Hi all.. I find that an interesting way to cope with exam stress and develop concentration is to chant a bodhisattva's name and dedicate the merits to ppl whom i think are in need or have done me wrong in the past. Chanting bodhisattva's name helps me stay calm and concentrate better.
By dedicating merits to 'enemies', i feel like my past attachments to how they have treated me badly have lessened. This generates a sense of joy, peace and feeling of a 'lighter' mind for me. Besides alleviating my mood, this also helps me to have less wandering thoughts while i am studying for exams, thus helping me to concentrate better.
Anyone here have different ways to cope/lighten up exam or work pressures?
Chanting works , in fact one can chant on anything but it is merely suppressing what one deems undesirable. What is latent is still there and without reconciling/integration or acceptance without understanding it wont go away.
If it works for you now - go with the flow but beware the pitfalls of such a stance.
- no advertising here, thanks -
good, i also dedicate the merits to debtors and countless debtors(be it in human form or in spirit form), may they be born in PL. ya, i call them debtors rather than enermies. :)
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Oh, it is new to me that one's chanting for ones enemies.
Can I truly say that one's enemies are actually one's that owe him/her in the past life something, be it money, be it favour, be it helping you, etc?
I really did not think of chanting for ones enemies before.
Originally posted by Fugazzi:Chanting works , in fact one can chant on anything but it is merely suppressing what one deems undesirable. What is latent is still there and without reconciling/integration or acceptance without understanding it wont go away.
If it works for you now - go with the flow but beware the pitfalls of such a stance.
Chanting is not only supressing the undesirable. And it is not really "suppressing something" in a sense. Suppressing something in itself means there is already a latching on to that something. If you would like to know more about chanting and it's benefits you can read reply to letter 17 in Pureland-Zen Zen-Pureland. It is a book with Master Yin Guang's replies to the letters people wrote him.
Anyway, below are some of the points Master Yin Guang mentioned in his letter about chanting....
"Heavy karmic obstructions, excessive greed and anger, a weak and ailing body,
a fearful, apprehensive mind – these symptoms will, in time, disappear naturally
if you singlemindedly recite the Buddha’s name. The “Avalokitesvara [twenty-fifth]
Chapter” of the Lotus Sutra states:
If ... living beings much given to carnal passion keep in mind and revere the
Bodhisattva Regarder of the Cries of the World, they will be set free from
their passion. If [those] much given to irascibility [hatred and anger] keep in
mind and revere the Bodhisattva Regarder of the Cries of the World, they will
be set free from their delusion. (B. Kato, et al, The Threefold Lotus Sutra, p.
320.)
(Note: I think there is a line missing. It should be those with a lot of hatred can be set free from their hatred and those with a lot of delusion can be set free from their delusion)
The same is true of reciting the Buddha’s name. However, you should concentrate
your mind to the utmost and put a stop to “sundry [distracting] thoughts,” doubts
and uncertainties. Whatever you seek will then materialize. As the Bodhisattva
Avalokitesvara has great affinities with sentient beings in the Saha World, you
should, in addition to your regular Pure Land sessions, recite Her name. Alternatively,
you may also recite the Surangama Mantra or the Great Compassion Mantra."
......
"If, on the other hand, you would like to engage in Sutra Recital in accordance
with your limited capacities for the benefits it confers, you should keep the three
karmas of body, speech and mind utterly pure, earnest and sincere, bow to the
Buddhas and sit erect concentrating your mind for a moment or two, before opening
a sutra to read aloud or silently. At that time, you should sit up straight as though
you were facing the Buddhas, listening to their perfect voices, without a single lazy,
discriminating thought. Then, without trying to find the meaning of the sutra, just
recite it in one stretch from beginning to end.
By reciting the sutras in such a manner, if you are of superior spirituality, you
can awaken to the Non-Dual Truth and reach the Dharma of True Mark. Even if you are dull and of low capacity, you will gain increased merit and wisdom, eradicating karmic obstructions in the process. The Sixth Patriarch once said:
We can awaken our Mind and see our True Nature just by reciting the Diamond Sutra.
This quote refers to the practice of Sutra Recital as explained above. It is
therefore called “samatha” (stopping or arresting mental processes). If you follow these steps, reciting any Mahayana sutra can lead to the opening of the Mind, the seeing of your True Nature. This does not apply to the Diamond Sutra alone."
......
"Whether reciting the sutras, meditating, chanting mantras or reciting the
Buddha’s name, as long as you do it with this level of concentration and persevere for a long time, one day you will understand all and everything and experience a Great Awakening (awaken to the Way)."
These are just some of the points... Please read the letter in it's whole, it will be clearer.
Originally posted by likeyou:Oh, it is new to me that one's chanting for ones enemies.
Can I truly say that one's enemies are actually one's that owe him/her in the past life something, be it money, be it favour, be it helping you, etc?
I really did not think of chanting for ones enemies before.
That is more like debtors whom we owe? Maybe if you killed him for example and owe a life and he wants it back, or someone you have develop lots of hate with for amny past lives more like enemy...
Anyway, love ones or enemies, we should dedicate to them all the same.
Don't think too much.It is not your brain or stress.You just need to switch off your handphone and refrain from using it until you clear the clutters.
Concentration be it a sutra, a recitation or even a chant is a mind phenomenon. The mind is focusing on somehting, it excludes other ... and focusses one one particular .... One makes a choice(s) . Useful in work or a task but in a ''religious'' sense it amounts to nothing.
