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Meditation and speaking in tongues?
When I was younger I went through a period where I practiced a very intense Christian mysticism. I remember having some amazing experiences speaking in tongues during worship and prayer, and I also remember maintaining a peace by speaking in tongues softly throughout the day.
I no longer believe in any sort of mystical/spiritual world, but when I hear people speak of their experiences with meditation in its various forms, I am reminded of the peace that I found speaking in tongues. Sometimes even today when I am overtaken with beauty, such as listening to a song or hearing a poem, I will involuntarily begin to mutter in tongues.
I have heard of tongues, or 'Glossolalia', existing in other spiritual traditions such as Hasidic Judaism, but the details for Buddhism are sketchy for me. Does anyone here have any experience or information as to the practice of tongues as meditation or something similar?
I no longer believe in any sort of mystical/spiritual world, but when I hear people speak of their experiences with meditation in its various forms, I am reminded of the peace that I found speaking in tongues. Sometimes even today when I am overtaken with beauty, such as listening to a song or hearing a poem, I will involuntarily begin to mutter in tongues.
I have heard of tongues, or 'Glossolalia', existing in other spiritual traditions such as Hasidic Judaism, but the details for Buddhism are sketchy for me. Does anyone here have any experience or information as to the practice of tongues as meditation or something similar?
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I think Stephen is correct, speaking in tongues is not in any Buddhist tradiotns that I am aware of and it seems to be a mainly judeo-christian thing.
I think that speaking in tongues is very meditative in a way, only very few people realize it. It involves letting go. You have to free yourself of your thinking rational mind just let the language flow from you. You are not focused on what you are saying, because you are saying nothing. You are left to be entirely in the moment. While in deep states with tongues I have felt amazing energies or whatever one may want to call it, like a fuzz of electricity all around me. Then in post tongue states I have felt very much lined up with a form of virtue. I have heard meditation referred to in this way, that the revelations in Buddhism will come to you as a result of the meditation.
PS: I know that it does not exist in the literature(so no need to point that out), but I also know that I cannot be the only person to have ever practiced both Buddhist meditation and tongues and to have thought deeply about it. There is nothing new underneath the sun.
I am doubtful that 'speaking in tongues' or 'letting the spirit move you' is practiced in Buddhism. Close cousins might be spontaneous songs I think they are called dohas. But they are in language and have a rational meaning. Come to think of it the latter might be sort of like Buddhists 'rapping the dharma'. :cool:
Say "Om mani padme hum" enough times and it starts losing its meaning, and becomes a collection of sounds, and noises, and when that happens it becomes almost calming, and easier to meditate on things.
Speaking in tongues is a form of meditation intended to quiet the mind from discursive thoughts imo.
Mtns
What the Bible actually teaches is that the gift of tongues includes those of both men and angels, so you will either be speaking a human language you do not actually know or a heavenly language of which no one knows save they have received the spiritual gift of interpretation. Thats what the Bible says...the Bible says a lot of stuff. I do not believe in anything supernatural, but I do believe that in man's searching and seeking of the sacred and the holy we have stumbled upon some very beautiful and useful things. I believe that tongues, practiced in a contemplative and/or meditative context, is a useful by product of ancient supernatural beliefs.
It depends. Sometimes I whisper tongues softly as I work or take a walk through the woods, other times I am screaming and crying in tongues like a madman. Usually my mind is swept clear in this activity, but sometimes when I am speaking very intensely I like to meditate on something, it used to be God, but now I sometimes just meditate and visualize sort of Platonic form or archetype of goodness and beauty, which is really what "God" is I think when concepts of God are at their best.
Wow, this Dowd guy is awesome! Thanks so much for bringing him to my attention Pegembara. I found this short treatise on secular tongues meditation on his website, very good information and interesting viewpoints:
"Speaking in tongues has been a significant part of my spiritual practice for half my life. Speaking in tongues has its detractors, but there are sound evolutionary reasons for its effectiveness. The following practice will REALize the act of speaking in tongues, because it doesn’t require you to believe anything. It’s an experience available to anyone who tries it.
How I speak in tongues is simple. I pretend I can speak a foreign language; vocalizing nonsensical sounds in a gentle, melodic, or rhythmic way. I encourage you to try it, right now. Do it in whatever way comes naturally, for a few minutes or longer, until it becomes effortless. Now speak in tongues again, but this time inaudibly, though perhaps still moving your lips. Then continue this 'speech' without moving your lips; have it happen just internally. Whichever form suits you best, you should notice almost immediately that your awareness expands. You are more aware of what you see and hear and feel—without trying. Just as a person who speaks a foreign language can also think in that language, if you can speak in gobbledygook, you also can think in gobbledygook. Because you cannot think in made-up syllables and in English at the same time, this practice effectively silences the verbal part of your brain. It gives your Monkey Mind a banana to chew on. Speaking in tongues (outwardly or internally) makes it easy to attend to noticing what’s real in the present moment, rather than falling back into distraction. It’s no coincidence that many report feelings of ecstasy and a sense of the divine when speaking or thinking in tongues.
