Meditation Rocks! » Chanting

What to Think When Chanting and How Long To Chant

King Sidharth — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 13:45:33 +0000

With all the wonderful emails and comments that I am receiving, above all – the awesome questions, I thought I will answer them in posts so everyone can enjoy the discussion. Here is recent one by Bev on our post Basic of Chanting:

Question:

I’ve practiced chanting Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo very inconsistently for about 4 years. Some benefits I’ve noticed include an improved mood and new opportunities. Recently, I’ve found myself surrounded by conditions I wish to change drastically and swiftly. So, I have two questions:

When I chant, am I suppose to be visualizing what I want or am I to be clear minded and maybe focus on the sound of the chant?
How many hours per day should one try to chant in order to effect drastic change is his/her life.

Answer:

Dear Bev,

You’ve been doing a really wonderful, effective and powerful practice. It’s life changing really.

When you are chanting there is no need of thinking anything, just focus on chanting. Feel the sounds and vibrations arising. If you’re not thinking about a negative thought, your vibration is going to rise to its natural positive place. That’s the basis of chanting. It is good to think thoughts that feel good but only if they come naturally. Don’t force yourself to think something, if it’s positive then let it be and if it isn’t just let go and focus on chanting.Example: You are chanting and thoughts of bad things happening come to your mind, don’t force yourself to turn them around – just focus on Nam Myho Renge Kyo or Ghonzon (if you are praying to Ghonzon). Other case if the thoughts of good things come naturally then let it be.
Effective time starts with 5-10 minutes to make it a habit. Once it is a regular habit then you will find your own time period of change. You will feel like chanting in middle of something and you will go on for hours sometimes and some other days just three Daimoku’s will be enough. (Chanting Nam-Myho-Ho-Renge-Kyo is called Daimoku).So just focus on making it a habit, you will find your perfect timing yourself. You will ‘feel like it’.

I hope that answers your questions and with every answer comes more questions so feel free to ask if there are any other questions. Questions are not only welcome but wanted here.

I will try and go into details in next few posts on chanting.

Off To Readers

I know I have wonderfully knowledgeable readers so please feel free to add to this conversation. If this discussion has provoked a question in you (may be a silly one) then go ahead and say it! Ask it! I am expecting good discussion in the comments. Let’s explore!

Photo Credi: Monk with Prayer Beads, Lhasa, Tibet by kevincure, on Flickr

Chanting for Beginners

King Sidharth — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 17:58:56 +0000

If you were not living under the rock all these years of your life I am sure you’d have heard about ‘Chanting’. Well in case you were here is a brief explanation:

Chanting is repeating a sound or a phrase, usually called ‘mantra’ (with last ‘a’ silent) in eastern traditions. The mantra is repeated again and again (often verbally and sometimes in mind).

Personal Experience with Chanting

Chanting has proved to me miraculous in my own life. Yes I am using the word ‘miracle’ here. I’ve started out from chanting ‘Aum’ or ‘Om‘ then switched to ‘Gayatri Mantra’ and then tried many others and nowadays I am chanting ‘Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo’ – as practiced in Nichiren Daishonin’s Buddhism (based on The Lotus Sutra). And it’s been really effective. More on all these some other day but let’s explore chanting for now.

Who Can Chant?

Anyone can practice chanting because overall it’s a non-religious practice just like meditation. Teens, Parents of 3, Old, Wrinkled, Young, Shabby, Tired, Confused anyone!

Benefits of Chanting

The benefits of chanting are pretty much same as meditation but to be specific:

Chanting helps you improve your control over mind.
Clarity of thoughts
Spiritual awareness increases – you will begin to notice good things that you never did.
Curiosity increases
Patience and peace of mind increases

Plus there are many more benefits depending on the mantra/affirmation you are using.

Mantras for Chanting

You can pick up any mantra on the fly or even use an affirmation but it works really good if you use one of the tried and tested mantras which are really powerful. I’ve listed some of the easiest one here:

Om Mani Padme Hum (Popular Buddhist Chant)
Nam Myoho Renge Kyo (Nichiren Daishonin’s Buddhism – The Lotus Sutra)
Aum / Om (Universal Sound)
Shri Hari (Beautiful God)
Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare

You can choose anyone, or maybe use your affirmation.

How to Chant

There are many ways to chant. Some are specific to traditions, mantras used etc. Here I am going to share my own.

So let’s be seated in your meditation corner, or anywhere you won’t be disturbed.
Set your alarm clock to 5-10 min if you are just beginning or longer if you are already practicing meditation since quiet a time.
Take 2-3 deep breathes and began chanting the mantra.
To those who are new to meditation, this might feel odd. Chanting something you don’t even know the meaning of, but have patience you get used to it. Remember people even chant in public and groups – practice.
Decide the pace that suits you usually it pace is between 1-5 beats/syllable per second. But again, do what suits you.
When alarm clock rings, don’t just close it off. Chant the mantra 3 more times only elongate the time period for each repetition this time.
Take 2 deep breathes and that’s all.

