Does chanting count as meditating?

RebeccaS

Or are they separate?

David

I would think that if you are focused on the chanting, really here for it, without being distracted by what's for dinner or the unkind word uttered the night before then it is a type of meditation.

Even washing dishes can count as meditation.

RebeccaS

But could you do it in place of sit down meditation? Or do you have to do both? I can see why doing both would be beneficial, it's just that I sometimes have trouble with sit down meditation - I'm a big fidget - and I'm wondering if this is another option for me.

RebeccaS

I think the question should have been - is chanting a viable alternative to sit down meditation?

Invincible_summer

Depending on the Buddhist tradition, chanting could be seen as a form of meditation or a ritual to use in conjunction with other practices including seated meditation.

Have you tried doing chanting in place of seated meditation? Do you know if you experience the same benefits from chanting? I would probably try it out in addition to seated meditation before using it to replace seated meditation completely.

You don't *have* to do anything.

Cloud

There are forms of Buddhism that chant. The chant is not meaningless but represents whatever school's teachings, and chanting is supposed to bring to mind these teachings/qualities-of-reality while also focusing the mind. It seems sound, if you're into that kind of thing.

RebeccaS

@invincible_summer No, I haven't tried one in place of the other - I haven't been doing either long enough to really do so and know honestly if one is better than the other for me.

@Cloud Yeah I find that giving my brain something to focus on helps me a bit. I've been working on the Lotus Sutra, but I guess I'm more focused on figuring out how to say it right now rather than concentrating on it's meaning.

I guess I'll just stick with both for a while. But I would like to find a way to wriggle out of sit down meditation. I'm not denying it's benefits and when I do do it I tend to enjoy it, I just find it hard to motivate myself to do it because being still does not come naturally to me.

Cloud

Well being mindful, paying attention, has a lot of the benefits of seated meditation. You may not be able to go as deep, to see things as clearly, but it's still good. So if you don't want to do seated meditation or haven't yet gotten the hang of chanting, you could maybe try that.

RebeccaS

I have experienced the benefits of meditation and don't want to give up that kind of practice altogether, but it's just that... I don't know. The question made sense at the time but now it just seems a bit silly to me.

I'll just do both and the answer will come in the end.

how

But could you do it in place of sit down meditation? Or do you have to do both? I can see why doing both would be beneficial, it's just that I sometimes have trouble with sit down meditation - I'm a big fidget - and I'm wondering if this is another option for me.

Whether you practise one or the other or both....
You might consider that what is easiest for you in meditation is really just you experiencing a spiritual redundancy loop. Not much of a learning curve there.
It will be in meditatively facing difficulties like fidgeting which will best illuminate what controls you.

DairyLama

But could you do it in place of sit down meditation? Or do you have to do both? I can see why doing both would be beneficial, it's just that I sometimes have trouble with sit down meditation - I'm a big fidget - and I'm wondering if this is another option for me.

Have you considered walking meditation?

zsc

I mostly chant instead of doing zazen, which is what I assume you mean by "sit down meditation". I do consider it a form of meditation. It helps me to focus on a concept, too, like the six perfections, emptiness, or even working out negative feelings. I think it counts

Sabre

Yes, everything can be meditation. Chanting while also understanding why and what you are chanting, can be especially eleviating, opening the heart. I would personally not see it as a replacement for sitting practice, but I do think it is good to do it before or after.

Nice story:

A principal part of Achaan Chah's training is to help students learn to do whatever task is appropriate while keeping a balanced mind free from clinging. A Western psychiatrist who had ordained as a monk had to learn this lesson. He asked permission to stay at WatBa Pong for the three-month rains retreat in order to have a master under whom he could really practice meditation. Several days later, when Achaan Chah announced to the assembled monks that chanting of the sutras from 3:30 to 4:40 A.M. and from 5:00 to 6:00 P.M. was a mandatory part of the rains retreat, this newly ordained Western monk raised his hand and began to argue loudly that he had come to meditate, not to waste time chanting. Such a Western style argument with the teacher in public was a shock to many of the other monks. Achaan Chah explained calmly that real meditation had to do with attitude and awareness in any activity, not just with seeking silence in a forest cottage. He made a point of insisting that the psychiatrist would have to be prompt for every chanting session for the entire rains retreat if he wished to stay at WatBa Pong. The psychiatrist stayed and learned to chant beautifully.

http://www.dhammatalks.net/Books2/Ajahn_Chah_A_Still_Forest_Pool.htm

RebeccaS

I get the doing everything in a meditative state, but I thought it was also important to have a proper, sit down kind of practice to supplement it? Like, however long a day doing that alone? Maybe it's not though.

Sabre

I find sitting down an unmissable part indeed. How long depends on the individual. In the beginning it's a bit of a struggle, because meditation hasn't really developped yet and it is unusual, boring, agitating etc. Funny how sitting down can be so hard.. But that's a part of learning. After a certain period it'll get easier, and you'll really benefit from sitting longer. So how long you're going to sit is up to you. The longer, the more benefit, in a way. But I think it's most important to do it daily, nomatter how long or short you wish to do it.

KarunaDharmakaya

But could you do it in place of sit down meditation? Or do you have to do both? I can see why doing both would be beneficial, it's just that I sometimes have trouble with sit down meditation - I'm a big fidget - and I'm wondering if this is another option for me.

yes chanting is a form of medjtation its commonly used during concentration meditation(jhana) doing it helps provide absorbstion. Ita also good merit.