Noise is everywhere – buzzing, beeping, humming, chirping, it’s everywhere. The modern version is digital: notifications, headlines, opinions and comparisons. Think about each individual instance of something trying to grab your attention, there’s probably a ton of them. The average person checks their phone over a hundred times per day, which opens them up to an onslaught of advertisements, notices, and algorithmic nonsense to keep them engaged.
Are we actually living, or are we just reacting to this noise?
As we deepen our understanding, we will learn, through practice, how to become aware of this noise, and how we can live outside of it.
Mistaking Noise for Life
There are endless inputs all around us, we scroll all day, trying to get updates, trying to “stay informed”. We often times say that we are participating in society, however, what this is doing is masking our own emptiness. This constant chatter, this ever-present noise, sharing, getting updates from friends via the internet, all of it mimics true and real interaction with your fellow person and the rest of nature.
Let’s take a look at music, as an example.
The person who really enjoys music, the person who listens to it or plays it because they find it adventurous or fun, is the person that plays simply because they enjoy it. They enjoy the way the base makes their insides feel when they’re at a concert, or they really groove with the rift the lead guitarist is going on about. They don’t really care what you think about the song, so long as they like it and are enjoying it themselves.
Now contrast this with someone who views music as noise. They might say they like it the song, in fact, they might pretend to like it so much that they film themselves at the concert, so that they can later upload the footage to YouTube, which will be undoubtedly viewed by a handful of people. Or they might play a song in their car at such loud levels of volume in an attempt to garner attention from the other drivers of pedestrians. They think the people that hear it are going to instantly think of them and how audacious they are, but in reality those people are merely annoyed by the noise.
You see, the first fellow doesn’t care what you think. The second person cares about the noise. Being aware of our actions, and what they mean, is an important step to understanding Zen. I encourage you to live in the moment, as much as you can, and let life in.
It’s OK to take a few photos here and there, but don’t stare at a rainbow through a camera lens.
This noise, this constant clutter of the mind, is not life, it’s life misunderstood. When you stop and let the silence in, I would wager you feel uncomfortable. This is because we’ve mistaken noise for identity. This music, this sense of identity, is not you. You are you, and you should enjoy whatever it is that makes you happy.
Reflections Distorts Self-Image
We look at ourselves many times throughout the day. It’s pretty much the first thing we do in the morning, we stare at ourselves in the mirror while we brush our teeth; but that’s not the only mirror we look at every day. We look at the camera, social media, we look for other’s opinions, these are all mirrors that we try to use to look at ourselves with.
When we look at the mirror, do we see ourselves, or the version we’ve learned to perform?
Our egos are formed through many mirrors, including those of our friends and family and their eyes. Our egos are sculpted by feedback, praise, and judgement, the mirrors through which we learn who we’re supposed to be. This is especially true in the westerner’s school system. You were very likely given grades, based on not only your academic understanding but also of your behavior. I remember that I was given class clown very frequently, as if to discourage me from engaging in comedy, but I wasn’t acting funny or pretending to be a clown because of this label, I was doing it because I thought it was fun.
This was the school’s attempt to turn the word clown into something derogatory, something not good, something you didn’t want your parents to find out about because then you’d be in trouble for causing disorder. But I wasn’t acting like a clown because that was my label, I did it simply out of having fun and enjoying myself.
Now, you can turn this on its head. Hasn’t my ego then been defined by getting others to laugh at my jokes and antics, which has equated me to thinking I am funny? Now we can understand that the ego will define itself however it can, and until we stop and become aware of it, will it continue to do so.
When the mirrors are stripped away, when the photos have faded and the socials are deleted. When all of these labels are gone, what’s left of you? When you can answer that question, you will be aware of your ego, and you’ll have separated your ego from your true self.
Return to Silence
I invite you to seek silence once again, pause, right now, and literally sit in silence. Don’t continue reading for a few moments if you agree. I want you to sit there and listen to the ambient noise around you. Don’t fill it with thought or feelings. Just let the world exist for a moment. Do this for one minute (or more, if you prefer) and then come back to the reading.
What did you notice during your time in silence? Did you notice the hum of an appliance, or cars driving down the road, or your own breathing? Write down what you experienced and how this silence made you feel.
This, is awareness. You are becoming aware of life and what it sounds like, so now you can compare this sound to the noise that you hear every day, and be able to distinguish between the two.
We spend too much of our lives trying to stop the silence, or trying to fill a void, instead of just allowing that space to be there. Be aware of the silence, and listen for the true sounds of nature and of our lives.
