Blog 257 – Using Meditation to Leave The Pit, Part 3 – 20 May 2025

You are asking “Am I really saying I should sit down somewhere and do nothing and this will get rid of my depression?”

I can hear you saying this is crazy.

It may sound crazy, but if you REALLY want to get out of the Pit of Despair instead of wallow in it, you – and no one else – are the only one who can get you out.  You and no one else are the only one who can get you out.

If you convince yourself that you can walk away from the Pit … if only

·         You had a loving husband to take care of you

·         You had a loving wife to take care of you

·         Your friends and family really understood what you are going through

·         You had another gorgeous dog just like Rufus

You are deluding yourself.

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I keep telling you my purpose.

My purpose is to give hope to those who have lost hope. Without hope, we remain lost in the Shadow Lands.

Because I want to give you some hope and not another spoonful of bullsh*t, I am indeed telling you that meditation is one of the tools you need to develop if you are to ever get out of the Pit.

And one other thing is important.  If you REALLY want to get out of the Pit, you must have commitment to yourself.  You are the only one who can cure you of the despair gripping your whole system.

You might think it is easier to ask your doctor to give you some pills, and it will seem easier for a bit, but the pills cannot actually get you out of the Pit. 

Your doctor will tell you this if you ask. 

The pills can dull the pain, but the pain will never leave you.

If you meditate, you will eventually get rid of the pain … forever … and it will not ever come back.

Hard as it may seem, meditation will guarantee you an exit from the Pit, and it gets easier as you keep at it.

But meditation takes time … just as it takes time to get to that attractive holiday destination you always yearned for. 

Buckle up and get ready for the journey!

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In Blog 256, I outlined the benefits of binaural beats to scramble up the thoughts processes and give you an opportunity to regain control of your river of thoughts.

So what do you do once you get sick of the binaural beats - and you will?

Once you have some control over the chaos of thoughts running wildly through your head, you can start to have some fun while meditating.

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Photo of me framed by one of the enormous karri trees in the forests of south west Western Australia; photo taken 5 April 2011; back then, I had a belly that was far too big.

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Cape Leeuwin coast in the south west of Western Australia on 4 April 2011.  It is so untamed! 

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Mighty Karri tree in the south west of Western Australia on 5 April 2011.  I am astonished that they used to cut these magnificent trees down so they could use the timber for better things than just looking wonderful as the trees were in the ground.

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More of the giant forest of karri trees from south west Western Australia.

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Once the binaural beats had outlived their usefulness, I discovered that if I listened to sweet, relaxing music, it helped eliminate a large part of the useless thought clutter running through my head.

I did not find any benefit listening to sounds of the rain dripping down in the rainforest or similar sounds.

What I discovered through trial and error was that if I listened to beautiful music that kept repeating the same simple set of words, my brain was able to begin focusing on the music.  The more I focused on the music, the less useless thought clutter ran through my head.  I got better at meditating!

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In addition to being very useful in helping reduce the thought clutter in your head, listening to beautiful music has a big advantage over binaural beats – you can actually enjoy the music while you are meditating.

The major benefit of chant music is that the same thing is repeated continuously in the music.  Your brain tunes in to the repeating pattern and this pushes out the rubbish that continually invades all of our brains.

There is a vast range of chant singers that you can choose from and many of them – probably most - produce beautiful music.  Soon after I started to teach myself to meditate, I discovered these chant singers.  They are so good that I still listen to them.

·         Carrie Grossman (https://www.carriegmusic.com):

o   Soma Bandhu – Friend of the Moon;

o   The Ram Sessions;

o   Homeward

·         Jai Jagdeesh (https://www.jaijagdeesh.com)

o   I am Thine

·         Tsering Cho (no website):

o   devotion

·         Yoko (https://www.yokodharma.com   

o   Treasury of Jewels

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If you think the main aim in listening to relaxing music is to allow you to relax and feel good about the music, you are wrong.

The music is only an efficient tool to help you eliminate clutter from your brain.  You need to eliminate the clutter because the clutter is the reason why you are still in the Pit.  Toss the clutter into the rubbish bin and the way out of the Pit becomes so much clearer.

If you simply get lost in listening to beautiful music, this gives you the same effect as asking the doctor for some pills.  It dulls the pain, but the muted pain stays with you forever.

If you simply listen to beautiful music without getting rid of the mental clutter, you are just rearranging the furniture in you room in the Pit to make the room more user friendly – but the room is remains located right in the centre of the Pit.

Don’t use the music to rearrange the furniture in the Pit.

Use the music for its intended purpose – getting rid of the mad mess of thoughts in your head so you can walk away from the Pit and never go back.

You can do it.

Give it a try.

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Tomorrow I will tell you more about the practical tools I use to help me leave the Pit of Despair.