Should We Quit Music That Creates Negative Thoughts?

[Moreira]

As people is more aware tend to take care of which foods they put in his body, avoiding trash food for example.

Should we be so careful  with what we let enter into our head via movies, music...?

Sometimes I find myself in a pessimistic or negative mood and in an excercise of awareness I think, Oh I get it! This morning when I was in my car the radio played this depressing song and it has affect me my entire day!!!!

 

It can be seen in depressing melodies or negative lyrics. mainstream media has good things but very bad ones also.

Neediness, clinginess, lack of purpose:

"I'm nothing without you"

"My life was nothing untill I met you"

" I've lost my illusions since you left me"

These innocent romantic lyrics are devastating and set wrong believe systems reducing all purpose and existance to the aproval of one mortal person, dont this looks stupid?

I expect some new age responeses of somebody that will say: Hey acceptance, non-resistance accept all music. Then I'll reply yes acceptance why dont you go to mcdonalds yo woo-woo vegan, stop resisting and accept this bigmac!

I dont think we should accept bad stuff that make our life miserable.

 

[Lawrence]

Yes I would if it was me but do what feels right. It's important that we feed our minds with information that benefits us. Ask yourself what benefit is there for me in listening to this? Is it empowering or disempowering? Whatever we focus on grows. Choose wisely.

[PetarKa]

I agree with @Moreira . I believe the music shapes A LOT of societies values and beliefs about the world. The most prominent ones being:

• Romantic love and how that works
• Bitches and money = success
• Drugs are the way to go!
• Party every day and get hangovers! Woohoo!
• Some songs are depressing...
• The neurotic grind and work are important for their own sake.

Don't get me wrong, not all songs spread debilitating ideas. But most of them do... Even the ones which spread good ideas, I find, usually spread some negative ideas as well.

This is my opinion.

[Saarah]

@Moreira There's some things you can control and that would be one of them, then it's useful to just cut it out 

Sometimes there might be sources of bad influence that you can't control, for example a person you have to be around 

In those cases it may be helpful for you to look into the acceptance thing. You could replace acceptance with awareness or non-attachment. Let's say you listen to a song, it triggers something negative, that's because it brings up thoughts or a story you're attached to. What happens if you listen to the same song, but you're not attached to the thoughts it brings up? Then you're free from its drama because you were the one making the drama up and now you're not.

That would be a longer term thing to work on but you can help yourself more everyday to not be affected as much by stuff you can't directly control. If anything triggers you, even when you cut it out, just ask yourself why, it can help you to learn more about yourself 

[ajasatya]

48 minutes ago, Moreira said:

I dont think we should accept bad stuff that make our life miserable.

i don't just agree with you but i also have something to add up to what you said.

i think it's important that we understand where trash culture comes from. the so-called "artists" have been producing trash that's been largely accepted because society is drowning in spiritual poverty and suffering. it's important that we don't think we're better than them. it's actually crucial that we develop compassion for them.

[phoenix666]

I was wandering about music as well.. Our mind is the average of the incoming stimuli and music and its lyrics probably has so much influence over our unconscious mind. I've been listening to metal music (all kinds from Heavy, Death, Alternative, Doom, Progressive, Thrash to Metalcore and Hardcore Punk.. and a lot of Black Metal as well) for the past 10 years. and not just a little, but like 3-4 hours a day.. I wonder what all that did to my mind 

I've been cutting it down for the past weeks.. 

What music do you think is best? In terms of self actualization/enlightenment work/spiritual awakening?

Classical? Jazz?

I actually like Classical. I always liked Dvorak, Beethoven and Bach... (but I always listened to like 98% Metal and 2% classical) I now try to reverse that

 

Edited August 19, 2017 by phoenix666

[Shin]

Just listen to ambient/space ambient and melodic progressive house, it's soothing, and without any kind of lyrics whatsoever.

Lyrics are almost all the time about an ego being hurt and/or being confused about life, whatever the kind of music you listen (yes even metal and other hipster music).

Edited August 19, 2017 by Shin

[Epiphany_Inspired]

@Moreira I'm going to guess both yes and no....perhaps quitting music that induces negative thought spirals, perpetuates depression, or is opposing your current/ desired resonance would be a good thing....that said, if I didn't occasionally indulge in darker music (black metal etc), I would potentially need to find a more destructive outlet for my negative emotions....and I have friends that get over break-ups faster by being with their sadness and listening to sappy tear jerking tunes....so, perhaps the choice could be based on emotional needs as well as intellectual needs?...perhaps dark, angry, or sad music can have healing qualities?....I don't know....here's a hilarious song to illustrate the idea:

 

[Lord Bwyra]

This is my favorite topic in the world. And I'm glad you asked this. I'm also a professional musician and have been obsessed with everything music since I was 5 years old.

