People love to hear themselves sing because their mind is in a heightened state of concentration when they do so.

Perspective and State of Mind

A person can sing and think that they rock so hard that someone should write an opera just for them. Then they hear themselves on a recorder and squirm around a little when they realize they actually suck. This illustrates that there is a difference in the state of mind of a person when physically singing versus listening.

A person who is listening is more likely to have a diffuse mind. That person may not have made the conscious intention to listen attentively to music. That person may be thinking about so many things they have going on in their life right now. That person may be slouched in a chair or only taking shallow breaths.

A person who is singing however is much different. That person has willfully decided to throw their mind into one activity. That person has no room to worry about the bills while they give themselves to singing. That person is perhaps standing in a confident, upright, and noble posture. The act of singing itself is an exercise in breath control and deep breathing. The feeling of vibration in the throat and lungs is consistent and soothing. It focuses the attention away from other things.

So what is the difference made by all these aesthetic subtleties? The difference made is that the singer described here attains a heightened sense of concentration compared to the other person.

Who enjoys more?

In the case I have mentioned, it is clear that the singer, who is mentally absorbed in his action, enjoys many times more than the other person whose mind is diffuse. When a person really enjoys themselves as they sing, yet does not enjoy so much hearing their recording afterwards, it is not that the quality of the singing has changed. It is that the quality of mental perception has changed. This illustrates that dwelling in a state of mental concentration brings happiness. When the mind is free of distraction and able to give itself fully to whatever a person wills, then the power to enjoy anything multiplies many fold.

Can’t a listener also have that state of concentration?

Yes. The example above is just a hypothetical one that hopefully appeals to an exact experience you have had in your life. It is also perfectly possible that someone could sing some song absent-mindedly. Then there could be another person who is listening to the song, and spontaneously becomes enthralled by it. That person’s mind may flow entirely in the direction of the music and enjoy every second of it.

Concentration Brings Happiness

The difference here is not whether or not a person is singing or listening. The difference is whether or not the mind is concentrated. Concentration is what brings that happiness.

A Note about Religious Practices

It is mentionable that just about every single spiritual path that exists in the world utilizes the phenomenon of music to help them along the way. It seems music is a universal phenomenon that everyone has noticed has a special power to bring concentration to the mind. If you look deeper, you will find that all religious practices all have this aim of attaining a state of supreme mental concentration.

Stemming from this goal, countless symbols and images and ideas have been created as aids to concentration. Spiritual truths recorded in many scriptures are also written in a poetic form as opposed to dry language. This use of aesthetics is another aid to concentration. And of course, the most direct approaches to achieving this state are straightforward methods of meditation.

Concentration can be defined as the repeated effort to fix the mind on one thought, idea, or ideal. The state of meditation can be defined as that state of sustained success in concentration for a period of time. Meditation as a practice refers to the methods used to achieve the state of meditation.

Secular versus Religious Standpoints

From either point of view, people want to be happy. And from either point of view concentration of mind is the means to that goal. The only difference is that religions support their efforts of concentration with a particular set of various books, forms, doctrines, rituals, examples, histories, etc. The same really goes for secular people. In this sense, there is not really a difference between secular and religious people. It is only a matter of differing supports.

Objectivity

Everyone is either consciously or unconsciously trying to gain objective perception of the universe. Who knows what really is the nature of a song? One person thinks a song sounds enrapturing. Another does not. The perception is “subjective” rather than “objective”. It depends on the person perceiving. So if a person really wants to see what something is objectively, he or she has to remove the obstacle of the subject. This is what concentration can achieve for us. It gives us the chance to see objectively. The mind becomes calm and unable to distort our perception. The mind so to speak “gets out of the way”.

To summarize, the more concentrated a person is:

• The happier that persons perceptions are
• The more accurate that persons perceptions are

So put these two claims together and you can logically deduce that fundamentally the universe has a backdrop of pure unlimited happiness. It is only we don’t see it. But through concentration of mind, we can see it.

So then how can I achieve mental concentration?

You tell me! This is a vast subject, but perhaps I can raise some points about aesthetics and their place in concentration.

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