Chanting During Meditation

If you would like to chant in meditation try this:

When you have reached the state of meditation, just hmm the mantra in mind.
It will be like a ripple in calm water and reflect again and again like echo.
Enjoy the reverbs and echo, witness the power of your mind.
Continue/Conclude the Meditation as you normally do.

How it Works

There is much more to power of Chanting than science or language can explain. Though I will try:

Mantras usually produce sound/vibration that transforms the body-mind chemistry. It works like the pill you take and then it get’s in blood stream and reaches every part of body though here there is no pill and chemicals and vibration are that of your own.

Chanting, being monotonous, make the conscious mind transcend to less dominant state and your natural being comes up and you communicate to and through your sub-conscious mind. And rhythm set’s a tone for discipline.

Let’s Discuss Further

Before we discuss anything, I’ve just added a video of Hart Sutra Chanting, listen to it and see for yourself how enchanting can chanting be.

So go ahead comment what do you think about chanting, do you have something to share? Also let me know if you are already chanting – share your experience and mantra (if possible). And after you practice it, do let me know how you feel. So let’s discuss, all questions are welcome. I will try to answer them all, – let’s interact people!

Photo Credit:8B3street-chorten-jan1 by Liz Highleyman, on Flickr

Book Review: How to Meditate by Paul Roland

King Sidharth — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 20:42:17 +0000

Combat Stress and Harness the Power of Positive Thought

I’ve been waiting to review a book on Meditation Rocks. I usually read several books each month on topics ranging from geekish technology to spiritual insights. I thought why not share some reviews with you. Please note that this post contains affiliate links to Amazon. That means if you buy the book clicking through this post, I will get some bucks. Certainly not enough to buy a ticket to USA but enough to buy a new book to review, so it’s a win-win situation.

Today I want to review book titled ‘How to Meditate – Combat Stress and Harness The Power of Positive Thought’. The book explores many aspects of meditation and many techniques. The author Paul Roland has written several books on the subject including Meditation Solutions.

The Book

The book is very well designed, easy to read, basic language. It’s full of insightful quotations and numerous techniques which you can explore this holiday season. The book is visually reach and talks sense and straight forward without diving much into why and stuff it, encourages you to explore it yourself.

Unlike so many other books on meditation that I’ve read, it touches many aspects of meditation from a beginner’s point of view. You will not be disappointed if you know nothing about meditation. And if you know something, this is the next step. Here are some topics that the book covers:

Benefits of Meditation
Why Meditate?
Postures
Mindfulness
Healing through meditation
Visualization
Mantras and Chanting
Music for Meditation
The Chakras
Positive Thinking
Much, much, much more

So overall it’s an amazing book. In each chapter you will find basic to advance ‘step-by-step’ technique with useful suggestions and tips. Not to mention the awesome quotes author as complied.

What I disliked

The very subtitle of the book seems to contradict the topic of the book. Combat? Thoughts? That’s not meditation! Often the author mentions putting ‘mind into meditation’. Dude, there is no mind in meditation.

The reason is quiet clear, the book was targeted for people with western mindset to many of them these idea of being without mind and not fighting against what you don’t want may seem absurd.

The topic of the Chakras is not at all satisfactory.

In chapter about relaxing Paul mentioned preserving mental energy, well I personally believe in abundance so it’s not wasting that is of concern here but diversion of attention.

What I Liked About The Book:

I liked the simple and effective approach of the book. He never tries to invade your mind or imposes something on you. He is out there silently passing the knowledge and it’s more about what you perceive.

It explores so many techniques that you can go on a meditation adventure. And none of them are hard, or useless. And above all he has really covered vast range of topics like colour therapy, mindfulness, healing, chanting etc.

It’s full of eye candies. The serene sceneries and descriptive image guide are very helpful to create the feel or sense of mediation.

The topics: Mindfulness, Healing, Chanting, Past Life Regression, Postures and Meditation Corner are very descriptive and makes the book ‘Highly Recommended’.

Who Should Read It?

Everyone! Right from beginners to meditation teachers, I will recommend this book to everyone. You will learn a lot if you don’t know anything or know a thing or two. And if you are already practicing it, you will find loads and loads of interesting and useful techniques. If you want to start living a rocking life. The time is now.

Excerpt from the Book:

“Millman observed, ‘You don’t have to control your thoughts, you just have to stop letting them control you.’ He likens the mind to a barking dog and says that instead of trying to subdue it we should get on with whatever we are doing and let the dog bark, because that is what dogs do.”

So go ahead, give yourself a little treat this week.

If you have read this book, please share your review with us. And yes do let me know what other thing you’d like to heat on Mediation Rocks!