In fact there's a great book written on this: The Secret Power of Music which I highly recommend to get a more big picture view of what music really is and where it comes from and how it has evolved. There are chapters about the original "om" sound from India and then goes to describe more modern styles of classical, avant-garde, jazz, blues, pop, etc.

Although I don't share the author's extreme views on this (and the book was also written in the 80s) but his thesis is interesting. According to the author, pop culture/music has been a pretty accurate reflection of the culture and where humanity is at in terms of spiritual progress. Yes and no... that's a big topic. He favors Bach and composers who write from a place of beauty/God and disdains pretty much anything from 1900 and forwards. LOL

I personally love pop music (by which i mean pretty much all modern styles) and I'm fascinated with how it has evolved and integrated different styles. I also went through different phases during my life where I was into all kinds of crazy shit.

****

It's important to develop an awareness in our actions and desires. Not just listen to music on a surface level or to escape or to re-affirm existing identities. I have always found questionable the practice of listening to just one style or genre of music. And denying or neglecting other forms. This is just pure ego (the bad kind). Even one genre is so broad that I find it's usually 99% garbage and 1% good.

This goes for metal, classical, blues, jazz, fusion, techno, trance, mainstream pop, folk, world, etc.

Music is music. Art is art.

What does that mean?

Rhythm.
Melody.
Harmony.
Poetry (words).
Craftsmanship.
Sound.
Emotion.
Vibe.
Groove.
Expression.
Transcendence.
Pain.
Joy.

What exactly do you like about a certain piece of music?
Start listening to it deeper than before. It can become a meditation.

Are the band playing off each other and taking the song higher (like Stairway To Heaven)?
Do you like the cold electronic atmosphere of a Brian Eno ambient piece?
Maybe you love the bassline in an outro of a Coldplay song (they are masters of creating great outros)?
Or maybe just the raw intensity and energy of a song (Slayer's "Disciple") that could propel a jet?

Have you ever listened to Metallica's "And Justice For All" album on LSD?
I have...

Not a pleasant experience! lol

I had to turn it off after a few minutes of "Blackened" (the first track)... lol
I felt like my ego was swallowing me and the music became a blackhole of eternal ear fucking.

So much anger and darkness there and you can really feel it when you get deep into it.
We attract and love what we are deep inside. If you want anger and intense energy, then that will feel good.
If you want beauty and peace, not so much. I think there are times for both.

Perhaps we all need a little drunken Jack Daniels sex with some dirty slut, fucking to the hypnotic machine gun riffs of Metallica's "One" in a sleezy motel in the middle of a desert somewhere every now and again

Or maybe not! Depends what you're into...

But I love 80s Metallica. Yet they were really angry guys and fucked up. But they transcended that. You can feel that with some artists how music keeps them sane and not killing others. That is a beautiful thing and I think that process deserves recognition. Even channelling anger into something as controlled and creative as music can be a very beautiful thing. That is in essence a spiritual process. Metallica's singer is now married with kids and sober. Yeah his music kinda sucks now but in some ways he got a little bit free (with the success of his band). In other ways he's become trapped in his own creation of "the singer from Metallica" and his art has suffered for that. Same with the Rolling Stones guys who haven't created anything to the standards of their 60s-70s stuff when they were so high that they probably don't even remember it.

Fuck, don't get me started on this shit.

I could go on forever.

But it's a great question and can be broadened out to mass entertainment in general. What does it say about our society that shows like Breaking Bad are so powerful?

Sure that show is very violent and dark and dramatic.

It's also a great story and a cautionary tale. I get a lot out of these kinds of shows. They are inspiring. A lot of emotional depth and heavy social criticism considering we are rooting for an anti-hero??!!? Yes it's entertainment too and perhaps overly dramatic in how such incredible events play out in such a small time frame. Unrealistic? Perhaps, I don't know.

*******

All art is a form of finding/identifying beauty where there is great suffering and even sorrow. Great artists are able to take that process of transcendence from a wide variety of sources and create something new that really connects with many people. They are able to access some place that you can only get to with the experience of their creation. They become Gods. And we feel less alone in this universe that might feel alone also in a place where billions of universes exist.

We are all artists if we choose to become conscious of that and live as creators instead of victims.

We are Creating our lives.

We are transcending OUR suffering and making sense of it. Maybe this comforts us. And if we are comforted, perhaps others will be too.

Humans respond to universal values: Beauty, truth, love, community, etc.

Even the metal guys who dress up in all that silly leather and makeup and darkness are secretly yearning for love and unity with God. They feel connected when they listen to their identities being accepted, even if it's for that 3-4 minutes. They meet friends into the same shit, go to shows, dress the part, etc.

