white noise / earplugs?

General discussion of issues related to Theravada Meditation, e.g. meditation postures, developing a regular sitting practice, skillfully relating to difficulties and hindrances, etc.
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tiltbillings
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Re: white noise / earplugs?

Post by tiltbillings »

Geez. And I was going top complain about my arthritis pain. I'll be quiet now.
>> Do you see a man wise [enlightened/ariya] in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.<< -- Proverbs 26:12

This being is bound to samsara, kamma is his means for going beyond. -- SN I, 38.

“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?” HPatDH p.723
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Goofaholix
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Re: white noise / earplugs?

Post by Goofaholix »

Fede wrote: I too suffer from tinnitus:
It would be better to just experience Tinnitus, suffering as always is optional.
Pronouns (no self / not self)
“Peace is within oneself to be found in the same place as agitation and suffering. It is not found in a forest or on a hilltop, nor is it given by a teacher. Where you experience suffering, you can also find freedom from suffering. Trying to run away from suffering is actually to run toward it.”
― Ajahn Chah
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tiltbillings
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Re: white noise / earplugs?

Post by tiltbillings »

Goofaholix wrote:
Fede wrote: I too suffer from tinnitus:
It would be better to just experience Tinnitus, suffering as always is optional.
Easier said than done, of course.
>> Do you see a man wise [enlightened/ariya] in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.<< -- Proverbs 26:12

This being is bound to samsara, kamma is his means for going beyond. -- SN I, 38.

“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?” HPatDH p.723
chownah
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Re: white noise / earplugs?

Post by chownah »

tiltbillings wrote:
Goofaholix wrote:
Fede wrote: I too suffer from tinnitus:
It would be better to just experience Tinnitus, suffering as always is optional.
Easier said than done, of course.
Inspite of the difficulty it is worth the effort, however.
chownah
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Fede
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Re: white noise / earplugs?

Post by Fede »

Well of course I work with it.
Tell me what other choice I have!

But it's intrusive, occasionally inhibiting - I can't hear people properly - and when I have a head-cold and my sinuses are blocked, it's the devil's own job overcoming the discomfort.

My audiologist says it's one of the worst cases he's come across..... but he's fascinated as to how I remain so calm.
And that's precisely what I told him.
I have to work with it.
I have no other choice.
"Samsara: The human condition's heartbreaking inability to sustain contentment." Elizabeth Gilbert, 'Eat, Pray, Love'.

Simplify: 17 into 1 WILL go: Mindfulness!

Quieta movere magna merces videbatur. (Sallust, c.86-c.35 BC)
Translation: Just to stir things up seemed a good reward in itself. ;)

I am sooooo happy - How on earth could I be otherwise?! :D


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appicchato
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Re: white noise / earplugs?

Post by appicchato »

Goofaholix wrote:
Fede wrote: I too suffer from tinnitus:
It would be better to just experience Tinnitus, suffering as always is optional.
Pa-leeeze...if she wasn't just (just?) experiencing it (24/7...), there wouldn't be a problem...

Fortunately you aren't...yet...
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Goofaholix
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Re: white noise / earplugs?

Post by Goofaholix »

Fede wrote:My audiologist says it's one of the worst cases he's come across..... but he's fascinated as to how I remain so calm.
And that's precisely what I told him.
I have to work with it.
I have no other choice.
Sounds like you've turned a problem into an opportunity to develop insight, that's what it's all about.
Pronouns (no self / not self)
“Peace is within oneself to be found in the same place as agitation and suffering. It is not found in a forest or on a hilltop, nor is it given by a teacher. Where you experience suffering, you can also find freedom from suffering. Trying to run away from suffering is actually to run toward it.”
― Ajahn Chah
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Fede
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Re: white noise / earplugs?

Post by Fede »

It's trying to identify the bird varieties that keeps me occupied..... :D

I'm sorry, I apologise to the OP: This thread wasn't supposed to turn into something about me.
But I merely posted to illustrate that while you seek a quiet place to meditate delf7, sometimes, no such place exists.
The truly only quiet place you have access to, is within yourself.

Unfortunately, if you can't beat it - join it.
Turn the noise into a meditative exercise: instead of blocking it out, welcome it. Discern it to its fullest content. Analyse every single part of the noise, and see where it comes from.
I do this with music, sometimes. I try to hear every individual music part, and every single instrument over the others.... I mentally isolate each component and see them making up the whole.
I try not to then let my attention wander, to consider the player, who he or she is, what life they lead, how they learnt the instrument and why.....I remain with the sound. I become so familiar with it, it becomes my friend.







(Oh, one last thing: The day I find bird-poop on my shoulders, I'll quit moaning and head for a shrink.)
"Samsara: The human condition's heartbreaking inability to sustain contentment." Elizabeth Gilbert, 'Eat, Pray, Love'.

Simplify: 17 into 1 WILL go: Mindfulness!

Quieta movere magna merces videbatur. (Sallust, c.86-c.35 BC)
Translation: Just to stir things up seemed a good reward in itself. ;)

I am sooooo happy - How on earth could I be otherwise?! :D


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rowboat
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Re: white noise / earplugs?

Post by rowboat »

Fede, several years ago I developed tinnitus in my left ear and for quite some time I really despaired to the point that it affected the way that I lived. I had given myself up to an unhealthy lifestyle. Not very long ago I sort of rebelled against the idea that this insidious noise would block me from access concentration and jhana. Without exaggeration, it was the biggest relief of my life to learn that tinnitus is not a serious block to developing concentration. Don't despair.

