Question
Hello, I am a beginner. I have practiced zazen alone for a year and a half, three times a week, following the instructions in a book by TAISEN DESHIMARU. I have had some unsettling physical experiences during zazen and feel the need to talk about them. I began hearing a sound during zazen that did not correspond to anything outside me. It is a faint whistling behind external sounds, as if “silence had a sound.” As time passes, I hear it more and more, even when I am not practicing zazen. I am a little worried. Should I continue on this path?
Anonymous
Answer from Master Kosen
It may simply be tinnitus, or a sound created by your mind, which may be the same thing. I have experienced this myself. I heard a sound like a harmonic of a refrigerator’s hum. I put in earplugs, and since the sound was still there, I realized I was creating it myself. Then it disappeared.
Kosen