The Wayfarer's Blog

Probably the greatest challenge in developing a strong ability to meditate is the obstruction to inner silence that comes about from the internal verbal dialogue, as Carlos Castaneda called it. When our minds are working throughout the day, we talk to ourselves through our thoughts. When we’re working and actively thinking, this verbal thinking is very useful. It helps us organize our thoughts, decisions, and strategies for doing things. When we attempt to achieve inner silence for meditation, however, it becomes the chief obstruction to achieving a peaceful, quiet mind.

When trying to shut down this internal chatter, it does not help to be heavy handed in trying to shut down the mind. By actively forcing silence, more internal struggle is used and one’s ability to be relaxed in silence is greatly reduced. Additionally, the mind starts fighting with itself and that actually starts up a more fragmented, but still ever-present internal dialogue. It would go something like this: “Ok, be quiet….. what if… no no no… be quiet… I should sit differently.. no be quiet… ok change position, but be quiet… alright… should be eyes be closed? No!, be quiet…. etc..” Actively forcing the mind to be quiet doesn’t really work, and it creates more tension.

What I have found in my own efforts to achieve silence in meditation is to use music or sound to help relax the mind. When one tries to achieve “silence” in meditation, this does not mean audible silence, it means inner silence. In other words, the main aspect of meditation is to achieve quiet in one’s own mind. By using music or sound, I am able to have my mind zone out on the sound, without really thinking or analyzing it. It is best to use music that does not strike interest, because this will just make the mind more active in listening, appreciating, and analyzing the music. It is best to use nature sounds, ambient music, or something that soothes the mind and helps it to rest as one achieves silence of the mind.

Wayfarer Meditations

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I created the meditations in the Wayfarer Meditations album as ambient background material for my own meditations. The meditations also use binaural beating and specific frequency and harmonic materials to help stimulate the chakras, the energy centers within the body. The tones that stimulate the chakras are set within nature sounds that help the mind relax without stimulating the mind to attention. Even when I am not interesting in focusing on chakras during my meditations, I find the ambient setting of the sound to be helpful in quieting my mind. Additionally, the tones within the sound also help to stimulate chakra energy even when one is not focusing on the chakras. In this way, the typical color meditation do not need to be conducted to achieve some results, although the combination of the sound with color meditation is optimal for chakra stimulation.

If you are beginning meditation practices, the best way to start is to not focus on any specific goals int eh meditation. The first few times you meditate, you should really just focus on passively quieting your mind. After you become more successful in achieving silence, the meditation will eventually take its own course in revealing knowledge and ideas to you. Once silence becomes a natural ability for you in meditation, you can begin to train yourself to passively draw up imagery or quiet thoughts that focus on certain purposes in your meditations, such as healing, chakra stimulation, or past life regression to name a few common purposes of meditation.