In this instance, the chanting assuming it is without evaluation, without awaiting a result, no idea od what is rite or wrong - is real meditativeness. However one has to be open to the slips cos the tendency of the mind is to identify or attach to a particular method/device. If and when it happens it is reduced to a ritual. It is no longer chanting or ... cos the I or the me has come in. Meditativeness is all-inclusive - one simply watches choicelessly (without evaluation) and partakes of all and sundry and of course it is risky cos one never knows what would come up!
PS - As for methods and devices or .. it is useful but one has to drop it along the way. if it does not happen one is simply a refugee!
It is helpful and beneficial for school student to chant a bodhisattva's or Buddha name and dedication, as they need not have to spend money yet bear immeasureable merit of chanting anytime, anywhere and at any places. It is not easy to understand the underlying merits of chanting the names, and they may not need to understand as gradually their inherently nature wisdom will lead them into understanding further, through chanting of name.
Amitofo
Originally posted by likeyou:I really did not think of chanting for ones enemies before.
Ah, u'll be surprise to know that Buddha did a lot more than that when He's practicing in the stages of Bodhisttvahood.
the Buddha spoke of the paramita of patience by telling his story about the mutilation of his body by the King of Kalinga.
King Kalinga: Ancient king who dismembered the Buddha in a past life. The Buddha vowed to save him first when he became enlightened. He was Ajnata Kaundinya, one of the five hermits or ascetics to whom the Buddha taught His first sermon and who was His first human disciple.
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Since chanting plant imprints in our 8th conscious. Those who have chanted like millions of times would have planted millions of seeds/imprints?
another alternative is the "Ten Year Series Chants"
Originally posted by Fcukpap:another alternative is the "Ten Year Series Chants"
Any way can find in the youtube?
Can anyone tell me what are the merits/benefits of chanting a Buddha name?
Originally posted by Pure Emptiness:Can anyone tell me what are the merits/benefits of chanting a Buddha name?
ã€Šè§‚æ— é‡�寿佛ç»�》说:"至心念佛一声,能消八å��亿劫生æ»é‡�罪".
Contemplation Sutra/Amitayurdhyana Sutra states that be it hear or recite the Amitabha's name, one can extinguish the evil karma which one has committed during eighty kotis(million) of kalpas in Samsara.
http://www.fodian.net/English/Contemplation_Sutra.htm
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Very hard for me young man. Under work stress everyday. Sianzzzz.
But i always chant Nan Wu Guan si yin pu sa everyday for countless time. At the end of the chant if you are going to finish, must put in Hui Xiang Yi Qian Zhong Shen.
Overtime, your luck and money will prospect. Indeed works for me.
Sinweiy: totally agreed with you.
Originally posted by Pure Emptiness:Can anyone tell me what are the merits/benefits of chanting a Buddha name?
WHy why. This is what i heard. The great buddha know that you cannot remenber or able to chant the whole sutra. So to be fair to those wish to be sincere.
As long you chant Nan wu Er mi tuo fo, Nan wu Guan Si Yin Pu Sa, Nan Wu Di Zhan Wang Pu Sa. Keep on chanting one of the same it is enough.
WHY WHY? Cos when you chant is like helping the souless spirt to bless them to get recarinate and put merits to your goodself? Believe or not up to you.
But it does impact me greatly and aids me
Coping with stress... not easy... unless one has learnt how to let go of everything and rest their minds in daily lives.
I am still learning.
Originally posted by Itedino:Very hard for me young man. Under work stress everyday. Sianzzzz.
But i always chant Nan Wu Guan si yin pu sa everyday for countless time. At the end of the chant if you are going to finish, must put in Hui Xiang Yi Qian Zhong Shen.
Overtime, your luck and money will prospect. Indeed works for me.
Sinweiy: totally agreed with you.
I also dedicate merits to all sentient beings in ten directions after chanting.
Originally posted by sinweiy:
ã€Šè§‚æ— é‡�寿佛ç»�》说:"至心念佛一声,能消八å��亿劫生æ»é‡�罪".Contemplation Sutra/Amitayurdhyana Sutra states that be it hear or recite the Amitabha's name, one can extinguish the evil karma which one has committed during eighty kotis(million) of kalpas in Samsara.
http://www.fodian.net/English/Contemplation_Sutra.htm
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one 劫 is how long?
Please check out the articles at Quietening the Inner Chatter
It is very well written and relevant to this topic.
Originally posted by Pure Emptiness:one 劫 is how long?
there are small, medium and great kalpa 劫.
The length of the process on the level of a world system is called a great aeon/kalpa/劫, or mahakalpa in Sanskrit. The length of a mahakalpa is calculated as follows: "Starting from a lifespan of ten years, for every hundred years the age of people increases by one year, and their height increases by one inch. This keeps on increasing until the lifespan of humans reaches a full 84,000 years. Then this is followed by a process of decrease in the same ratio. For every hundred years, there is a decrease of a year and an inch from the lifespan and the height of a human being, until his age reaches ten years again. One complete process of increase and decrease makes up one kalpa--16,798,000 years. A thousand of these make up on small kalpa. Twenty small kalpas make up one medium-sized kalpa. Four medium-sized kalpas make up one great kalpa (1,343,800,000,000 years). Each of the four stages takes up twenty small kalpas--twenty kalpas for coming into being, twenty kalpas for dwelling, twenty kalpas for decaying, and twenty kalpas for going empty." (EDR I)
http://online.sfsu.edu/~rone/Buddhism/BuddhistDict/BDT.html#time
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