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Mantras
Within the last 2-3 years my mind has been opened alot spiritually. i was raised as a Christian but I never felt like it connected with me. When i started doing research on other religions Buddhism/zen connected with me the most out of all the ones i have looked into. I have read several books and I have a fair understanding of the key beliefs and practices. I try to meditate but my mind is always running wild with random thoughts. (mainly fears and other negative emotions.) I also practice martial arts and when I do this is one of the only times i feel at peace with myself. My question is this are mantras effective for the unexperienced beginner or should i not even try them? The reason I ask is I feel that sometimes I have negative energy around me and I want to find a way to repel it or cleanse myself of it. And I had read that mantras can be very powerful. Any and all advice is welcome.
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Using the breath as the object of meditation will help ease this problem.
Mantra means 'protection'. When you use a mantra you protect your mind
I would recommend : om mani padme hum as a good mantra. Or if you want use other sutra based ones. Try just getting a mala and counting one mantra per bead. DOn't count the guru bead and don't skip over the guru bead. once you get to the guru bead, flip over and start again.
Seems to be a common theme around here
The fact is that our minds are usually running wild with random thoughts, but we don't become aware of it until we sit down to meditate.
As treeder suggested using the breath as the object of meditation is one way to learn to observe these thoughts - without judgment, without labeling them as "positive" or "negative." If you are focused on just breathing, being aware of the present moment, any thoughts that arise are simply acknowledged: Thoughts, thinking, back to breath. Eventually it becomes easier to keep the focus on the object of meditation. This process takes time and practice.
That's great! Try bringing mindfulness to your martial arts practice. Focus on moving mindfully, on incorporating your entire being into the movement.
Any mantra can be used, but in general it's best to be taught by a teacher or experienced master. I wouldn't go around reciting just any mantra without fully understanding what it represents.
As long as there is "positive" energy around you there will be "negative" energy as well. One cannot exist without the other. So there is not much good in trying to fight negative energy around you; it will always be there, somewhere. I've found it beneficial to accept these feelings instead of fighting them.
Mantras are very powerful. treeder was wise to recommend the mantra of Chenrezig (aka Avalokitesvara, Kwan Yin, Cannon, and many other names), the embodiment of compassion. OM MANI PADME HUM is used by many Buddhists and can be very beneficial.<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/633eH4yajHE?fs=1&hl=en_US&color1=0x402061&color2=0x9461ca"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/633eH4yajHE?fs=1&hl=en_US&color1=0x402061&color2=0x9461ca" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>
i agree with this. but also, you can make your own mala as well, if you are so inclined. i did so and found it pretty cheap and easy
i've personally never viewed a mantra as a form of protection from the external, like a spell or something. but some people may think of it that way. but having said that, i do appreciate chanting in ways and find a lot of benefit from it, just as with sitting meditation.
in the nichiren tradition, i was taught the mantra nam myoho renge kyo which is usually translated as, "i devote myself to the lotus sutra of the wonderful law" or "i am paying homage to the lotus sutra". as you can see, i think it would be sort of silly to invoke this mantra without reading and understanding what the lotus sutra is all about.
but then again, i did as a beginner... hmm. :scratch:
I'm assuming that you have read the Lotus Sutra since then? It's one of my favorites, even though I don't have much other focus in Nichiren. It's a beautiful sutra. I have the translation by Gene Reeves, it seems very good to me!
yes, i have the translation by burton watson. but in all honesty, i think i need to read it again. with my very basic understanding of buddhism at the time, a lot of it went over my head i think.
reading the lotus sutra is probably the reason that i ended up "leaving" nichiren buddhism. it occurred to me how much i simply don't understand about buddhism in general. in the SGI, as far as historical texts and background, they really only suggest you read The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin and The Lotus Sutra. neither of these discuss the basic teachings of buddhism. it was interesting when i realized that i had studied buddhism for 3 years and still didn't know one iota about the eightfold path, haha.
just curious, since you appreciate the lotus sutra as well, do you believe it is the most superior sutra as it states?
i, myself, am not quite sure. it occurred to me that that is pretty hard to know unless one has read the other sutras.
Just because I'm curious - what martial arts do you practice, tls?
yeah, it had often been explained to me from those within the SGI that nam myoho renge kyo got you in-tune with the flow of the universe ("the mystic law") and accumulated good karma........... but i never really got that. to me, it makes sense that a consistent practice could have benefits for the mind as well as bringing the lotus sutra to the forefront of the mind... but i don't know about that other stuff.
i agree with you about the group thing. chanting alone can sometimes be frustrating, sometimes exhilarating, sometimes relaxing... but chanting with a group gives you such a wonderful feeling of connection. to me, the rhythm at times makes you feel as if you can see the ebb and flow of the universe and you lose track of the beginning and the end. at these times, you feel incredibly in the moment.
It can also just be simply catchy - I've noticed I sometimes chant om ah hum vajra guru padma siddhi hum when cooking porridge for others
Mmmm... Porridge of Wisdom!
But the thing is that my mind feels the same way when i don't try to meditate. If I am not actively doing something my mind starts to race.
Also to to Gecko I the kung fu style I practice is : Cai Li Fo (Mandarin) or Choy Li Fut (Cantonese)
Thoughts are like the waves - during our day they roar up, scattering the peaceful surface of calm into troughs of frothy, noisy water.
Where do the waves arise from? What do they cede into? If you forced the waves from the ocean, or tried to save the ocean from the waves, what would happen?
Another thing to ponder in response to your mind racing is this - if your mind is like another sense organ, then your thoughts are its sensations. You can easily become too fixated on what your mind senses, like becoming too absorbed in a visual stimulus. Or, you can try and deny the sensation, like trying to avoid hearing news you don't want to hear, and become dull. Without constant stimulation, even the other normal senses will start to produce 'phantom' sensations.
It's called monkey-mind
Cai Li Fo looks quite interesting! I'm (inconsistently) practicing kung fu as well - I think it's mizong, though I'm not too sure. I'm quite bad at it, but I usually find that once I've exhausted myself warming up and doing drills, that the subsequent forms practice and post-training mood are quite relaxed. My meditation definitely benefits from a good kung fu session
Honestly it's been a while since I've read it through from cover to cover (the Reeves translation is over 400 pages) so I could definitely stand to brush up on my understanding and contemplation of it. There are quite a few books that I've been wanting to reread since I've had some time to develop and practice.
As I stated before I don't have much experience or study in Nichiren; my practice focuses mostly on Tibetan Buddhism (particularly Nyingma, Kagyu, and Dzogchen) and Zen. I don't think it's that uncommon for the different groups to study texts from different traditions, so I know I've heard the Lotus Sutra referenced by certain Tibetan masters.
I don't consider it to be the most superior, but in general I try not to think of any sutra as being less or more than any other. Of course there are some that are very significant to me that I read more than others, but I don't think "This is superior to all other sutras." In my mind, they all have something to teach.
In the Lotus Sutra, I like the emphasis on the inherent Buddha nature of all beings. This fits well with my personal belief that all beings can, and eventually will, reach enlightenment.