Tag Archives: chanting

Daily Buddhism

Why all the Chanting?

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Question:

A caller phoned in a question to the Voicemail Hotline: 937-660-4949:
Can you talk about chanting? It seems that many different sects do it. Why?

Answer:

Well, you are right in that Buddhism has a lot of chanting, but that’s not really exclusive. If you think about it, just about all religions do chanting in some form. If you listen to Muslim or Christian services, you’ll often hear chanting. Whether it’s the ‚ÄúLord’s Prayer‚Äù or the ‚ÄúAdhan,‚Äù the Islamic Call to Prayer, chanting and religion go hand in hand. And yes, Buddhists do it too.

Why?

The majority of Buddhist chants are not prayers, since asking a god for intervention is not really the way of Buddhism. While we have seen in the past that prayer does exist in Buddhism, it’s not really related to chanting. Instead, most chanting is done as recitation of sutras (written works attributed to the Buddha), either to help teach the sutra or to simply keep it in mind via repetition.

Examples would be chanting the Bodhisattva vows, the three refuges, the five precepts, loving-kindness (Metta Sutta), the Heart or Diamond sutras, or the very famous nianfo of Pure Land: Namu Amida Butsu or Namo Amituofo. Sometime koans or poetry are also commonly chanted.

Generally, the purpose it to set one’s mind in a particular place for a specific ritual or meditation.

Here is a site submitted by PDXyogini that has several chants in MP3 format that you can download:
http://www.zendust.org/chantsmp3.htm

Here are some Youtube examples to enjoy:

Om Mani Padme Hum:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=633eH4yajHE

Zen Chanting:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1evxMA7yYw

Buddhist Chant: The Heart Sutra:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-c9-XaA2f00

Daily Buddhism

Chanting and Prayer on Schedule?

Question:

Should meditations or chanting be on a daily schedule?…. like the way muslims pray in the morning/evening for example.

Answer:

Not technically like Muslims, no. Muslims have to pray five times a day at very specific times. Buddhists can meditate or chant at any time, there is no rule about when to do it. Monks do have specific times of day when they must do their chanting or meditating, but even then, that’s just a schedule set by the individual monasteries or leaders.

Laypeople get more flexibility. Everyone is different; I prefer meditating in the early evenings, while some prefer to meditate every morning. Whatever works best for you is best. when you are starting out, it’s probably a good time to experiment with meditation and learn what seems to have the best effect on you.

Once you do know when your optimal time of day is, I believe that it’s a good idea to try to do it at the same time every day if you can. You get used to the routine, and your body gets used to calming down when it’s time to meditate.

Daily Buddhism, Meditation

Meditation Part 6: Mantra Meditation

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Meditation Part 6: Mantra Meditation

Some people find it easier to meditate by focusing their awareness on a sound. When meditating, they recite or chant some kind of phrase or sound repeatedly, listening to the sound, being aware of how the sound is formed, and concentrating on the sound itself.

Some sects of Buddhism rely heavily on mantra meditation. If you are assigned a mantra by a teacher, the mantra may have some meaning in Pali or Sanskrit, or it may just be a sound without meaning. Sometimes, although rarely, a mantra can be an English phrase. You may have heard the phrase, ‚ÄúOm Mani Padme Hum.‚Äú This is a very common mantra. It’s meaning is complicated, but generally involves

‚Äúthe jewel in the lotus.‚Äù The precise meaning of this mantra isn’t so important right now, the sounds of the words themselves is supposed to be powerful in itself. Another common mantra to be repeated while meditating is ‚Äúshanti,‚Äù which means ‚Äúpeace.‚Äù

Years ago, I was taught to use one, ‚ÄúAh Re Hum.‚Äù I don’t even remember what it literally means, but I know I like the way the sounds come out as I breathe the words. I breathe in on the ‚ÄúAh,‚Äù pause a second on the ‚ÄúRe,‚Äù and breathe out with the ‚ÄúHum.‚Äù It sounds a little silly, but it works. It can be very relaxing. Also, if you are especially stressed out, focusing on the sound is sometimes easier than trying to clear the mind entirely. After a while, you don’t actually have to continue to vocalize the words once you have gotten into the mindset; keep the mantra rolling over in your mind as you sit silently.

There is a lot of mysticism and religious thought behind various mantras, some sounds are “holier” than others, some are used for purification, some are for tuning into your individual energy field or the universal energy field to produce practical results. Various sects of Buddhism treat mantras with differing levels of importance. There are also variations of this style of meditation that employ song, chanting, and rhythm to assist in focusing the mind.

Om Mani Padme Hum