How many uses for music are there? That’s right, you are correct. One of the most fascinating uses that I have found, though, is for meditation. Songs can act like zen stories that are commonly used to gain new perspective. Take this one for example:

One day a young Buddhist was walking and he came to the banks of a wide river. Staring hopelessly at the great obstacle in front of him, he pondered for hours on just how to cross such a wide barrier. Just as he was about to give up his pursuit to continue his journey he saw a great teacher on the other side of the river. The young Buddhist yells over to the teacher, “Oh wise one, can you tell me how to get to the other side of this river”?
The teacher ponders for a moment looks up and down the river and yells back, “My son, you are on the other side”.

There are songs, such as this story, that lead one to become lost within its sounds and noises. They are generally ambient songs that have one, if not multiple, patterns repeating throughout the track (these can be melodic or rhythmic patterns). I first begin to recognize the patterns, then I absentmindedly relate those patterns to a visual representation like water moving in a stream or clouds crawling across a sky. Then before I know it I am pondering the great mysteries of mine and others’ lives.

A great artist for trying this out would be Aphex Twin, especially anything from his album Selected Ambient Works Volume II. Listen to “Cliffs” to see what I mean:

If you have songs that you use to meditate or cause similar experiences, please share them in the comments. I would love to know what you’re listening to.