks involved in such a move.

Assuming that I do not wish to relocate to the rural house, is it possible, with time and continued meditation, to reach a state of concentration where the sounds of motorcycles no longer draw my attention or interrupt my meditation?

I seek your guidance and humbly request your support. With sincere gratitude to you and to all the members of your contributing team.

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Hi Charbel,

I saw that your question was addressed to Yogani, but I don’t think he will mind others chiming in.

If the situation you are in is very disturbing, then it can be best to try to find a more peaceful location to meditate in. This could mean moving house to a new location that is quieter, if that would work practically for you. It could also mean simply going to your local temple, or church, or mosque to practice meditation, instead of practicing at home. Or it could mean going to a local forest to meditate. Meditation can be done anywhere, so we can put ourselves in a conducive environment.

It is true that eventually meditation brings us to a state of consciousness where we are not disturbed by anything. However, that it an advanced stage of the path, and not something that will happen right away. Until equanimity is established in the mind, it is best to seek out quiet places to practice.

In your case, it does sound as if you are becoming traumatised by the sound of the traffic outside. If this is happening, then your meditation practice may not be helping you and may be making things worse. Trauma builds up in the body and can take time to become resolved and cleared out. If you are sitting to meditate and simply feeling resistance to the noises and anger arising, then this could well be harmful for you.

So, if you can, do try to find a quiet place to meditate.

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Hi Charbel,

I’m also not Yogani, but there was a period of time where I was living in a somewhat noisy place and at some point I realized that modern earplug technology is pretty good. I got those that look like earbuds and they worked surprisingly well (you can check product descriptions on amazon on how well they block sound and pick the best). If that doesn’t help, there’s also those professional construction worker sound blockers which will probably let absolutely nothing through :joy:

It’s not ideal, but it did certainly improve my meditations.

All the best with your situation!

:folded_hands:

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Hi Charbel,

Sorry for the delay here, and thank you Christi and Selfpaste for your insights on this situation.

First, it should be said that mental noise and noise in the environment should be regarded the same during the procedure of meditation. That is, when we notice our attention is drawn to a stream of thoughts, physical sensation, or noise, we just easily come back to the mantra wherever we left off. That can be a clear pronunciation, or very faint and fuzzy, barely perceptible. Just wherever we left off. No need to judge sensations, thoughts or noise as good or bad. Something is always going to pull us out. And we just go back and favor the mantra. That is meditation.

We obviously prefer a quiet place to meditate. But it can be done anywhere, and no need to judge what may be going on externally. The procedure of meditation works in any circumstances, even on public transportation or in noisy waiting rooms. If we get an itch during meditation, we can scratch. If we cough, we cough. And if a motorcycle roars by, we can let it. In every case where we notice an interruption, we then just ease back to the mantra.

On the other hand, there are things we can do for a preferred more quiet environment. We can travel (or move) to a more quiet environment, as long as we are not imposing travel requirements for twice daily sittings that will lead to sessions being skipped. Best to meditate where we are living, so the “commute” to the meditation seat is short.

High quality ear plugs or a noise blocking headset may be a solution in your case, as Selfpaste suggests. As long as we do not become overly dependent and need it even when there is little external noise.

Moving to a quiet house by the sea sounds very nice. It would solve the noise issue, but would likely come with other complications. You surely know the pros and cons of making such a move. Likewise with moving out of your current house to a quieter part of the city. Such moves should not be necessary for meditation only, as you can address the noise where you are living in both honoring the procedure of meditation without judging external stimuli, and adding noise blocking earplugs or headset.

It might be nice to take a break (or retreat) for a week or two at the house by the sea or other quiet location, for more reasons than having a quiet place to meditate for a while, without making a permanent move, unless you have other reasons for doing so. With 30 years in your present residence, it looks like you should first look to letting the noise be what it is and take practical measures to block (or minimize) the noise during your meditations. Getting away from the hustle and bustle of the city once in a while would be nice. We all have done that. A stay at the house by the sea or an AYP retreat could be just the thing.

Wishing you all the best on your path!

The guru is in you.

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Who among us does not love meditating in a forest surrounded by nature, or in a quiet home near a fireplace? I will consider all possible solutions.

Wishing you goodness and success, Sir Tristan.

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Thank you so much, Adriana, for these solutions. I think I’ll try the foam soundproof panels before I hire construction workers.:joy::victory_hand:

I wish you the best and most beautiful times :folded_hands:t2:

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Just wanted to highlight for myself and others that this is an interesting way of looking at things I had not explicitly thought of in many years of reading AYP (though perhaps I hit on it to a degree unknowingly).

It seems as though, at the end of the day, all physical sensations, including external sounds, etc. are really little different from thoughts in the mind because they are all, in the final analysis, occurring within our own minds. Of course, as Yogani says, this does not mean we should not take small practical steps to eliminate external sources of distraction where possible, such as scratching an itch, but it’s interesting to realize that we can treat both “external” and “internal” thoughts/sensations the same way as far as meditation is concerned.

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@Charbel I’m not sure how well the foam soundproof panels work, but I have earplugs that have removable silicon caps such as these ones (though mine were cheaper). You then are supposed to wash the caps regularly.

And honestly, I was pretty happy with them. They are reasonably comfortable and they did block the noise that they needed to.

I also do agree with the others here that for occasional noise, just treating it like any other mental object works well. However, when it really is a consistent issue with the place your meditating at I feel like blocking does make it easier.

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I would like to express my sincere gratitude for your dedicated efforts, Guru Yogani, and for the time you spend illuminating our path. :bouquet:

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Grateful for your very helpful observations; there is wisdom here that deserves attention.

With all love and appreciation.

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I find there is a lot of truth in this short video on YouTube:

The Secret the Archons Fear Most — Ancient Gnostic Method to Free the Soul

The Gnostic Eye

33.3K subscribers

There is a free downloadable book linked in the video, which is available here:

It all seems very Buddhist to me!

I’m not sure if this is the kind of answer you were looking for … but I hope you find it useful …

Namaste

Zana