How To Make Peace With Noise

One of the common complaints we surface about our poor ability to meditate is that we get distracted by our surrounding noise. Meditation is supposed to be done in silence, is it not? Since most of us live in close proximity with our neighbors or even our loved ones, whatever noises that others make can well distract us; even whilst we are trying our level best to be in touch with our breath.

Now, here is a story for you to ponder over on how you can make peace with each noisy moment….

(From My Personal Art Journal: Make Peace With Each Moment)

The Story Of Making Peace With Each Noisy Moment

The party was going on. It was already 2 am. The sound of merry making from the Thai villagers was impossible to ignore. A young monk sitting in his kuti (hut) was not feeling happy.

He was unable to meditate.

Nor get to sleep.

His waking time was usually at 3 am. How was he possibly going to survive on one hour’s sleep if at all, he wondered.

The young monk decided to have a chat with his peers. His peers were equally vexed by the same issue. Would it be possible to ask the villagers to end their partying earlier? They debated for a while and agreed that no villager was going to listen to their request. After all, they were a group of foreigners, who had each separately come from afar to learn from a great Thai meditation teacher. Their Caucasian features would have given them away.

So the group of monks – including the young monk – decided that they would ask their teacher. They concluded that only their great teacher could command enough respect by the local villagers. The villagers would probably accede to his request.

So the young monk approached his teacher. He asked, “Ajahn Chah, I have been disturbed by the noise that the villagers are making in the night. I cannot sleep.”

He continued somewhat hopefully, “Can I get your help in telling them to stop their partying sometime around midnight?”

Ajahn Chah turned to the young monk.

He replied, “It is not that the noise is disturbing you.”

He then went on, “You are disturbing the noise.”

Create Wealth With Meditation

The above is a true story. The young monk is Ajahn Brahm. He related this story when he gave a public talk on How to Create and Manage Wealth at an event organized by the Buddhist Fellowship yesterday on May 26. The story took place some 20 or 30 years ago in a small Thai village far away from the city.

Ajahn Brahmavamso Mahathera (known to most as Ajahn Brahm) was born Peter Betts in London, United Kingdom on 7 August 1951. He is currently the Abbot of Bodhinyana Monastery, in Serpentine, Western Australia and the Spiritual Patron of the Buddhist Fellowship in Singapore.

One of the tips Ajahn Brahm shared about Creating Wealth the Buddhist Way is to meditate. With meditation, one is able to reach into one’s inner resources for inspired ideas to creating abundance.

Hold on a minute? Does this mean that Buddhists are also allowed to become wealthy? Well, it appears so from Ajahn’s explanation. And mind you, Ajahn Brahm knows the sutras from inside out.

I am happy to find that our views are very much in congruence. There is nothing technically “wrong” with making money. “Suffering” only comes when we lose our sense of balance and becomes attached to our material possessions or the lack of them!!

Do You Meditate?

What challenges do you face while meditating? What insights can you gather from the story? How can you deal with the surrounding noise in your environment even whilst you intend to dive deep into meditation?

Distracted not by noise but by a nearby lizard that has you squirming in your meditation cushion? Read my other story on Make Peace With Time.

Happy Vesak Day

May 28 is Vesak Day. Vesak is the major Buddhist festival of the year as it celebrates the birth, enlightenment and death of the Buddha in one day. This celebration is called Vesak being the name of the month in the Indian calendar.

I would like to take the opportunity to express my thanks to all my Meditation teachers for their guiding light. I have learned from a few disciplines such as Goenka to Vipassana and to the more contemporary Jeddah Mali. By being a student of experiential learning, I have gained much in awareness.

May all beings – including my readers – be well and happy. And not forgetting, Abundance Always!!

Have a magnificent Vesak weekend ahead!

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