Bill,
Some good points. One comment. Actually I think the idea of chanting
even if the words are in your language is to repeat something so many
times that its rational meaning disappears, one stops thinking about
the meaning, and only the sounds remain, so that the intention is as
you suggest to subtract rational thought from consciousness. So I
don't see any real disagreement between your and Jody's approach. As
you say it is whatever works.
Edgar
On Aug 26, 2008, at 11:19 PM, <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Jody,
Thanks for your post. It gives me the opportunity to better explain my
perspective on chanting.
Jody wrote:
>You described that chanting should be sounds with no meaning or
chants from
other languages that we don't understand.
I did recommend this and stand by that recommendation.
>But if the chants are in foreign languages, then the people who
speak those
languages UNDERSTAND what the chants mean.
I think this is just a misunderstanding of what I meant. I used
'foreign'
is a relative term, not an absolute term. In other words, what is a
foreign
language to you (Chinese or Russian) is not a foreign language to a
Chinese
or a Russian. Maybe English is a foreign language to them, or maybe
the
Chinese language is foreign to the Russian. The point of this is I
recommend that if you use sounds from a language, pick a language
that you
don't know, don't speak and don't understand.
>I personally think that knowing what a chant means ADDS to it's value
rather
then taking away.
I believe that is true for you, but I do not agree. The perspective
on this
all depends on WHY you are chanting.
I can only tell you why I chant (which I used to do, but now don't
do very
often). I chant for the same reason I sit zazen: to experience
Buddha Mind.
To experience Buddha Mind I do not need to ADD anything, in fact I
need to
SUBTRACT. I need to CEASE (subtract) all my illusions* of DUALITY,
which
includes the duality of VALUE/NO-VALUE and most importantly the
duality of
SELF/OTHER. These illusions are the products of my RATIONAL MIND,
so I need
to STOP its activities.
If I am THINKING about what I am chanting then I am exercising my
rational
mind and will not be able to cease my dualistic illusions - and not
be able
to experience Buddha Mind.
This is why I chant and this is why I believe you should chant
sounds with
no meaning (to you).
Jody: Why do you chant or want to chant? What have you chosen to
chant,
and why?
Thanks...Bill!
* You actually only have to cease attachment to illusions, not
illusions
themselves; but that is just a further complexity that doesn't
affect this
discussion at this point.
