I have been observing and participating in an interesting discussion at an online chatboard where I am a moderator. The discussion has been focused on the difference, if any, between chanting Nam(u)-Myoho-Renge-Kyo and meditating. The SGI-USA's webpage contains a section dedicated to answering this question here:
http://www.sgi-usa.org/is_chanting_meditation.php
The segment reads, in part:
Meditation is a more passive exercise than chanting; one usually calms one's mind by concentrating on a particular phrase or image. At first glance this may seem close to the practice of Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism, but actually the difference is apparent. The practice of chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo enables us to express and experience our innate Buddhahood and release the powerful energy contained within that, rather than to calm our minds or negate certain ways of thinking.
So, we know that meditation is more passive than chanting is. But what if an individual is seeking to calm his or her mind? If that's the goal, then is a silent meditation practice somehow in conflict with chanting, or not? Also, can silent meditation, or deep relaxation techniques provide "benefits" which can not be obtained from chanting Daimoku?
I think that they can, but only further research will show for certain. I'm interested in hearing any kind of anecdotal evidence you-all out there in cyber-land may have on this subject.
I was recently reading a book entitled "Healing Back Pain Naturally", by Art Brownstein, M.D., a doctor who prescribes a program of stretching exercises coupled with twice-daily 20-30 minute periods of "deep relaxation" as a treatment for chronic back pain. A few of the benefits of deep relaxation which he cites are:
1. a greater consciousness of harmful emotions such as fear and anger;
2. a greater awareness of how the mind affects the body, and vice-versa;
3. normalized blood pressure;
4. an enhanced sense of "inner peace";
5. improvement in any areas of anxiety, phobias, and depression;
Dr. Brownstein's theory (and the theory of some other mind/body authors I have read) is that meditation, mental calming, and deep relaxation provide an opportunity for the body's natural healing mechanisms to work optimally. He also believes that back pain is related to areas of stress in our lives, and that deep relaxation serves to counter-balance and relieve the stress which results in back pain. At any event, he seems to have a number of patients who have benefited from his program.
The SGI-USA's theory as to what makes chanting "better" than meditation is that chanting causes the individual to bring out his or her inherent Buddha nature, thereby changing his or her karma in relation to whatever illness he or she is sufferering from (if I have this wrong, somebody pipe up and point it out to me).
I have certainly heard any number of amazing health experiences over the years from SGI-USA members who have overcome severe illness through their practice of Nichiren Buddhism (one such experience, from a young man with rheumatoid arthritis, is in the most recent issue of "Living Buddhism"). Anyone who has been in the organization for awhile has heard a large number of these experiences.
I guess the question I'm trying to get to is whether this chanting/meditation thing needs to be an either/or analysis? For me, I enjoy doing both. I can see how I get energy from chanting, and I can also see how I get an enhanced insight into the workings of my own mind from silent meditation. I'm sure others can see advantages to both as well.
I look forward to the time when the SGI-USA is able to honestly answer a question like this by saying "we don't know all the answers, but there is certainly research to support the value of meditating. The two are not mutually exclusive" or something like that. What do you all think? How would you answer this question for a beginner seeking to understand and apply Nichiren Buddhism?
Be energized, be calm, be cool.
Byrd in LA
Posted by wahzoh at April 20, 2008 01:08 PMHi, Byrd -
To me, the term "meditation" is a rather generic one, like "exercise". It isn't a specific form.
Exercise can be many different things, from walking, to tai chi, to swimming, to physical work, to sex, to anything that gets the heart rate up and the body and blood moving.
Meditation can similarly be many different things, from silent sitting, to following the breath, to chanting, to walking mindfully, to communing with nature, to listening to (or making) music, and so on and so forth.
Just my 2c, of course; YMMV.
Namaste, Engyo Mike Barrett
Posted by: Engyo Mike Barrett at April 21, 2008 10:58 AMMy take is that chanting is a form of meditation.
I even chant silently; so I do not see a clear different between chanting with the mouth and chanting with the mind. Whether we focus on a sound, a picture, the breath, one of those, or all three, we are meditating.
Another thing, if we look at Buddhist teachings, there is no word for meditation. We see various words that can be translated as meditation; like citta bhavana, samatha, samadhi, dhyana, smrti, & vipassana. Calming the mind, to achieve concentration, is part of all of these, but it is not necessarily the goal.
The practice of pressing the palms together, chanting a mantra, and gazing at a mandala is not unique to Soka Gakkai. This can be done as either prayer or meditation.
With prayer, one is asking the object of worship for help. With meditation, one is trying to fuse with or become the object of worship. SGI seems to define daimoku chanting as the latter, so it is definitely a form of meditation rather than prayer.
IOW, I do not accept that meditation is limited to silence and calming the mind. Chanting cam be used to calm the mind. Silent meditation can be used to visualize and fuse with the mantra & mandala. I think the question is based on an incorrect notion that meditation is limited to passively sitting to still the mind.
r
Byrd:
Both of my books contend that all prayer can be broken into two types, dyhana and samadhi, whether you're a Catholic, a Hindu, a Buddhist, or just a deep thinker. From that stanpoint, you break it down further into targeted prayer and non-specific prayer. Science has determined that non-specific prayer hits the mark more frequently than targeted prayer, and without the unintended consequences and collateral damage of "Make MY prayer come true!"
Keep in mind that the eternal Buddha, Shakyamuni attained his Buddhahood through quiet meditation. So did Nichiren. Why must it be one or the other? Why not both? Those who push the mantra only appraoch can't still their minds to save their damn lives. There's so much internal chatter going on, that one voice tells them their enlightened and A Buddha while a dozen others tell them that they ve to change their karma, go do this home visitation, get the groceries, blah, blah, blah. I think the Buddha once said "A busy mind is a sick mind." If he didn;t really say that, it's still true.
The SGI and other Nichiren proponents need to have daimoku subjected to the rigors of scientific scrutiny. You can say that chanting will cure any illness, but where is the scienific proof? Yes, there is ancedotal evidence galore. But the mindfulness people, TM, the Qi Gong folk, and others have taken their clims to the laboratory of major universities across the globe
to let scientists study their effects on the body and mind. Until daimoku is studied like this, we must be skeptical - I know I am, and I overcame cancer and wrote two books about it.
And it's an error to try and pigeon hole meditation and chanting and prayer. At their root, they're really the same thing approached from different ways.
Charles
Chanting is just saying the same words OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER. Music has a good effect, when I play Elvis in the background I want to Rock and Roll on Fraught with Peril, when I hear Religious Music i turn it off, but there is NO Mystical condition attached to chanting, that is the spin the SGI put on Nichiren's explanation of the Lotus Sutra.
Doo Wop Shoo be Dooo
Maltz
I suspect there is something archetypal about magic words, a key that unlocks secret portals, a musical key, the ki that flows through our hands when we chant. The rhythm of life, the word made flesh, vibrations, vibes, patterns, coils, spirals; maybe DNA is a series of chords?
Posted by: robin at April 23, 2008 10:30 PM