Dharma Wheel

Ukigumo wrote:... During the Gratitude and Memorial Ceremony I attended, I was on the verge of weeping several times, for no reason I could discern, and the same thing happened to me the first few times I heard the Heart Sutra being chanted....

The first time I chanted the Heart Sutra in English, I had the strongest sense of déjà vu - but wasn't sure if I'd just picked it up from earlier Buddhist studies when I was in college.
When I heard the Heart Sutra chanted in Chinese the first time, at the end of the first session of a Dalai Lama talk on the Lam Rim, I had the same choked up feeling you mention.
I can understand just barely enough Chinese to get by in that sutra (especially the negation parts).
Not sure what it is about that chant, with that rhythm, and those words...
Very powerful.

In traditional Chinese folk belief, if a religious text or song moves you inexplicably, they say you vowed to practice that faith in a previous lifetime; hearing it for the first time in this lifetime stirs up your past vows. Your subconscious suddenly "remembers" your previous commitment. :p