Disturbance in meditation

[rara]

As I have managed to break down this barrier that I once had: differentiating meditation from the rest of what I do in life, I have finally managed to reap the benefits of bringing mindfulness into everything that I do (well, as much as I can...when I notice mind wandering! It happens a lot btw...as Ozzy Osbourne sang "I'm just a dreamer...." lol)

I used to feel that meditation was a break from the real world, which now I realise to be 100% WRONG!

So now, if on a bus, why not meditate? If walking to the shop why not meditate? - you see where I'm going with this...

Now the reason why it took me so long to get to this stage is because naturally, I take everything literally. It's just the way I happened to turn out. however, my training is helping me to understand how everything around me is always changing, and that there's always two sides to the coin etc...so therefore, thankfully, I am making some self-improvement here.

However, for the first two and a half years of my practice, I always felt that because I have been trained in a hall or temple with "ideal" settings - no distractions, I always felt that if I wasn't in complete quiet, I couldn't meditate! This would leave me annoyed some nights when there were unexpected disruptions down my street or even in my home. I'd throw the toys out the pram because I couldn't have my "me time".

A big danger, this mentality is.

So now, I invite the work of my suburban nature to be present whenever I mediate. The fact that I can hear footsteps upstairs, or cars going by is just what I would experience in every day life - yes if I still need to concentrate, I need to practice ignoring such distractions

So what are your thoughts...are distractions good in the long run for practitioners? Do you feel you are making progress if you can focus on the breath for 30-60 minute while your neighbour's dog barks and barks?

I'd love to hear your opinions

[Cheesus]

I don't think you need to proactively invite distraction in. It is fair to close the window before you meditate, try to wind down, and nicely ask those in the household if they could kindly refrain from blasting death metal.

When distractions do arise, though, I find in my meditation practice that I just extend a quiet curiosity and receptiveness to them. I don't think 'here is an opportunity for me to learn to focus on the breath under the cosh of various external stimuli'. To me that seems like you are still pushing away. Though you are allowing them in a sense, you are also just using them to try to deepen your ability to ultimately ignore them.

I'm not as experienced a meditator as some on this forum, but I have been dwelling on it off and on for years. For me, mindfulness is not about deepening the concentration of the breath, it is about being open to experience. The way I understand it, and the way I am taught, is that we should be receptive to all experience. When a car alarm was going off outside of Buddhist Centre during group practice, the instructor said 'become aware of your attachment to any external sounds, and on your outwards breath, let them go'. He wasn't asking us to ignore it or become unaware of it, rather he was asking us to let go of our attachment to it as a distraction, as a hindrance to our practice. If my mind then began flitting between my breath and sound, but I watched this happening and knew it to be happening, then, to me, that is the essence of mindfulness. I have accepted the sound of the alarm into awareness, and thus it has become simply a part of my experience - no different from the breath.

I think your question brings up an interesting conflict in mindfulness that is rarely, at least in my experience, expounded: concentration vs. floating awareness. I find floating awareness to connect more meaningfully with the precepts of mindfulness: that we should explore our experience and be open to that which is happening.

[JonW]

"I think your question brings up an interesting conflict in mindfulness that is rarely, at least in my experience, expounded: concentration vs. floating awareness."
Isn't that what Kabat-Zinn refers to as "choiceless awareness"?
I'm going to try to meditate to music more. Maybe we should knock together an Everyday Mindfulness playlist?
I love the first Ramones album. People think of The Ramones as a dumb band but, for my money, you have to be really smart to make music that dumb.
For meditation purposes, I'd more likely choose something like Gorecki's 3rd Symphony or Eno's Music For Airports.
I'm getting drunk in a Detroit bar so my mind isn't as focussed as it might be.

[Cheesus]

Isn't that what Kabat-Zinn refers to as "choiceless awareness"?

I'm not too sure. I always just figured it was why we talked about the breath as being an anchor. So, for instance, i'll focus on the breath until something else pops into my awareness, then i'll check that out for a while, then i'll fall back to the breath.

[piedwagtail91]

i just see 'distractions' or noises as part of 'the moment' and they're there to be explored and used.
even a dog bark isn't the same every time!
ours has loads of different barks and walking styles.
though i know quite a few people who don't like having their silence disturbed.
even at a retreat some commented on the kitchen noise.
i wasn't too bothered, like rara i use the bus and got used to meditating on the journey so a few plates being dropped wasn't a problem.
i think it probably is choiceless awareness because it's floating from sensation to sensation and not fixed.

[FeeHutch]

It is something I experiment with. For at least one formal session a day I will take myself off to the bedroom, push the door too (but not close it - it annoys the cat) and take a moment or two to get comfortable and focused.

My children are still in the house though, there is still noise and I just let that be. I also do formal and informal practice when I am sat in the lounge and at the heart of all the noise. I like meditations that encourage us to open ourselves up to sound without labeling them, pretty hard to do in a near silent atmosphere. Again for me this is about living my practice off the mat as well as on it

[JonW]

"but not close it - it annoys the cat."

The essential difference between cat and dog.
Treat a dog well and feed it daily. The dog will regard you as the centre of the universe.
Treat a cat well and feed it daily. The cat will regard itself as the centre of the universe.

Dogs also know how to roll out the welcome mat. I've just returned from a trip to America. Banjo, the spaniel, afforded me the kind of welcome not seen since Apollo 11 returned to earth. Bilbo, the cat, simply noted my return with a yawn, before going back to sleep.

[FeeHutch]

Hee cats are very mindful but only mindful of their own needs to the total exclusion of the rest of the world.
I do love our cat though

[rara]

I don't think you need to proactively invite distraction in. It is fair to close the window before you meditate, try to wind down, and nicely ask those in the household if they could kindly refrain from blasting death metal.

Oh sure, I just realise how my statement read haha. Yes, I don't just sit down and say "bring the noise!" lol. I meant acceptance of the inevitable surroundings

[Gareth]

I've been practising for quite a while now, and my attitude to this has slowly changed over time. I usually meditate in the lotus position on the bed, and if someone or something used to come in and disturb me, then I would get quite annoyed. These days, it is of no consequence whatsoever. My wife might come in and ask me what I want for tea and I'll just answer her. To me, it's all part of the meditation.