Community. Tribe mentality. Same as the hipsters or jazz nerds or classical snobs. Same shit, different underwear.


Just be careful, this can all be a trap.


You have to be able to live without music and in total silence for 1-2 months. Otherwise it's an addiction and will just feed the hungry ghost within.


Use music as a form of celebration of life and all it's incredible colors and scents and sounds. Listen to ALL kinds of music. Learn to appreciate things that you don't necessarily like. Find the essence of the song you love and understand it, study it, meditate with it, masturbate to it. Take a shit on it and drink your own cum with it.

Is Justin Bieber completely bullshit? Or is music his salvation and a way to give value to millions of teenagers around the world who scream and screech at the thought of him? What the fuck is going on there? Beatlemania, Backstreet Boys, Michael Jackson, etc...

Why are these Norwegians worshipping the devil and killing each other when they live in such a great place? Were they ass fucked as children or something and that creates a cult??? What the fuck is going on there.

People want their Gods so they can have someone to worship and make them feel that life is not just a fucking ant factory that repeats for 100 years until you drop dread and everyone has a party for you but you can't make it so they cry.

 

On 8/19/2017 at 4:39 PM, Moreira said:

"I'm nothing without you"

"My life was nothing untill I met you"

" I've lost my illusions since you left me"

Although such lyrics might sound hollow and vain on the surface...

Maybe they are not what they seem.


These could also be a desperate cry to reunite with the beloved (god, truth, love, etc).

They are just masquerading as teenage disneyland fairytale lovestories, that endless cycle most people go through again and again.
Most people never mature from that.

Kids raising kids.


We fall in love with someone... why?

Because everyone is looking for the same thing.


Freedom.
Liberation.

Enlightenement = to surrender to light and let yourself shine.

They try to find it through drugs and fucking and food and movies and christmas and jesus and all that bullshit.
If you have been put in a microwave when you were 2, and were not loved, you will do whatever it takes to find that love.

Heroin? The easiest way.
Addicted for life.

To love.

You will sell your grandma to feel that love.

Whatever it takes.

********


Do not be fooled by what you think your emotions mean and who you think you are and what you think others are.

We are much much much more than that.

As i said, we are all artists, creators.

Gods and Goddesses.

Admiring our creations and trying to outwit each other and the devils in our black iron hearts.

But like monkeys who spend 4 hours in the wild foraging and hunting... you know what they do for the rest of the day when not sleeping?

Annoying each other.


So that's why we fiddle with our balls and scratch our vaginas all day and smelling our fingers, reading shit online and wanting more out of life and dreaming of life in paradise.


*****


I see many people on these forums and in everyday life being stuck as the person they are. Yet they want things that require them to be somebody they are not. People want more freedom and happiness and joy and money and love. They want all this change but they don't want to change.

So they keep listening to the same music and liking the same things they used to like.

They dress the same.

They hold on to their ideas and beliefs about who they think they are and what annoys them.

How many times do you do that every day?

It's all a bullshit world you have created in your head to feel safe and comfortable.
The problem is that you created it as a default mechanism before you were conscious enough to make your own decisions.

You are a product.
A domisticated animal.

Free range human.

You're welcome to leave the herd and step out into the wilderness.

You want that dont you?
It excites you.
It makes your pussy wet and your dick hard.

But you are afraid of freedom.


*******

Strip yourself of all identity and create a person who has abundance of the things you want.

This transformation will be painful. But worth it. Otherwise you are just left around wondering and in this eternal state of purgatory like all the 99.99999% humans who were to scared to change and died mediocre.


Leo created his Life Purpose course to help you break free. There are books and people and art who will help you also if you start using them for that and seeking out the great works of history.

You have to find what you really value in life and create a meaningful life around that.

That's why you are here.
You are still reading this crazy post of mine that just came out of me like a hungry dinosaur uncaged.

******



Become Who You Really Are.

That's the only God I serve.


Hence my profile name

 

[Lord Bwyra]

Oh and here's also and blog post about this that I came across some time ago that you might find interesting:
https://www.dangerandplay.com/2014/07/22/music-you-listen-to-personality/

[Sukhpaal]

I feel eventually, you should. I personally listen to hip-hop music and a lot of it pertains to disrespecting people and just a lot of negativity. It also depends I guess maybe on if you like the song for lyrics or just the melody? Like I like to listen to songs that make me want to dance, I usually don't care what the lyrics say. I focus more on rhythm and I just like upbeat songs regardless of what negativity is said in it. I don't pay too much attention. But everyone is different.

[TimStr]

@Lord Bwyra

Great big post or yours, I really liked it. 

You just spoke from a place of pure fascination and awe. Being a musician myself, I got touched by this a lot! 

And I got motivated as well, so thanks man!