I've tried to meditate, I really have but in my house I can't find any silence. Okay so I'm at work sometimes during the day ... sometimes at night. I travel a lot on business and even in an hotel room I can't find silence. Maybe I should go on a road trip to the trail along the Hoh River, in the rain forest of Olympic National Park, only 40 miles from Seattle, it’s what one scientist has deemed the quietest place in the contiguous United States.
You're not kidding! Today, I was trying to take an exam and the instructor kept talking and talking, omg! Lol. I had begun (it was online & in the computer lab) and somehow there were distractions that kept coming up! I found myself wishing for a quieter test-taking atmosphere.
Try meditating with white noise. it's not silence but it blocks out distracting noises. It's like if silence was loud... if that makes any sense. If you got the bread there are always noise cancelling headphones
I feel your mind is just playing tricks with you. Why not meditate on the noise around you. Listen as deeply as possible. Let that be your meditation. Then you can be anywhere and meditate. You could be walking out in the streets and you will be more alert and attentive to the noise around you. Perhaps you'll even learn to enjoy the noise. Your mind telling you that it needs to be silent around you in order to meditate, is a lie.
My biggest beef is when one goes into shops and shopping centres. In our local one here in Colwyn Bay one goes into the centre and right away one is hit by crap MUSAK. Then you go into the various shops and supermarkets and what do you get? Their own music playing their own choice of shite MUSAK. I hate it and I get out of shops just as quick as I can who impose this rubbish so called music on me!. Ggggrrrrrr!
Recently I was sitting outdoors and a couple near me were meditating with gentle meditation music.. Never would have thought that would work for me but I really enjoyed it and it helped keep my mind clear.
I can vouch for saying that the Olympic National Forest is indeed silent. And enchanting. I just support going there regardless. But if a trek is a little out of reach, a 3AM walk also brings about a peaceful silence.
There's a place in County Down in Northern Ireland called 'Silent Valley', it has a resevoir and a huge dam - can be very quiet there !!!
Turn everything off in your house, go in your room, close the door if you need too, and get Silent...best healer out there for the brain. Silent meditations are just fine, one doesn't need mantras but can go there if they wish....I've done all types of meditations, silent is best in my life...clears everything out.
If a person really wants to, they will find a silent spot. I've even gone to a walking meditation group yrs ago but I didn't enjoy it that much....My life is quiet, live alone and no more work....
My teacher used to quote his teacher's teacher, to the effect that someone with a mature practice could successfully sit zazen on the busiest streetcorner in Kyoto. True silence doesn't exist; if you were to sit in a forest after a snowfall, you'd still hear your breathing, your heartbeat. We practice in the saha world, and the saha world is noisy. Part of meditation is learning to choose what to focus our mind upon, instead of allowing it be distracted by every shiny glittery thing that crosses it's consciousness. Hard to do, but easier with consistent practice...which I guess is why they call it practice.
If thine ears offend thee, buy noise canceling headphones. Three hundred dollars is about as expensive as they get. You can also buy a stereo system, that will cancel out the noise, but I don't know much about the expensive stuff. These days, you can get active noise canceling in a lot of cars as well. I recommend Environment's Pacific and Atlantic album for synthetic noise that blends right into the background.
