Music has become irrelevant. We play it in the car. We pipe it into businesses. We jog to it, do housework to it. We put it on and go about our business, never paying attention, never really listening. It's background noise, nothing more, and its true power and beauty are lost.

This meditation will restore you to the beauty and power of Journey's music. To do this, you need the following:

• About fifteen minutes of uninterrupted time, or longer.
• A cd or cassette of Journey's E5C4P3.
• A space to yourself, with something comfy to sit on

Go into your private space. Turn out the lights. Light a candle, if you want. Snuggle in. Wrap a cozy blanket around yourself. Relax. Then turn on the music and close your eyes.

Most important: DO NOTHING BUT LISTEN.

Listen. Pay attention -- REALLY pay attention. Listen to the rhythm of Steve Smith's drums, the melody of Ross's bass, the sound of the background voices; listen until you can pick out the individual Saints' voices in the choruses. Listen to Perry's voice, where he breathes and pauses and draws out the notes until his voice becomes its own instrument. Tune into Neal's fingering on the guitar strings, the swirl of Jonathan's keyboards. They are giving you a gift of music and soul -- LISTEN.

The experience becomes more powerful the longer you listen. Music is a gift; listening and receiving and understanding that gift is True Spirit.

It's not just Journey, either. Go ahead, try it with other favorite music; you hereby receive special dispensation from Vice-Pope ZenFrodo of the Holy Shrine of Journey to experiment. But most important of all:

LISTEN.