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和尚念經,有口無心

(2010-02-26 21:08:20) 下一個

During the Nyungne practice, we chanted in Tibetan.  Although there are Chinese translations under the Tibetan pronunciation lines, it is hard to chant fast and to catch the Chinese meanings. I was struggling at the beginning. I really wanted to know what the meaning of the chanting was.  At the break time, I asked the Lama what to do.  Lama said quite peacefully, “if you can read the Chinese and know the meaning, it is OK. If you can’t, it is also OK.”  I pondered on his answer for a second. Then my mind was suddenly set ease.  I told myself to just chant the sound and forget about the meaning of the chanting.  At that moment, I felt peace.  For the rest of the sessions, I was able to just focus on saying the sound right and chant. It was very settling and peaceful and there were no more struggles.

 How did I let go of finding the meanings of the chanting?  When I thought about Lama’s answer, I realized that I was grasping on ‘something’. This grasping was the cause of struggle.  The Dharma practice was to set us free, free from suffering, free from grasping.  For all my life, I had never stopped using my brain/mind.  Everything I do or I say has to be processed by the mind.  And I was so proud of the power of my brain/mind.  I was so proud of what I can understand even though the concept is deep.  I was so proud of the logical mind I have.  It has been a habit and I fully rely on it.  Can I just let go of this habit and do something totally ‘meaningless’?  It is not about what I chant. It is about the state of the mind, if it is at peace, if it is free of struggling.  I did that and it is amazing to see how peaceful and happy after I let go of the mind process during chanting.

 I was chatting with a Dharma practitioner a few days after.  I told him about this experience of letting go of the mind.  He simply said ‘和尚念經,有口無心’.  Oh yeah! My mind suddenly clicked. 和尚念經,有口無心. For how long I have known this phrase. But I have always thought this was a negative comment on the monk who chants mechanically and maybe the mind is not with the chanting.  Now I have a new interpretation for it.  When you chant, you don’t need to engage your mind processing. Just simply chant and be present in chanting. That maybe is called real chanting.

 和尚念經,有口無心

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