Tinnitus is a dreadful disorder (for those who endure it) but it does offer one advantage: effortless concentration, for one’s attention cannot depart from it even if it tried (and it does try oh so very often). So how can we exploit this meditative advantage?

During each inhalation we could mentally recite the slogan “Hearing this…” and during each exhalation we could mentally recite “relaxing!” Just as a kitty cat will not forever nap but yawn and stretch and prepare for zoomies, likewise our mind will rouse its creative and analytical energies. They can then be harnessed by playing with three rhetorical questions and a compassionate intention:

.

.

.

FIRST dukkha’s rhetorical question “How could this… feel stressful?”,

SECOND karuna’s intention “All beings’ stress… may I soothe!”,

THIRD anicca’s rhetorical question “How could this… always change?”, and

FOURTH anatta’s rhetorical question “How could this… NOT be me?

.

.

.

Practice four rounds of each contemplation before moving on to the next, after which you could return to your meditation “Hearing this… relaxing!” You could start with a five minute session every twelve hours, increasing it, by five minutes, every week. In three months you too could meditate like a Jedi. _/\_