I hear a high pitched sound and it disturbs my meditation very much. Advice?

[Bodhidharma]

   I have this sound that comes from my right ear, I cannot describe it very well, the frequency is high and I can hear it only when there's at least a mild silence, it's called tinnitus. So, you can imagine it does not disturb me very much and it doesn't, normally. The problem comes before sleep or meditation, it's only in one ear and it's high pitched. I just toss it aside most of the time, but when I give space just to listen to it or sleep with silence, it drives me mad.I mean, imagine not hearing actual silence, just a shhhhh and nothing else. The solution that comes to my mind is just to observe it and the emotions it brings, but that is quite diffucult at times. Perhaps that is the reason I can't go to sleep without a OSHO talk in the background and that since my childhood I always listened to stories in the CD radio to sleep. Although I don't know for how long I have this sound in my ear. 

 

So the reason I'm writing this is because I was reading a book and the author was talking about silence and I cant hear silence. Perhaps it's an inner silence. Even so, Any advice or thoughts?

P.s: Be mindful of forceful advice and commandments, I wan't to hear your honest advice and thoughts about it. Thanks 

Edited November 27, 2021 by Bodhidharma

[Leo Gura]

Tinnitus is common for many people, especially meditators and psychedelic users.

[Average Investor]

I have a bit of an issue with this too. I run an air purifier all the time and it typically takes away from me hearing that. 

[RickyFitts]

Might be something called the Inner Sound Current, which I heard about a little while back - article on the subject here.

[ADD]

I hear this sometimes aswell. Try to surrender to it. The resistance towards it is the problem. Not the sound. You are actively making it in to a problem. Stop that and you are free. (Until you resist something else, and the same recipe works)

[Javfly33]

@Bodhidharma try airpods pro or any similar high end bud with ANC (active noise cancellation).

I have tinntitus (Its light But i def hear it when i meditate or at night). I have become accustomed to It, But when i put airpods pro ironically the sound goes away , idk how that happens. Because buds with ANC are supposed to block frecuencies from outside (not inside) and they are not very good at blocking high pitched sounds. But hey, just an idea if you want to give It a try. 

I reccomend airpods pro not because Im an Apple fanboy btw But because basically they are the ones I have and also i know by research they are one of the most if not the most comfortable out there. I usually can wear them for a couple of hours withouth not feeling any kind of discomfort in my ears (they are very light).

The reason of tinntitus is 90% probably because of hearing damage. It happens one of those days where a stupid fucking Moron throws a firecracler too near of you, or those nights where your friends just decide to go to the closes location of where the speakers are in the nightclub. 

[Nahm]

By all means have a dr check it out. You could also consider your ear doesn’t make sound per se, and it is the vibrational background hum of the universe which is you being ‘your ear’. The middle C all musical scales are constructed of. The ‘channel’ of all ‘channelers’ opening up.  It’s common before awakening to frame it as a problem because though it was always there it was never noticed. There is usually ‘something to be heard’. I definitly agree with observing any emotions arising, as that’s how you ‘hear it’ in the receiving sense & it’s no longer experienced as a problem. Try to consider it’s the most positive thing ‘you’ve ever heard’. Also, scrutinize the attempt to apply ‘logic’ to notice it doesn’t add up, of course no one can hear silence. So maybe let faith in logic go, in that sense, a bit. Not all beliefs will resonate, in the literal ‘physical stuff’ (‘your ears’) sense, through the entire path. Could also consider the analogy of the universe as a perfect vibrational orchestra, and ‘you’ as a violin, a mind, attuning to it / with it / as it for the first time. 

Also, as far as that ‘yet to be heard’ factor, you mentioned the ‘sound is heard’ in only one ear. Look up info on the left & right sides of the body as representative of masculine & feminine, and consider that info in regard to which ear / side is ‘plugged’, or, not ‘hearing’ the sound / silence / frequency. Look to connect the dots in that regard with whatever arises emotionally, and think in terms of conditioning being brought into the light, or coming ‘up & out’. 