When speaking in tongues first came to me a few months after my born again experience, it truly was baptism in the Holy Spirit, as my Pentecostal Christian tradition had taught me. 'Baptism in the Holy Spirit' is a resonant way to describe this experience using night language. Speaking in tongues is immersion in the holiness of this moment, this time and place. I often do it intentionally, to quiet my mind while driving, for example. Or it may arise on its own, especially when I am overcome with gratitude or overwhelmed by beauty. On such occasions, emotions take control of my body: arms lift skyward and I babble away in gentle ecstasy.
While there may be documented cases of people 'speaking in other tongues' who were actually speaking in a language that they had not yet learned (e.g., Acts 2:8), for most Pentecostals the experience is an incoherent babble—as if they were speaking a foreign language. The emotional, psychological, and spiritual benefits are the same either way. When I speak in tongues or quietly think to myself in tongues, even for a few moments, I usually feel a connection to God and to everyone and everything around me—a connection that is difficult, if not impossible, to experience when my Monkey Mind is doing its thing. My conscious mind is released from the bondage of words.
Speaking in tongues helps me give voice to emotions too difficult to express any other way. I thus often pray in tongues. Early on in our relationship, Connie and I occasionally relied on this gift of the Spirit during difficult times. I could express my anger, frustration, or disappointment to her, and she could hear it and respond similarly, and neither one of us had to deal with the aftermath of cleaning up hurtful words or compounding the problem by misstatements or misinterpretations. Recently, I have begun to rely on the gift of tongues not only for emotional expression in times of great feeling, or while in prayer. I now regularly think in tongues simply to still the otherwise constant conversation in my head, quieting the jabber of opinions and insistent trivialities that otherwise isolate me from the presence of the Holy Spirit. Quietly speaking and thinking in tongues, at will, has thus become my preferred form of meditation. The Great Story, or Epic of Evolution, helps me understand how this gift of tongues is both a natural outgrowth of the human developmental journey (day language) and a gift of the Holy Spirit (night language). The Great Story thus helps me receive the blessings of an ancient spiritual practice, while living fully in our contemporary world. "- Michael Dowd
Interesting thoughts from Michael Dowd. I have never really tried speaking in tongues internally, so I could not verify that it is as effective as verbalizing it. I have always been of the mind that it is important to verbalize audibly when using any sort of sound to contemplate or communicate with the "Divine". When you keep your deepest spiritual practices confined entirely within your mind it can create a false sort of childish dualism that I think is unhealthy. You also look, and may at first feel, like a madman while audibly speaking in tongues, which I think is useful tool in forcing you to lower your self conscious defenses and self awareness. Thats just my two cents.
Chanting the Heart Sutra in Medieval Chinese (done in many Zen monasteries)
Mantra chanting
Wu or Mu, depending on whether you're pretending to speak Chinese or Japanese
And last but not least:
"Maresy dotes and doesy dotes
And little lamsy divey.
A kiddelly divey do,
Wouldn't you?"
The effect was hypnotically predictable.... hundreds of small groups of people all clinging together, faces 'skywards' (why?? Isn't God 'everywhere?' Why look up?) and everyone began to speak "in tongues".
I spoke to no less than 15 people (part of the group I'd gone with - 25-strong, in all) and they all related that they took part in these groups, and all prayed, and all had spoken in tongues. Hallelujah, praise the Lord.
However, they all admitted (after a while) that they'd all made it up as they went along. Only one had been convinced she really had spoken in tongues, but (much) later, had said that in fact, it was probably just her brain and voicebox running away with her...she had felt nothing. No rapture, no relelase, no ecstacy, nothing.
I apologise, and wish to offend nobody, but I really don't buy into this at all. However its defined.
Did you read any of the posts in the thread? No one else buys into it either. Read the thread before you post.
I have met much more than 15 people in my life who have tried and dismissed Buddhism. Who cares? It is not an argument or even a useful piece of information.
Again, who cares? How many people achieve enlightenment the first time they meditate? How many people belt out a beautiful melody the first time they pick up an instrument? How many people are great lovers the first time they have sex? Everything takes practice.
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God bless,
Mick
Wow, that's a little harsh. I think she did read it, and that's why she took the time to respond. It's just her opinion.
Did I miss something?
I'm not sure exactly sure what you're saying here. Speaking in tongues takes practice? I'm confused.
I thought it went like this:
And little lambs eat ivy,
A kid'll eat ivy too,
Wouldn't you?
I advise you to re-read her post and reflect on the way you reacted and why. I've been advised that a few times in my life and it really helps put things into perspective.
Namaste,
Raven
EDIT - as an aside, I share Fede's view after being immersed for a short time in Pentecostal Christianity. I found the whole experience very unsettling. But hey different strokes for different folks.