Noises

A few minutes into this morning's meditation, out of all of the sounds going on in the room, the sound of our kitchen clock suddenly came into focus, competing with my mantra for my attention.

Worse than the noises of traffic, or the intermittent hum of the refrigerator, a ticking clock can easy hijack your attention, and along with it, the rhythms of your mantra and your breathing. I seem to remember my TM teacher telling me to avoid meditating in a room with a clock.

I got up, crossed the room and removed the clock from the wall, putting it on a pillow which readily absorbed its pronounced ticking. On the way back to my 'meditation chair' I slid open the glass door to our deck to bring in the bird noises from outside. They always provide a nice backdrop for meditation.

As I settled back into my meditation, the bird sounds reminded me of my first time at the Shinsho-ji Kokusai Zen Center. In summer, the cicadas would sing all day, their sound pouring through the open, unscreened windows. They are so loud in Japan that when I first arrived I thought the noise they were making was from a local species of bird.

During evening meditation in the zendo, the song of the cicadas filled the room, but as I counted my breaths, I ceased to notice that they were even there.

Until they stopped.

Not long after the sun went down, the cicadas abruptly stopped their singing, all of them, all at once. The first time it happened was like being hit with the keisaku, causing me to re-adjust my posture and restart my counting.

During meditation the next evening, my focus drifted from my counting and fixed on the singing cicadas. Completely distracted by them, as the sun set, I anticipated the moment when they would go silent again.