I suggest anyone suffering from tinnitus practice more walking meditation with their sitting meditation.
Rain soddens what is covered up,
It does not sodden what is open.
Therefore uncover what is covered
That the rain will not sodden it.
Ud 5.5
alan
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Re: white noise / earplugs?

Post by alan »

I put on Jazz, and try to listen to every note. And then go to the beach, and listen to every wave.
I do my best to create something from it. It helps.
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rowboat
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Re: white noise / earplugs?

Post by rowboat »

I put on Jazz, and try to listen to every note. And then go to the beach, and listen to every wave.
I do my best to create something from it. It helps.
Yes, there never is tinnitus on the beach.

This was buried in my bookmarks:

Retuning the brain may cure tinnitus, finds study http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/ja ... e-tinnitus" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


American scientists claim to have developed a cure for tinnitus, a condition that causes incessant ringing in the ears. Researchers have found that by stimulating the part of the brain that causes the disorder they were able to make the ringing go away – at least for, er, rats.

According to a study published in Neuron earlier this month (via the Daily Swarm) tinnitus is not just the result of damage or obstruction in the ear – it is brought on by the brain, which overcompensates for lost hearing. After brain scans of 22 people at Georgetown University in Washington DC, scientists found that tinnitus occurs when one part of the brain tries to produce sounds to replace missing frequencies, and another fails to stop the unwanted sound – ringing – from reaching the auditory cortex.

In a separate paper, published last week in Nature, scientists at the University of Texas at Dallas experimented with rats, "resetting" their brains by stimulating a major cranial nerve, called the vagus. "Unlike previous treatments, we're not masking the tinnitus, we're not hiding the tinnitus," co-author Michael Kilgard told AFP. "We are eliminating the source of the tinnitus."


It's very likely human trials are under way.

***

Pelican: What's wrong, Mallethead? You look anxious.
Mallethead: My ear is constantly ringing.
Pelican: Well why don't you answer it?
Rain soddens what is covered up,
It does not sodden what is open.
Therefore uncover what is covered
That the rain will not sodden it.
Ud 5.5
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Fede
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Re: white noise / earplugs?

Post by Fede »

rowboat wrote: Yes, there never is tinnitus on the beach...
I beg to differ.....
"Samsara: The human condition's heartbreaking inability to sustain contentment." Elizabeth Gilbert, 'Eat, Pray, Love'.

Simplify: 17 into 1 WILL go: Mindfulness!

Quieta movere magna merces videbatur. (Sallust, c.86-c.35 BC)
Translation: Just to stir things up seemed a good reward in itself. ;)

I am sooooo happy - How on earth could I be otherwise?! :D


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Bagoba
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Re: white noise / earplugs?

Post by Bagoba »

Hi all,

I too have been suffering from tinnitus due to hear loss for the last 2 years, and it has progressively gotten worse despite protecting my hears by wearing earplugs, taking the right medecines etc. Nothing can be done to effectively cure it at this stage unfortunately, so I was a bit concerned about making progress in meditation but your posts have reassured me.

Metta,
Bagoba
"This path is a thorough investigation and understanding of the limitations of the mortal condition of the body and mind. Now you're developing the ability to turn away from the conditioned and to release your identity from mortality." Ajan Sumedho, "Mindfulness, the path to the Deathless." http://www.buddhanet.net/pdf_file/deathless.pdf
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Kim OHara
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Re: white noise / earplugs?

Post by Kim OHara »

Bagoba wrote:Hi all,

I too have been suffering from tinnitus due to hear loss for the last 2 years, and it has progressively gotten worse despite protecting my hears by wearing earplugs, taking the right medecines etc. Nothing can be done to effectively cure it at this stage unfortunately, so I was a bit concerned about making progress in meditation but your posts have reassured me.

Metta,
Bagoba
The good news here is that meditation may reduce your tinnitus slightly, in two ways:
• Stress raises blood pressure and raised blood pressure seems to make tinnitus worse, so relaxation training should reverse that.
• Even if the symptoms are just as bad, mindfulness training helps you to not be bothered so much by it. Someone said, 'tinnitus may be unavoidable but suffering from it is optional,' and they are at least partly right.

:namaste:
Kim
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rowboat
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Re: white noise / earplugs?

Post by rowboat »

Hi Bagoba. If it is your intention to make progress with meditation to the stage of absorption I really don't think your tinnitus should be any barrier. I can't be 100 percent certain, only because I am not yet really applying myself with full effort at this stage, but definitely the preliminary concentration is there quite readily, without much encouragement, despite the constant ringing in my left ear. You don't have to give my advice any weight at all, but I would suggest taking forty five minutes to an hour of walking meditation before you sit, and then once sitting, taking the sensation of the breath at the nose/upper lip area as your object, and not bothering with counting the breaths. Remain with the sensation there. Persistence, regular daily practice, tenacity, duration. If you become discouraged and want to pack it in for the day, try walking meditation for half an hour to an hour, until the mind has brightened. Then sit. Whenever you have cultivated a degree of concentration where the breath has become shallow or subtle, if there is an urge to take a deep breath, see if you can ignore this urge, remain fixed on the breath.

:anjali:
Rain soddens what is covered up,
It does not sodden what is open.
Therefore uncover what is covered
That the rain will not sodden it.
Ud 5.5
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