Hi everybody,
When there is so much violence in the news, so much talk of war and death and destruction and revenge, when we are most likely to feel pretty impotent about what we personally can do, that's a great time I would argue to concentrate on what we can do to create value and goodwill in our own little sphere of life, among our family or friends or our colleagues at work. All the environements we move in. It doesn't have to be big stuff. Anything big or small. An expression of gratitude. An offer of support. Or encouragement. Just ordinary everyday warm and generous human interaction. We feel better. The person offered the support feels better. And so does everyone else in earshot. And do the same again tomorrow. And the next day.
Anyway, here we are back with the practice and we've been talking about the primary practice of chanting,
So what do we think about when we chant? Well the short answer I think is not a lot. The intention if you like is to become one with the rhythm of the chanting. Listen to the sound, feel the vibration, enjoy the moment for its own sake. It's a kind of relaxation. The time for focused thought is before you start, what is it you want to chant about, and after you have finished, when the mind is very clear, and you are deciding what action you might want to take if any. What do we chant for? We are chanting essentially to tap into this potential within our own lives that will enable us to achieve a higher life state. Remember, as both Buddhism and modern psychology teach us, it's our life state that governs how we think and how we feel and therefore, to a large extent, how we act. So tha tthe higher our life state, the more fully and creatively we can live the day, and that is the underlying thought.
But the fact is that you can chant for any goal you wish to achieve, either in the short or long term of your life, and the lives of those around you. In my experience people don't often start chanting because they want to ' save the planet' so to speak, or rarely. They are much more likely to start chanting for reasons that are much closer and more personal, and for material as well as spiritual concerns. Buddhism is daily life remember, and those are elements of all our days. So it might be for a more bouyant spiritfor example, or more self-confidence in relationships. But it might also be for a better house, or a better job, better health, or just a happy and successful day. Many people chant for these and other utterly normal worldly desires every day of the week. They are very much part of our ordinary humanity.
But there are two key points to bear in mind. One is that we are of course chanting for the courage and the wisdom and the compassion to emerge in our lives so that we ourselves can take the action we need, to achieve these goals in our life, in a value-creating way. And the second is that as we go on chanting on a daily basis, so the practice steadily deepens and broadens our view of what it is that we really want to achieve, to enhance our lives and the lives of those around us, and how we might set about achieving those broader goals. So you might say, the inmitial desires serve as the seed, or the primary cause, that drives us towards a greater self-knowledge. It is in that sense that earthly desires may be said to lead to self-enlightenment.
That's it for today. I'll be back next week.
Hope to see you then.
Meanwhile hope you feel that you are creating value in and around your life.
Best wishes,
William
The Case for Buddhism is available on Amazon in paperback and on Kindle as a download
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