The world feels especially noisy right now, so let’s investigate sacred sound. Trina guided us this week in looking at how chanting and mantra are used in many spiritual practices, including Buddhism, and why it might be better than you think. Trina writes:
I was unable to find a tidy 30-minute talk about this, so I read excerpts from books, articles and websites. I also played numerous snippets of audio, and we ended with five minutes of chanting together.
Below are links to some of the resources I cited and excerpted.
From Tricycle website: “Meditating with your voice: Chanting”
https://tricycle.org/beginners/buddhism/meditating-with-your-voice-chanting/
A sampling of chants from various spiritual traditions:
Ancient Mystic Hebrew Chants
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsCElDgov2M
Traditional Sufi Chant
https://youtu.be/hVDKxYpnOrI
Gregorian Chant
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3T8V-IM4Xk
Hindu Kirtan
https://youtu.be/ld_h9KtyP3s
Kundalini Yoga Chant
https://youtu.be/YQrs9zlOW1U
Tibetan Buddhist Throat Singing
https://youtu.be/QfkI5QiHMfM
Theravadan Buddhist Monks Chanting in Pali
https://youtu.be/1xaSSpffYiI
Bhikkhu Dhammasami (2016). “The Practice of Chanting in Buddhism”
https://buddhismnetwork.com/2016/12/11/the-practice-of-chanting-in-buddhism/
Tricycle website: “What is a mantra?”
https://tricycle.org/beginners/buddhism/what-is-a-mantra/
“What chanting a mantra can do for you.” (Do you need to know meaning?) Sadhguru
https://youtu.be/vd9j8uo6OSY
Theravadan monk Ven. Nick Keomahavong introduces chanting and offers tips for how to do it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wV5YuJhArY0&t=721s
Monks chanting “Om Mani Padme Hum” (our sangha chanted along for five minutes)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0trNro_-dY8
