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Chanting

 The chanting of mantras or sacred syllables as part of the path to realization
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    Get Outta My Head Paid Member

    By Elizabeth Gilbert
    Meditating at an Indian ashram, ELIZABETH GILBERT struggles to keep it together with no help from her brain. The following morning, I arrive right on time for the 4:00 a.m. meditation session that always starts the day here. We are meant to sit for an hour in the silence, but I log the minutes as if they were miles—sixty brutal miles that I have to endure. By mile/minute fourteen, my nerves have started to go, my knees are breaking down, and I’m overcome with exasperation. Which is understandable, given that the conversations between me and my mind during meditation generally go something like this: Me: Okay, we’re going to meditate now. Let’s draw our attention to our breath and focus on the mantra. Om namah Shivaya. Om namah Shiv— Mind: I can help you out with this you know! Me: Okay, good, because I need your help. Let’s go. Om namah Shivaya. Om namah Shi - More »
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    A Right to the Dharma Paid Member

    Many Westerners who have some familiarity with Nichiren Buddhism conflate the whole of the tradition with Soka Gakkai International (SGI), the most widely practiced Nichiren sect in America. But Nichiren Buddhism is not just SGI. More than two dozen non-SGI sects of Nichiren Buddhism collaborate under an umbrella organization called Nichiren Shu. Curious about these other faces of Nichiren, Linda Heuman spoke with Myokei Caine-Barrett, Shonin, a Nichiren Shu priest and the resident teacher at Myoken-ji, a temple in Houston, Texas. More »
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    As American as Apple Pie? Paid Member

    By Sandy McIntosh
    "THIS IS VULGAR," A. pronounced loudly into my ear. "This is vulgarity itself." We were standing under an arch in the gymnasium of a public school in Manhattan in June 1971. Fifteen clean-cut, energetic young men were waving their arms about vigorously, leading the audience in a song called "Have a Gohonzon,"* set to the Jewish song "Havah Nagila": Have a Gohonzon, Have a Gohonzon Have a Gohonzon, Chant jar awhile. You'll find your life will be Full oj vitality, Watching your benefits Grow in a pile ... More »
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    The Buddha of Infinite Light and Life Paid Member

    By Jeff Wilson
                                             Taitetsu Unno, professor emeritus of religious studies at Smith College, is one of the major figures in post–World War II American Jodo Shinshu Buddhism. Besides his numerous scholarly publications on Buddhism, his books River of Fire, River of Water: An Introduction to the Pure Land Tradition of Shin Buddhism (Doubleday, 1998) and Shin Buddhism: Bits of Rubble Turn into Gold (Doubleday, 2002) have helped many people to discover the riches of this major Buddhist tradition. More »
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    The Form of Compassion Paid Member

    By Sherab Gyaltsen Rinpoche
    It is said that the Enlightened Ones possessed of the omniscient eye of wisdom can state with certainty exactly how many drops of water have fallen during an uninterrupted twelve-year rainfall but that they cannot calculate the benefit that comes from a single sincere, perfectly focused, and pure recitation of the six-syllable mantra of Chenrezi, the Bodhisattva of Compassion: Om mani padme hung. Chenrezi, the Bodhisattva of Compassion. The goal of deity practice is to develop qualities that mirror those represented by the deity. Avalokiteshvara (detail) Dorje and Sunlal Talang, 2006 © Robert Beer More »