Upāsaka

The seventh of the Eight Precepts (attha-sila) says the following: I undertake the precept to refrain from dancing, singing, music, going to see entertainments, wearing garlands, using perfumes, and beautifying the body with cosmetics (emphasis mine).

Lay Buddhist practitioners will observe this precept on lunar observance days, as will those undertaking a meditation retreat.

Depending on your lifestyle, you may or may not be able to follow all the restrictions of the seventh precept on a daily basis. However, the part about abstaining from music is possible for most people and quite beneficial.

Music plays many roles in human culture, but there is one specific one that is best to refrain from, which is listening to music as entertainment, to distract the mind, or to escape reality.

When you wear headphones, listening to your favorites songs during your daily commute to work, whether by foot or by train, you miss out on listening to everything else around you. When you take off the headphones, other sounds are perceived as background noise. But if you listen carefully, there are sounds that you might not appreciate enough, like birds chirping in a specific manner or the sounds of rain cascading off a nearby roof. Listening to the same music over and over, you miss the chance to listen to other beautiful sounds that you might come to appreciate even more than your favorite music.

Have you ever had a song stuck in your head? This can prevent you from bringing your full attention to a task at hand, decreasing your performance. It's that constant reminder of the music you listen to that comes into your mind even when not listening to music, and it distracts your mind from whatever demands your full focus.

On a practical level, a habit of listening to music can cost you. Unless you download all your music for free or listen to FM radio (which by the way still costs you in terms of the time taken to listen to advertisements), you probably pay for a streaming service or buy the songs themselves. At $10 per month, Spotify may not seem like much, but taking into consideration all the other monthly bills you might have, it adds on to the pile while possibly not providing as much value as other services—after all, it's just entertainment and not necessary for a comfortable life.

Why am I writing this? About six years ago, I had a music listening habit. Rather than doing things simply because I've always done them, I like to revisit and question my habits regularly. Does this add value to my life? Is it worth the time I put into it? With music, the answer was no. To my surprise, I don't miss (actively) listening to music at all, considering how much I liked it before. In fact, I don't think I've turned on the radio in my car for several years.