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| A story I read today which I thought was lovely so I thought I'd share it around.
The story is told about a woman zen master called Sono. She teaches one very simple method of enlightenment. She advises everyone who came to her to adopt an affirmation to be said many times a day under all conditions : 'THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING. I HAVE NO COMPLAINT WHATSOEVER'
People came to Sono for all kinds of reasons : illness, anger, pain, financial ruin... her answer is always the same : repeat that mantra. Many people went away disappointed and frustrated, but some took her message to heart and practise it. Tradition says that everyone who practises Sono's mantra found peace and healing.
( Taken from an article by Alan Cohen in Innerself )
Edited by bomberpig 2004-12-12 5:07 AM
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 2479
  
Location: A Blue State | This reminds me of the concept of "cognitive therapy" for depression.
The basic idea is to think about your situation in positive terms, rather
than dwelling on everything that is bad about your life. I've found that
approach very useful to me in dealing with difficult situations. Decide what
you can do that might improve things or prevent future mishaps, make
amends as appropriate, but don't dwell on past mistakes or guilty feelings,
and rejoice in the fact that we are all alive. |
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| Its basically a positive affirmation. Mantras are not just words or a sentence put togetheer nor simply the repeatition of such. While they are technically more than affirmations the two have a lot in common...most common feature being repetition. Repetition in of itself it not mantra proper...but a comparison with how mantra is superficially percieved. Nonetheless this positive affirmation works on similar principles . It is also similar to the attitude of not focusing all the time on the negative/complaining but on being thankful in general..realizing thing could of course be better (and even thats relative) but they could also be worse (relative as well). thus the "Sono" affirmation is a way of actualling this in a physical/verbal sense and thus can have affects us/things on an "inner" level and "outer" level . |
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| I always skip chanting at yoga class.., Still I cannot figure out the benefit of it., I really appreciate if anybody can explain it to me. This is something new to me, which I have not learnt before
Thanks a lot
Edited by Thushara 2004-12-21 7:38 AM
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 8442
 
| Chanting can be a deeply spiritual experience or it can be just another form of pranayama. Either way it is good stuff. Chanting as a group has a resonance and unifying effect that is quite wonderful. |
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| The first time I went to a Kirtan session, I found I started 'zoning out' after about 15-20 minutes. It seemed to happen more with certain mantra than others. I particularly found myself drawn to a Native American one. Is this usual?
Fee |
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| pyramidx: I totally agree with your analysis of mantras and affirmations. I would like to add that while concentrating on the mantra with a prayer-like attitude, one can gain the benefits of added merit (good karma) from reciting these syllables.
Thushara: Chanting can stimulate your pineal gland and help with concentration while meditating. Try finding a pitch that makes your whole head seem to vibrate. Use that pitch (or frequency) for a few breaths and see if you feel stimulated to focus a bit more. |
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| This reminds me of a scientific paper I read fairly recently wherein it was suggested that a cat's purring may have as much to do with self-healing as it does with communication (they didn't come to any form conclusions as it was more a discussion document rather than a research one).
Fee
redtail - 2004-12-23 11:59 AM
meditating. Try finding a pitch that makes your whole head seem to vibrate. Use that pitch (or frequency) for a few breaths and see if you feel stimulated to focus a bit more. |
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| I'm just a caveman but...
People sing and that makes them feel good. Period. Singing has numerous benefits that have only been hinted at in the scientific world but are obvious to anyone that sings in their car or in the shower or in church or on stage.
Is their a difference between chanting and singing? I think the only difference is that chanting is a more purposeful, but I think it's basically the same. Chanting is not unique to yoga. I think people are just turned off because they don't know the words...
Chanting shows up in almost all religious functions. Churches have choirs and hymnbooks. Which is a clue that it is important to your spirituality no matter what you believe.
Chanting shows up in the military. Soldiers chant while performing PT. "Your left, your left, your left, right left." "This is my rifle, this is my gun. This is for fighting, this is for fun!" That means it helps create unity and helps focus the mind and body. It has a unifying effect and also conditions the mind.
Chanting is educational. Before the invention of paper, information was often passed along through song. Each generation learned about the prior generation through the songs that were sung and the stories that were told. In fact, most children today are still educated with the use of songs.
With the invention of new technologies, secularism and pacifism/demilitarization the "need" for singing/chanting has dimished and has lost its place as a normal, everyday occurence. This is a shame because it is a part of our human condition to sing/chant. It is not only for those that are "talented." It is for everyone, but many of us have lost touch with that part of ourselves.
