1.Does music for meditation help during meditation?
2.Mind becomes silent as if I am I am in trance. is it the ultimate result?
—drpvprabhakar Rao, barbados
Dear drpvprabhakar,
It is wonderful that you are exploring meditation. It is a practice that can change every aspect of your life for the better.
I will address your second question first. A silent mind is definitely a goal of meditation. One definition of meditation is when the body and mind are still and the heart is open. Mental restlessness in meditation is our main obstacle once we have learned how to relax the body while keeping very alert.
Keeping very alert is an important key! Meditation is not sleep. Meditation is not a hypnotic trance. Meditation is not a passive state; it means changing your level of energy and consciousness to a higher state. In deep states of meditation we are very aware and our consciousness is uplifted into profound peace, calmness, joy, stillness or some other aspect of the Divine. I am not sure if by ‘trance’ you are experiencing this or whether it is more like a vague ‘blanking out’ which would not be true meditation. We know when we have accessed higher states of consciousness as the experience is expansive, very positive and affirming of our soul nature.
In our meditation practice we want to go ever deeper. We do not experience all of the fruits of meditation in the beginning. Ideally it is a lifelong practice. So whatever gifts we may receive in meditation we must remember that there is always more.
Now for your first question. Music that is uplifting spiritually can indeed help us prepare to dive into these higher states of consciousness. We need to choose music carefully as it a powerful influence on our consciousness for the better or worse. Avoid music that takes you into a passive or agitated state. As you strengthen your meditation practice it is good to spend some of your meditation time focusing inwardly without any music as this will help you go deeper.
If you would like to learn more about meditation I encourage you to go to our website where there is a mini-course in meditation to get you started and lots of resources to go deeper.
https://www.ananda.org/meditation/meditation-mini-course/
Many blessings,
Nayaswami Mukti
