Chanting

annoy-you-must SG

How does chanting mantras and sutras help us? (As in, how does it help, not how can it help or in what way does it help)

Some say that chanting mantras such as the six-syllabled mantra can help us get rid of the impurities of our body, mind and speech. There's also a saying that chanting the Heart Sutra in times of trouble will invoke the help of Bodhisattva such as Avalokiteshavra.

But it's no different from the teachings of other religion at all. Praying to God in times of trouble and he'll help you. Pray to God when you're lost and he'll guide you.

What makes Buddhist mantras/sutras more powerful than the prayers of other religion?

And isn't it true that with great faith, anything that we chant, even nonsensical sounds, can give us more confidence and let us feel more settled? It's all psychological isn't it?

Is it better to actually spend our time reflecting on the teachings of the Buddha so that we can apply those teachings when we meet problems in our daily lives, or is it better to chant a sutra (even when we don't actually understand what that sutra is talking about) hoping that someone powerful will help us, or that miracles will happen?

sinweiy SG

sincere (until a level of samathi/steadfast) and it'll work. sort of Will power.

even heard the story of this old lady who was given to recite the six-syllabled mantra by a monk but she couldn't recognised the last character and read the side of the character as "nu"(cow). so day by day she recited Om Mani Padme Nu...Om Mani Padme Nu...while counting beans. when time past, she reached a level of samathi and this beans start jumping by itself. her chanting worked.
one day the monk came to her and realised that she had recited 'wrongly', so she change to om mani padme hum, but this time the bean stop hopping. it had somehow interuted her practice per se.

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An Eternal Now SG

As I wrote before:

"so my master say b4... chanting sutra is good but not as good as understanding sutra, but understanding sutra is not as good as practicing/'xing' the sutra, and that is still not as good as 'zheng'/realise/attain the essence of the sutra

so we shldnt just chant and chant... we must understand but not just understand theoretically

most impt is we must practice accordingly, and then realise the truth for ourselves"

But if you don't understanding the sutra yet, chanting is still good -- it plants a seed. One day you will suddenly realise it. So chanting is also important. As remembrance of the teachings, to plant good seeds in our mind, and also is a form of creating merits. But we must not stop at chanting.

Now as for the values of chanting Buddha Name, we should understand that chanting is by itself a meditative technique to develope samadhi. Therefore it is a meditation in itself. It is definitely not just 'praying for divine intervention'.

There are many other benefits that can be seen in our daily lives --

http://www.jenchen.org.sg/vol7no2e.htm

1. We often hear of Buddhism practitioners chanting Amitabha Buddha; what is the meaning of Amitabha?

Amitabha means infinite brightness, infinite life and infinite merits. Indeed, it means infinity of all that is good. Generally, people only know that Teacher of the Western Pure Land (or Western Paradise) is Amitabha Buddha. But they do not know that they also have within themselves a Pure Land and Amitabha. This is known as the 'Pure Land of the Mind' and the 'Own-Nature Amitabha'.

2. Since we also have Amitabha Buddha in our mind, how should we cultivate so that we can manifest our Own-nature Amitabha?

i. If somebody scolds me with unkind words, I shall respond by saying "Amitabha Buddha". By this, not only am I not accepting the abuse, in contrast the infinite brightness that illumines with the recital of "Amitabha Buddha" eliminates the darkness brought by the abuse.

ii. If somebody gives me a present, I shall say "Amitabha Buddha". By this I mean, "thank you very much". Therefore, not only do we have infinite brightness in our heart, by virtue of giving the giver shall have infinite blessings and merits as well. In this way, we are in spiritual union with Amitabha Buddha.

iii. If I see someone who is well endowed, good-looking, kind and peaceful, I shall remark "Amitabha Buddha". By this, I congratulate the person for having such attributes similar to the Amitabha Buddha. I compliment him as Amitabha Buddha to mean that he is similarly well endowed.

iv. If I see a student studying, I shall say "Amitabha Buddha". It is also acceptable if you say that he is very hardworking or very clever. However, sometimes an intelligent person may be fooled by his own intelligence. There is no guarantee that a student who does well in his studies now will definitely grow up to be good. But, when we use the name "Amitabha Buddha" to compliment him, then we evoke the brightness to illumine in him. Not only will he do well in his studies and his career, he will also be a Bodhisattva when he grows up, or even become Buddha someday.

