Question: I can be lifted and made to feel peaceful, or even get anxious or angry, all depending on what I listen to. What is it about music, old or new, that triggers such powerful emotions in a person?

Answer: For centuries, true music has been used in schools and monasteries to help seekers awaken. Music is vibration, so it is more readily taken in by the willing and receptive spirit, and the vibrations themselves can be elevating, thereby temporarily altering the state of the listener. On the other hand, much of the music today sows the seed of either sentiment or conflict. To cancel any wrong state born in us through unconscious identification with certain of these vibratory states, we must learn how to watch ourselves while we listen to music. We must notice, consciously, its effect on ourselves. This higher awareness will keep us awake to what the music is “making” of us.