Hi Everybody,
There's been a little hiatus, I've been so busy with a writing commission, but here goes with episode 48, working title...Getting to grips with the practice. Because it is obviously so important there is an extended and more detailed version of this chapter in Appendix B in the book. all I set out to do here is to give someone who hasn't come across Nichiren Buddhism before, a general understanding of what the practice is about so that the word doesn't trouble them whenever it pops up, as it has already of course many times. I am all too keenly aware of that.
' So the elements of the practice of Nichiren Buddhism may be expressed in various ways, but if we sqeeze it down to it's essentials there are three, namely chanting, study, and taking action. So let's spend this episode looking at chanting. The primary element of the practice is chanting the phrase Nam Myoho Renge Kyo. Chanting out loud that is rather than repeating a mantra silently withinm one's head as in meditation. The phrase itself is the title in classical Japanese of the Lotus Sutra, and some of its manifold meanings are explained in greater detail in Appendix. The first thing you notice is that it is of course a physical action rather than primarily a mental one, so it has clear physiological effects. You are for example moving considerable volumes of air in and out of the lungs, and that tends to stimulate the circulation, so it feels pleasant, indeed there are many who say it's very good for the complexion because it sets the skin tingling! Certainly people tend to look stimulated, blooming even, after a chanting session. But above all it is the sound that has the greatest effect. To hear a group of people chanting in unison is altogether an uplifting experience, and that seems to be the case, whether or not you happen to be a practising Buddhist. Just to give a very brief example, I was visiting a friend recently who was very sick in hopsital, in intensive care in fact, and I sat just chanting very quietly beside his bed for half an hour or so as he slept. As I was leaving, some visitors from a nearby bed came up to me and asked me what that beautiful sound was.
There is no set time, nor any set period for chanting. As with so many other aspects of the Buddhist practice, that is entirely up to the individual. It's your life, so you can chant for as long or as little as you can manage before you have to dash out of the door to work. The practice is immensely flexible, to fit in with the demands of modern life. But normally we would chant twice a day. In the morning, to launch us into the day with a positive, generous, up-beat life state...we seethings as we are remember...so we seek that positive life state to shape our perception of our environment. In the evenings we are chanting basically in the spirit of gratitude for the day that we've had, whatever it has been like. If it's been good there is plenty to be grateful for ( and gratitude is a powerfully life-enhancing attitude ). If it's been altogether a bad hair day, then the chanting will help us to lift our life state to so that we can get over the frustrations and tackle tomorrow with more confidence.
And I should emphasise that those aren't just casual claims. Not in any way. They are very much an account of my own experience, and that of many others. Many people for example find that they are at their lowest ebb first thing in the morning, not for any particular reason, just because that happens to be their natural rhythm. They fidn that just 20 or 30 minutes of strong and focused chanting before they dash out of the door can really lift their spirits enough to put a smile on their face and an extra bounce in their step. And even a few minutes, if it is properly focused, can have a noticeable effect on how they feel. As daisaku Ikeda has expressed it,
' The on-going moment -to-moment transformation in our hearts and minds that we achieve through chanting daimoku not only leads to a fundamental inner change, but a change in the entire way we live our lives.' ( Daimoku is the phrase Nam Myoho Renge Kyo )
And as we can all understand, as with any form of practice in any field of endeavour, the key thing is the regularity, the daily-ness of the practice. Chanting is no different. Better ten minutes twice a day than an hour every other Friday morning. What do we think about while we're chanting? That's a good question, and it raises an important issue. In general I think mit's true to say that the western world doesn't place a great deal of value on repetitive chanting, mainly because it's clearly not part of our cultural tradition, but also because it's commonly regarded as a sort of mindless activity, as if we were taking the brain out of gear.
But that of course is precisely the point. It is a time to clear the mind, and give the intellect, the fat controller so to speak, a rest. To allow other immensely valuable bits of the psyche to emerge. So the intention is not to think, but to listen to the sound, relax into the rhythm, enjoy the chanting for its own sake. The time for thought is before you start, what do you want to chant about, and after you have finished when the mind is clear and the spirit is high, and you are deciding on what action you need to take, if any. '
So that's a brief look at chanting. Next time we look at some very interesting research carried out by Herbert Benson at Harvard in this area, and we move on to look at what we might chant for.
Hope to see you then.
William
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