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Chanting |
The chanting of mantras or sacred syllables as part of the path to realization |
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The Form of Compassion
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 » -
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The Heart Sutra
THE GREAT PRAJNA PARAMITA HEART SUTRA Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva doing deep Prajna Paramita Perceived the emptiness of all five conditions, and was freed of pain.O Sariputra, form is no other than emptiness, emptiness no other than form;Form is precisely emptiness, emptiness precisely form;Sensation, perception, reaction and consciousness are also like this.O Sariputra, all things are expressions of emptiness, not born, not destroyed,Not stained, not pure; neither waxing nor waning.Thus emptiness is not form; not sensation nor perception, reaction nor consciousness;No eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind;No color, sound, smell, taste, touch, thingNo realm of sight, no realm of consciousnessNo ignorance, no end to ignoranceNo old age and death, no cessation of old age and death More » -
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Mantra: Tool for Thinking
The Sanskrit word mantra combines the root man (“to think”) with the suffix tra (“instrument” or “tool”). Therefore, mantra means literally “tool for thinking.” Since earliest Buddhist times, the repetition of sacred phrases has been used as an aid for meditation - to purify and focus the mind, to offer devotion or thanks, and to protect and nurture the spiritual activity of a particular person or place. Some authors differentiate between bijas, or “seed syllables” (pure sounds, such as om); “mixed” mantra, which combine bijas with words having translatable meanings; and dharanis (phrases that are similar in function to mantras but can be translated word for word). Though some traditions lay claim to the ultimate mantra - the one that includes or surpasses all others - in most cases such claims can be taken simply as an expression of profound appreciation by those who practice and take them to heart. More » -
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What’s in a Mantra?
SO YOU’RE SITTING there, reciting the Heart Sutra, either the long version or the short version. Perhaps you do so every day. It has been recited millions of times over the centuries, without the person reciting it necessarily paying much attention to the meaning (whatever that might mean). But today, let’s imagine that you do. After dutifully negating each of the major categories of Buddhist philosophy (“no eye constituent up to and including no mental consciousness constituent, no ignorance, no extinction of ignorance, no aging and death up to and including no extinction of aging and death. More » -
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Chanting For Stuff
A common criticism I hear of Nichiren Buddhists, and of Soka Gakkai International members in particular, is that we practice Buddhism for material gain, to get stuff. Well, we do, but it’s a good thing. Really. I was raised a Buddhist and, as such, have a pretty good grasp on the idea of the impermanence of all things. I try to look beneath the surface and identify deeper significance and the connections between things. But even with this perspective, I still live in human society. I am still a human being, subject to all the potential emotional entanglements and flare-ups that brings. Try as I may to focus on the fact that the jerk who cut me off on the freeway is really a manifestation of my own sense of helplessness about my environment, on a bad day he remains the jerk who cut me off. More »
