Zazen and earworms

[Kaisho]

Geez I can't tell you how often I have music in my brain. I often drive my coworkers crazy with it. Luckily lately I have been listening to jpop/jrock and I have no idea how to speak the language. It may save me from my coworkers.

Gassho
Sat2day

Sent from my LGLS675 using Tapatalk

[Jundo]

I would recommend simply to hear the earworm, and all other seeming distractions of life, with mirrormind. Hearingless hearing.

More here ...

http://www.treeleaf.org/forums/showthread.php?14886-Sit-a-Long-with-Jundo-Zazen-for-Beginners-%2810%29

Gassho, J

SatToday

[Hoko]

Hello,

For what it's worth I contend with this earworm issue also. I think we all do at some point or another.
I mean if 98% of the population has it then is it really pathology?
(Frankly I'm more surprised at the 2% of the population that doesn't report getting songs stuck in their head!)

Anyway, one meditation session long ago I noticed my stomach making a lot of noises. I got annoyed.
Here I was hoping for peace and serenity and there's a damn pod of whales singing in the background. How dare they?

Then I realized the only problem with the stomach noises was my problem with the stomach noises!
After all, stomachs make noises! Duh.

Extrapolating this insight further, I realized that stomachs make noises and brains make thoughts.
You can apply this to everything that annoys you during zazen.
Irritating thoughts, irritating bowel sounds, the kids wrestling and screaming downstairs, that rattling refrigerator and yes, that song you can't stop hearing over and over.

To put it succinctly, the moment you find your zazen "isn't right" (by your definition) is the moment you just made your zazen "wrong".
I refer you to Jundo's excellent advice above.

The only other thing I could offer is something I read once online (I can't remember where).
Some random person (bless them) suggested trying to listen to the ambient noises instead of the earworm.
When I do this it creates an awareness of the "sounds" of the music in my head space and the "sounds" of the surrounding area.
Now there's a puzzle! Which is the "real" sound?
The temporal lobe of your brain interprets the vibrations in the air as "sound" but it also registers the earworm as "sound".
Like Dongshan said: is the sound going to the ear or does the ear go to the sound?

Anyway, I'm not saying you should do this; I am not a Zen teacher!
This is purely my anecdotal experience that I am reporting.
But I find that if I am just way too scattered and I'm hanging on to the merry go round with 2 fingers and shikantaza is a total disaster that I can return to the breath and start over from there.
Similarly, if I'm plagued with an earworm and I have tried all of the techniques suggested above and I can't stop "poking at it" then I can look it squarely in the "face" and direct my awareness at it.
"Ok, Sound. Let's be aware of SOUND and see where that takes me."
Then I find it's a little easier to fold the earworm into "everything at once and nothing in particular".

If this helps anyone then great.
If I'm way out of bounds then don't listen to me, I am a noodle brain and I apologize profusely.

Gassho,
Hoko
#SatToday (no earworms to report)

[Jishin]

I mean if 98% of the population has it then is it really pathology?
(Frankly I'm more surprised at the 2% of the population that doesn't report getting songs stuck in their head!)

98% of the population has tooth decay and toothaches. Is it really pathology?

Only if the person or loved ones say it is.

Read the articles.

Gasho, Jishin, _/st\_

[Hoko]

98% of the population has tooth decay and toothaches. Is it really pathology?

Only if the person or loved ones say it is.

Read the articles.

Gasho, Jishin, _/st\_

There's a 98% chance I was being rhetorical with a 2% margin of sarcasm that may or may not be statistically significant but I try only to be a wise ass for the benefit or others. _/\_

Also, while untreated earworms aren't capable of killing you, believe it or not tooth decay actually is! Read the article.

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2017/02/01/tooth-infection-leads-to-26-year-old-california-dads-death.html

Even though the headline sounds like news from 1817 it's actually dated Feb 1st 2017. So if it's been more than 6 months since you've seen your dentist, give 'em a call.

In any case, while the epidemiology of earworms, tooth decay and arrow wounds are incredibly fascinating (looking at you, Malunkyaputta...) hopefully our dear Sangha will be able to EXTRACT a solution to the earworm problem. (High five for simultaneously making a dental/Buddhist reference?)

Gassho,
Hōkō
#SatToday

[Jishin]

Gassho, Jishin, ST

[Jakuden]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OofMJ6cwzLM

This is what my daughter immediately thought of when I mentioned earworms... She is well-trained in Star Trek lore :-D

Gassho,
Jakuden
SatToday

[Shoki]

Kirk,
I don't usually get earworms during zazen but the other morning I got up at my usual 6:00 am to do my sitting. After I got up the first thing that popped into my head was Robert Johnson singing "Come On in My Kitchen." Then a few hours later I logged on to Tree Leaf and read your post. That's pretty weird.

Sat Today
Gassho
James

I like music. I listen to music a lot, and I play music as well (at least I try).

Every now and then, I hear a tune that becomes an earworm; that's when you have a melody that your mind keeps playing over and over, that you can't escape. You may experience this when you hear a song on TV just before you go to work; or when you've been listening to the same song a lot. I find that I get earworms often when I'm trying to play new songs on my guitar. (Robert Johnson, lately.)

When I sit zazen, those earworms are present. They arise and fade away. They are probably more pervasive than thoughts, because they repeat themselves. This is probably the hardest thing I've found to deal with in zazen, because they seem to have a life of their own: unlike thoughts, which are generally narratives about things we do, want to do, or have done, earworms seem to have a life of their own. They go nowhere, they just play.

Anyone else get earworms? How do you deal with them when sitting?

Gassho,

Kirk

[Ryumon]

Ha! Certainly a great song to get stuck. In your head.

Gassho,

Kirk


I know nothing.

[Nengyo]

98% of the population has tooth decay and toothaches. Is it really pathology?

Only if the person or loved ones say it is.

Read the articles.

Gasho, Jishin, _/st\_

My favorite part of our pych modules was watching people squirm around and shyly ask if XYZ was normal, only to be answered with almost your exact answer every time.

On that note I like my earworms. I've been humming a duran duran song for days after hearing it on the radio for the first time in years.

--Nengyo _/\_

Sat today

[Kyonin]

This is what my daughter immediately thought of when I mentioned earworms... She is well-trained in Star Trek lore :-D

I salute and celebrate your daughter and your job as a Trekkie Mom.



Gassho,

Kyonin
#SatToday

[Kyonin]

Hi guys,

Today my zazen was to the rhythm of Journey's Don't Stop Believing. It went away by the middle of the session.

Gassho,

Kyonin
#SatToday

[Mp]

Hi guys,

Today my zazen was to the rhythm of Journey's Don't Stop Believing. It went away by the middle of the session.

Gassho,

Kyonin
#SatToday

Wow, we are connected in some weird ways ... I too had this song, well the time of my life when this song was a big hit pop into my head during zazen. I heard it while shopping and then the time when I was a kid came up in my zazen ... don't tell anyone, but I think it made me crack a little smile. =)

Gassho
Shingen

s@today

[Hoko]

[Jakuden]

Wow, we are connected in some weird ways ... I too had this song, well the time of my life when this song was a big hit pop into my head during zazen. I heard it while shopping and then the time when I was a kid came up in my zazen ... don't tell anyone, but I think it made me crack a little smile. =)

Gassho
Shingen

s@today

Ooh yes I heard this yesterday and have been singing it too!! Nothing like a lil' Journey to bring ya back a couple of decades.

As an aside... took daughter to a Journey concert last year... the new singer sounds more like Steve Perry than Steve Perry does. Go figure

Gassho,
Jakuden
SatToday