Buddhism- How to Chant

A Buddhist chant is a great way to connect with oneself and with others on many levels.  You might wonder what it is, or how to do it?    There are many answers to these questions.  

First, you can chant alone or with others.  Both have its benefits and its rules.  The effects are different for both and it's a good idea to do both, if you can.

Buddhist chant when alone is the easiest.  All you need is your throat, mouth, tongue and ears.  You can do it in the car while driving (my favorite) in your shower or while walking the dog, if you're not afraid of looking out of place.

 In it's basic form, you just empty your mind, recites your chosen Buddhist chant  (or one assigned by a teacher) the number of time required.  It is important not to shout it as you will strain your vocal cords and shouting has nothing in it to calm your mind.  The ideal volume of voice is the one you would use to talk to someone accross the table from you during dinner.  

If you are in a place where there are others in ear range, you can sub-vocalize your mantras.  You lose the benefits  the sound waves has on your body but the calming and meditative effects remain.



'Praying without nenju lacks respect and is like grabbing 
the Buddha with your hands.' 
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rennyo        (1415-1499 )

Some people use a nenju, a set of beads or a rosary to count the number of times they recite the mantra.  Usually these rosaries have 108 koshu beads  (children beads) used to count the mantras.  There are also 2 boshu (parent beads) splitting the 108 beads in 2 sets of 54.   You don't count them when you chant your mantras.  Each sect has its own style, for example the Shingon school (depicted here) has extra smaller beads used as counters and extra strings attached to it.  It is stored as seen in the picture above.

I recently found this great book on Buddhist chants on Amazon and warmly recommend it to anyone interested in chanting.

 

Group Chanting

Group chanting has many advantages.  When I went to massage school, one of the teachers used to make us meditate at the beginning of the day and sometimes we would do heart-chants as she called it.  We would sit in a circle and sing a single sustained vowel sound.  The hamonics of it were incredible.  You can feel the vibrations enter your body when you sing on the exact same note as someone else.  It's a great way of entering in harmony with someone else.  

The Chinese Taoists called it resonnance.  A string played on a guitar will make the same string vibrate on another guitar.  The effects are magical.

Chanting mantras in group is good to create a group dynamic, harmony and share your energy with others and receive energy from them.  Elder, more experienced members of the group can also lead by example on the correct pronunciation of the mantra and on the speed and tempo to use.

Usually there is a leader in the group that will keep track of the duration, will decide when to change the mantra, or in the case of sutras, some parts are reserved for the leader, like the introduction part which serves as an announcement.

The most experienced person should usually be the leader.

That's it!  Enjoy chanting and its benefits on your soul, mind and body.


Here is a question asked by a reader and my answer:  What to chant to make other people happy?


If you missed it, go here to learn about what is Buddhist chant

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