[Value]

7 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

Tinnitus is common for many people, especially meditators and psychedelic users.

Is there a causal relationship there?

/ Musician with mild tinnitus

[ZenSwift]

Putting the palms of your hands over your ears, plugging them, place your index finger over your middle finger and start slamming your index finger into your skull, kind of in a very quick motion using the momentum of the force sliding from your middle finger to your head. Like how you gain momentum when snapping your fingers. Do this about 50 times with your ears completely plugged. You like reset the bass in your ears or something I don't know. But this technique can take away the ringing completely. 

[BipolarGrowth]

Try interpreting it as an angel communicating with you. Many people claim this is not a physical issue alone, and if it’s worse during meditation, I’d say what they say applies to you just as it did me. The Divine is directly trying to communicate with you. Just accept the message. I highly doubt you will regret this decision, and I’m fairly confident you’ll be worse off by not following it. 

[Extreme Z7]

As bad as tinnitus is, it's nothing compared to idiots blaring audible music outside your room or house.

'Course I do it myself sometimes, but at least nobody else I know meditates.

[Guest EmptyVase]

10 hours ago, Bodhidharma said:

I mean, imagine not hearing actual silence

What even is silence? If it's the absence of sound, how are we supposed to hear it? Perhaps silence is that which listens? I dunno, but a very mystical ting. ?

[Leo Gura]

2 hours ago, Value said:

Is there a causal relationship there?

/ Musician with mild tinnitus

There is. Increases in consciousness can lead to stronger tinnitus as your mind focuses on it more and also psychedelics raise consciousness and can cause tinnitus.

Of course tinnitus is also frequently caused by ear damage from overly loud sounds. Use earplugs around loud sounds.

[Bodhidharma]

   Thank you for your thoughts, very interesting points, later today I'll just lie down on the ground and surrender to the sound. I've been making peace with it for a long time. I surely didn't fucking know it could be a consequence of raising consciousness, that's new. Could you give a source where I can know more about it @Leo Gura? 

 

 @RickyFitts  Interesting as hell, never saw that.

 

[Username]

I also experience high pitched sound when I practice yoga, do breathing exercises or I'm in a deep meditative state. I like it because it's a sign I'm doing things right.

[seeking_brilliance]

Let it wash over you. If you can't do that, play binaural beats or isochronic tones, and let them wash over you. 

[Dino D]

On 11/27/2021 at 2:33 PM, Leo Gura said:

There is. Increases in consciousness can lead to stronger tinnitus as your mind focuses on it more and also psychedelics raise consciousness and can cause tinnitus.

Of course tinnitus is also frequently caused by ear damage from overly loud sounds. Use earplugs around loud sounds.

Increases in consciousness--- if that's the cause, how to stop it?

It is annoying, there is never true silence... do you have it?

[Value]

@Leo Gura So not because of physical or neurological changes in the ear but rather from the subjective experiential increase in awareness? I have always been able to see the "vision tinnitus" easily - the little pixel like dots that are visible as part of your visual field when you focus on them, wonder if there is a correlation.

On 2021-11-27 at 2:33 PM, Leo Gura said:

There is. Increases in consciousness can lead to stronger tinnitus as your mind focuses on it more and also psychedelics raise consciousness and can cause tinnitus.

Of course tinnitus is also frequently caused by ear damage from overly loud sounds. Use earplugs around loud sounds.

 

[Michal__]

Call me weird but I actually enjoy it. And it does get stronger with meditation too. The same sound actually turns to the sound I hear before astral projection when I'm attempting to AP.

Edited December 8, 2021 by Michal__

[SamC]

I have that too. What's interesting for me however is that I only hear it when I am out of alignment with myself.

If I am on track with my LP it stops, If I stop it starts. Maybe your ringing also is a message someway somehow.