Chanting Experiences

[ananda]

How has chanting helped you in your life ?
According to the Dharani chapter of the Lotus Sutra those who practice the sutra are protected by various deities. Do you feel that you've received protection from disaster or danger ? Tell me your stories.

[OregonBuddhist]

I feel it's turned my life around. As I've mentioned on previous threads, I was raised Catholic. There was a point in my Catholic upbringing where I really felt a faith, a sense of there being larger forces at work. Something happened to ruin that for me, and I lost faith in Catholicism. It's kind of surprising for me, but as a result of chanting I have started to experience what I felt when I believed in Catholicism. Don't know if any of this makes sense.

[Hickersonia]

Daily chanting (or prayers, as I try to elaborate it in a way to makes sense to those who don't "get it" if I call it chanting) seems to offer some focus in the mornings for me. I try to treat it is a meditation of sorts and maintain my mindfulness on the breath as I speak and inhale afterward, and I pause in between different chants to reflect on the teachings invoked by the chants.

When combined with sila and meditation, the peace of mind has been a nice change and has provided the basis for a number of other behavioral improvements.

[lobster]

I feel it's turned my life around. . . . Don't know if any of this makes sense.

Makes perfect sense. The effects are dramatic for me too. Chanting, like prostration is a way of unloading the business of busyness. For me it usually precedes sitting meditation. I was asked by an atheist friend if it is just a placebo effect . . . does not seem to be.

Eat popcorn, be kind to fish and chant It's a plan . . .