You don't have to chant in yoga class, but you should endevour to sing in the shower, sing in your car, join a choir, go to karoake bars, serenade a lover. Don't worry about how you sound, like with an asana the intention is more important than look of the pose. |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 8442
| >>Chanting is not unique to yoga. I think people are just turned off because they don't know the words...<< I heartily agree on this point!
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| Chanting Definition: [n] "the act of singing in a monotonous tone". This brings to mind the various chants...e.g. Tibetian healing chants, The Geogorian Chants. In contrast, generally, singing can vary widely; not restricted to monotone. Similarly there can be very long..song like mantras. You can sing or say almost anyting in monotone or in repetition but its not necessarily as mantra since the latter often follows a particular history, formula of constrution, and execution to name a few. Its not to say that singing does not or talking but the purposes and intent are different. Popular singing is seen today more for entertainment value than the deeper aspects...though the effects may be felt more or less depending on certain things. Pronouciation, intent, content, context, syntax..and such are important keys to the use and roots of mantra. Though they are not necessarily missing from popular singing or chanting. Mantra is more or less a matter of formula. Chanting is an action we do with the mantra itself just as thinking is what you do with the brain..movement with the body and so forth in the gross/basic sense. Translation and different languages can really reroute the originality of a mantra so it can be a labyrinth. Mantra is a facinating field of study to itself and may seem alien if did no grown up around it everyday to understand also the unspoken or other nuances. On the other hand its basically not mysterious if we remember that we are dealing with sound and more important to mantra the seed of sound; vibration. Its all organic. Sound in a way is a microcosm of life. Humans are sound as much as water, air, and so forth. The things that make us up and all things around us have their own ways or "laws" of operation yet interelated...not necessarily linear or as we might expect. When we tap into such we're only using the stuff of life to do it...there is nothing else....so there will be effect. Yet the effect of a whisper is not the same as a gong. Yet the whisper may touch on more sublte thing/subltly where a gong may surpass. While there is still much mystery and perhaps rightly so..the relation to and effect of vibration and sound on the body and how it can effect "esoterically" has been realized long ago and at least shown in certain ways via mundane science, physics...etc.
I tried it a couple of times but got sidetracked by other things.  I plan experiment; do it with no distractions..perhaps as part of meditation...has anyone tried working the Sono affirmation?. |
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| I have not worked with the Sono Mantra, but I have been working with several different Tibetan mantras. The Mantra of Compassion (it is the avatar that you see to the left now--OM MANE PEME HUNG in Tibetan) is very short and chanted in a sing-song sort of way. I am also working with the 100 Syllable Mantra of Vajrasattva. It is also typically done in a sort of sing-song way. There are, of course, as many ways to do a mantra or chant as there are beings doing them. Some people do them in more montone ways, and some do them in more careful, song-like ways. The point of these mantras, in my opinion, is to create more focus of the mind. It is to take our thoughts away from worldly things for a few moments in hopes of getting a glimpse of our true nature. The Tibetans have "prescriptions" of the mantras they use. It is said that 100,000 repetitions of the 100 Syllable Mantra will remove all negative karma and obscurations to the mind (including any crime, sin, or negative action). It is also said that repeating the Mantra of Compassion 108 times per day will keep one from a "lower" rebirth.
I totally agree with pyramidx about the differences of singing and mantras (popular singing is more for entertainment value--mantra=pronunciation, INTENT, content, context, syntax, etc.) I feel that the intent is the key issue here. It's the key issue with everything, as a matter of fact. It would be hard to say that most of the typical songs played on commercial radio have any significant value. Obviously there are songs that move us, make us feel joy or sadness, or encourage us to remember something and attach an emotional relationship to some subject, but that has no real value as a cure for anything or a vehicle for removing obstacles for us to see the true nature of ourselves.
I recite the mantras that I am working with during the morning spiritual practices--i.e. begin the practice with a prayer (invocation), sit with yourself in meditation, then work with the mantra after my mind has settled a bit, then practice the hatha yoga, then close the practice by reciting the Mantra of Compassion 108X, then a prayer that dedicates the merit of my practice to whomever or whatever I want to give the goodness of the fruits of my practice to (a particular teacher, a particular person, or simply to all beings searching for happiness, etc.).
I hope that you can find the time and the place, with no distraction, that you can work with and experiment with the power of the mantra.
Namaste |
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mantra story
