There’s something special about music. Sound moves through the air, and then hits your eardrum. Then it vibrates your inner ear. And then your whole mind can hear the music. And you don’t really hear the music in your ears. You hear it like it is coming from within your head, and depending on if you are listening using headphones or speakers, you can feel the music move your entire body. The interesting thing is music is different for everybody. Some people enjoy certain genres, while other like music that elicits specific emotions from themselves. There are certain genres of music that I used to enjoy when I was in high school, and there’s the stuff I listen to today. It’s interesting how tastes change over the years. But what’s most interesting of all, is how music can assist in bringing forth spiritual experiences. And more specifically, certain chord progressions are able to elevate one’s spirit and make them sometimes feel outside their own body. Other times I’ll listen to music and feel like my entire being is being elevated. It feels great and it is amazing that music and a place to sit/lie/stand and something to give you the music are the only things you need to have these experiences.
What kind of music gives you spiritual experiences? Well, it’s safe to say that this will vary from person to person. Someone may listen to classical music and have a sort of awakening. Others may listen to trance music and feel their spirit soar. I personally have had spiritual experiences to the music by the Future Sound of London. There is a specific album called: A Gigantic Globular Burst OF Antistatic, this album is to my knowledge only available via electronic download. And I literally had spiritual experiences almost every time I listened to this album. I would lie down in my room and just be absorbed into the music. The music comes from a project that FSOL did for a museum called THE KINETICA MUSEUM – and was originally recorded in 5.1 sourround. I’ve only had the pleasure of listening to the stereo mixes. I bet the 5.1 surround mixes are unbelievably amazing. Unfortunately I just bought the album from FSOLdigital.com and tried downloading the songs and all I was able to download was the album cover. Needless to say I was a little upset. But I emailed them so I should hear back from them pretty soon. This was my first time using their online store. I wonder why the links didn’t work.
The music in A Gigantic Globular Burst OF Antistatic was very ambient and oftentimes minimalistic. But there were certain chord progressions, and many of them were implied. I say implied because there would be music, then silence, but during the silence you still here sounds in your mind. The sounds are almost filled in, by your mind. It is kind of like a pattern is shown to you but it is incomplete. But there are only a certain number of ways to complete the pattern, so your mind uses context clues from other ambient sounds in the music to fill the gaps and create a very stimulating musical experience.
My suggestion for finding spiritual music is to talk to your friends and find out what kind of music is spiritually stimulating for them. Listen to their advice and try and find out the real “gems” of what they enjoy. Sometimes it takes a little prodding and getting to know someone musically before they even feel comfortable sharing their more intimate tracks with you. If you can find a group of friends that you can listen to music safely and respectfully together, it is a very cherish-able experience. But it isn’t always easy connecting with people in person, so you may have to take recommendations of music from reviews and other sources, possibly online ones.
If you want to talk music ever, please add me as a friend on Facebook and I can point you in the direction of some my favorite pieces of music for spiritual experiences. If you can get a hold of A Gigantic Globular Burst OF Antistatic by the Future Sound of London (FSOL) and can find a place where you can listen and close your eyes, you will have a good start. If you can’t get a hold of A Gigantic Globular Burst OF Antistatic, then I recommend their double album, Lifeforms. That album is a different kind of spiritual, it is more nature-spiritual, but it is still great. A Gigantic Globular Burst OF Antistatic for me seems to access the part of the spirit which is the solitary place…the place where the mind is truly naked and free of desires and ego.
You may be wondering what the difference is between listening to music like this and meditating. Well, this is like meditating WITH the music. Let the music be your guide. If you are able to get comfortable and listen with your eyes closed, then you will probably get better results. Also if you can breathe in a relaxed way, in through your nose, and out through your mouth…until you stop thinking about your breath all together. That’s a great way to ease into your state of relaxation. But remember, this stuff can be completely different for you. You may like higher energy music and dancing around and chanting a lot. Or you may hit different spiritual areas of yourself by doing yoga and then listening to music. Feel free to leave a comment about any experiences you may have had.
-Tyler
UPDATE: FSOL Digital just emailed me a link to where I can download the A Gigantic Globular Burst OF Antistatic. Now I am downloading it right now and it works. If you have any problem downloading it, you should email their sales and info email and you will probably get a response in a day or two.
