My first experience of chanting was at the Yoga Teacher’s Training Course at Yogapoint. It was way back in 2007, I enrolled for the month-long course to dive deeper into the practice of yoga. I was very much married to my job those days and years would pass by without me taking time off for a vacation.
The more I practiced Yoga I realised how much I loved the subject. I wanted to know more. A vacation was worth the pursuit of knowledge. So I headed off to Nasik, in India to get the immersive experience. The ashram life started with chanting at 5:30am in the morning. The volunteer who led the morning chanting had a beautiful voice. I felt goosebumps prickle my skin as we all joined in reciting Sanskrit mantras. I didn’t know any of the chants but just followed the words from the sheet in front of me and chanted along. By the end of the course by day 28, the chants felt familiar. I felt strangely refreshed after chanting.
This seems to be my pattern…I pick up something go intense and the I taper off for years and then pick it up again fueled by some crisis event! So once I got back to Dubai after the course I persisted for maybe a month or so waking up and chanting before the start of the day. Then, yes you guessed it…years passed. Ok so the next time I hopped back on the chanting wagon, wasn’t technically a crisis event. It was listening to Rolf Sovik, I don’t remember which video it was that got me to set an intention to chant the the Maha Mritunjaya Mantra 108 times every day, but I did it regularly for a month. I remember meeting my friend Shan who runs Koboart an online gallery in Dubai, and she said you look glowing! Somehow I felt intuitively, it had something to do with chanting.
Then came Hanuman Chalisa into my life. Inspired by Krishna Das’s version, and learning more about the benefit of chanting I took it up as a practise. Including it before my morning meditation. Once again the power of regularly chanting is fascinating. Just doing the practise, seems to set up a groove in me. Soon I realised I can recite some paragraphs automatically without looking at the sheet.
Finally April 2020…more a of a world crisis led to lockdowns forcing people to stay isolated. As the Chinese proverb rightly says every crisis is an opportunity! A new world of zoom social gatherings opened up. Previously unthinkable, now people from different time and geographical zones could connect together in shared activities. Ajahn Achalo Bhikku whose Dhamma talks I have been listening to for years, now was going to have weekly virtual Dhamma gatherings via zoom!
Though I have been practising meditation consistently albeit in fits and starts since twenty one, all this while it has been a solitary process. I used guided meditations and binge listened to many Dhamma talks but there was no Sanga or the resonance of the group to support my practise. So suddenly I was tuned into a gathering of 90-100 plus people guided by a monk whose whole life is dedicated to the path. Sanga and having contact with noble practitioners is an integral part of developing I am convinced.
The sessions all began with Chanting. I did not have much previous experience of Buddhist Chants. Yet listening to the chants I broke into hot flushes…(no i am not menopausal yet), my heart pounded so hard…it was a very strong physical response. All I could do was just sit and listen with my eyes closed, my body going into vibrational overdrive!!
Let’s fast forward to 2022. So inspired by the above I took on chanting as a practise regularly. Now I start my morning meditation with a series of Chants. I use this sometimes when my energy is low in the morning and I need the power of group chanting to get me going.
Owing to the power of regular practise I find myself reciting some of the chants without looking at the book…which my ego loves as a sense of achievement, ha ha. Yet it is also these little wins that keeps me returning to chanting! It has actually helped me to get less discursive during my sitting meditation.
Great talk by Thanissaro Bhikku on Chanting. Hope it inspires you to take it up as a regular practise.
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