v. If we happen to pass by an abattoir, a place where pigs, cows or other animals are slaughtered, and since we understand that the effect of the karma of killing is rebirth in the realm of hell, and we make a verbal comment to that effect, is it appropriate? While we do not know whether the person who is committing the killing will be reborn in hell, but when we speak of hell, we immediately strike a resonance with hell. Because suffering and darkness prevail in hell, at the mention of the word, we have already struck an accord with suffering and darkness. If we say "Amitabha Buddha" instead, then brightness spontaneously illumines in our mind and the image of the abattoir will not take root in our mind.

vi. If we come across two parties bickering, quarrelling or fighting with each other, we do not join in. By our participation, we plant the cause to be reborn in the realm of the Asura, which is not a desirable thing. We only need to have Amitabha Buddha in our mind and say "Amitabha Buddha" just once, and then in future we will not be in spiritual union with the beings of the Asura realm.

vii. If we chance on seeing some traders in the market cheating on the scales, we immediately say "Amitabha Buddha". Because cheating arises from greed which resonates with the realm of the ghosts, it is a cause for rebirth in such a realm in future. By saying "Amitabha Buddha" just once, then not only do we not resonate with the realm of ghosts but also we are in spiritual union with Amitabha Buddha and we become illumined with infinite brightness.

viii. People in general have a curious nature. If we stumble upon someone else's secrets, we are driven by our curiosity to peek into it to find out more. If this person is committing a crime, this may spell trouble: our life may be in danger. By saying "Amitabha Buddha" in our mind and we quickly distance from it, then we are in union with all that are virtuous and bright. We do not resonate with darkness.

ix. If we come across a drowning man, of course, we save him if we have the ability. However, if we could not be of help and in the meantime someone else is saving him, we say "Amitabha Buddha". By calling out "Amitabha Buddha" just once, it strikes resonance with the drowning person and he immediately attain the brightness and accomplishment of Amitabha Buddha. Then, our mind is also in spiritual union Amitabha Buddha.

x. If a person tells you tales about someone else, those tales are not your business. The Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch states, "I see someone engaging in gossip-mongering, I do not participate. If I participate in the gossiping, then I have done wrong." That the person is wrong is his own business. Your participation means that you have also done wrong. If this person speaks a lot of ills about another person and in the end you say just once "Amitabha Buddha", that is good enough. If you participate in the gossiping, this person may go around speaking ill of you too. But, when you say "Amitabha Buddha", then you are in resonance with brightness and that person would not be able to invent gossips and speak ill of you. Therefore, "Amitabha Buddha" is indeed really very useful. Regardless of whether the situation is good, bad or neither good nor bad, when we say "Amitabha Buddha", our mind will be at ease and we attain brightness, and in this way we resonate with brightness.

(continued in the URL)

annoy-you-must SG

So it's just like what i've said, isn't it? have 'faith' and 'sincerity', anything you chant will seem to be powerful to you, even nonsensical phrases.

apples are fast. oranges are luminous.

justdoit77 SG

Chanting of mantra is a form of practicing, a practitioner not only need to accumulate dharma knowledge by attending dharma talk, he need to practice the dharma.
In the past, the buddha and bodhisatva has made a vow that whoever chant certain mantra or his name will benefit from it, so the power and blessings comes from their vows.
I once had a very scary nightmare, then when I chant buddha amitabha name, the whole scary scene disappear. That was when I haven't developed string faith in the mantra yet. If one has developed faith over a mantra, the effect is even greater.
We all know that sometimes even a lay person saying some nice words in front of a glass of water, the water molecule will change to a better form, not to mention blessing or vows from a fully enlightened beings.

Some mantras are summary of certain dharma door and practice that when you chant it, you are indirectly giving dharma talks to the unseen beings.
They will listen to it, if condition are right, even liberate from the lower realms.
Some of them might be your debtors that reside in your body, upon hearing the chanting, will feel grateful of you and stop creating various illness or problems to you.
If at the end of the chanting session, you dedicate the merits to all sentient beings, the benefits will be even more.

sinweiy SG

Originally posted by annoy-you-must:
So it's just like what i've said, isn't it? have 'faith' and 'sincerity', anything you chant will seem to be powerful to you, even nonsensical phrases.

apples are fast. oranges are luminous.

hmm, depends, maybe at least need to give it some meaning or link toward the realisation of the mind.
ever come across the Story of Culapanthaka during Buddha's time?
He chanted "taking on impurity".

Verse 25

II (3) The Story of Culapanthaka

While residing at the Veluvana monastery, the Buddha uttered Verse (25) of this book, with reference to Cillapanthaka, a grandson of a banker of Rajagaha.

The banker had two grandsons, named Mahapanthaka and Culapanthaka. Mahapanthaka, being the elder, used to accompany his grandfather to listen to religious discourses. Later, Mahapanthaka joined the Buddhist religious Order and in course of time became an arahat. Culapanthaka followed his brother and became a bhikkhu. But, because in a previous existence in the time of Kassapa Buddha Culapanthaka had made fun of a bhikkhu who was very dull, he was born a dullard in the present existence. He could not even memorize one verse in four months. Mahapanthaka was very disappointed with his younger brother and even told him that he was not worthy of the Order.

About that time, Jivaka came to the monastery to invite the Buddha and the resident bhikkhus to his house for a meal. Mahapanthaka, who was then in charge of assigning the bhikkhus to meal invitations, left out Culapanthaka from the list. When Culapanthaka learnt about this he felt very much frustrated and decided that he would return to the life of a householder. Knowing his intention, the Buddha took him along and made him sit in front of the Gandhakuti hall. He then gave a clean piece of cloth to Culapanthaka and told him to sit there facing east and rub the piece of cloth. At the same time he was to repeat the word "Rajoharanam", which means "taking on impurity." The Buddha then went to the residence of Jivaka, accompanied by the bhikkhus.

Meanwhile, Culapanthaka went on rubbing the piece of cloth, all the time muttering the word "Rajoharanam". Very soon, the cloth became soiled. Seeing this change in the condition of the cloth, Culapanthaka came to realize the impermanent nature of all conditioned things. From the house of Jivaka, the Buddha through super normal power learnt about the progress of Culapanthaka. He sent forth his radiance so that (to Culapanthaka) the Buddha appeared to be sitting in front of him, saying:

"It is not the piece of cloth alone that is made dirty by the dust; within oneself also there exist the dust of passion (raga), the dust of ill will (dosa), and the dust of ignorance (moha), i.e., the ignorance of the Four Noble Truths. Only by removing these could one achieve one's goal and attain arahatship". Culapanthaka got the message and kept on meditating and in a short while attained arahatship, together with Analytical Insight. Thus, Culapanthaka ceased to be a dullard.

At the house of Jivaka, they were about to pour libation water as a mark of donation; but the Buddha covered the bowl with his hand and asked if there were any bhikkhus left at the monastery. On being answered that there were none, the Buddha replied that there was one and directed them to fetch Culapanthaka from the monastery. When the messenger from the house of Jivaka arrived at the monastery he found not only one bhikkhu, but a thousand identical bhikkhus. They all have been created by Culapanthaka, who by now possessed supernormal powers The messenger was baffled and he turned back and reported the matter to Jivaka. The messenger was sent to the monastery for the second time and was instructed to say that the Buddha summoned the bhikkhu by the name of Culapanthaka. But when he delivered the message, a thousand voices responded, "I am Culapanthaka." Again baffled, he turned back for the second time. Then he was sent to the monastery, for the third time. This time, he was instructed to get hold of the bhikkhu who first said that he was Culapanthaka. As soon as he got hold of that bhikkhu all the rest disappeared, and Culapanthaka accompanied the messenger to the house of Jivaka. After the meal, as directed by the Buddha, Culapanthaka delivered a religious discourse confidently and bravely, roaring like a young lion.

Later, when the subject of Culapanthaka cropped up among the bhikkhus, the Buddha said that one who was diligent and steadfast in his striving would certainly attain arahatship.

http://geocities.com/dhammapada2all/dhammapada1.html

as for mantra, spirits and devas are involve as well. spirits and devas must also know what u are reciting before they can help or use their spiritual powers. and they also see ur level of cultivation. if u cultivate no good, they will only mock at u.

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