The Mantra: nam myoho renge kyo

I have written about the Lotus Sutra (also known as the Saddharma Puṇḍarīka Sūtra) before. It is one of the most influential and revered sutras in Mahayana Buddhism. It is considered a central scripture in various Mahayana traditions, including Tiantai, Nichiren, and Pure Land Buddhism.

The Lotus Sutra contains a variety of teachings attributed to Gautama Buddha, presented in the form of dialogues and parables. 

One of the key mantras associated with the Lotus Sutra is the phrase "Nam-myoho-renge-kyo." I learned it as a naive college freshman when I attended an "Introduction to Buddhism" meeting at Rutgers University's Douglass College. Admittedly, I attended more because I had been invited by an attractive woman who I wanted to get to know better.

We learned to chant the mantra "Nam-myoho-renge-kyo" as a form of meditation and devotion. One guy there said chanting it could bring to anything you wanted. That sounded incredibly far-fetched. It is believed to invoke the power and blessings of the Lotus Sutra and is a way of tapping into the inherent Buddhahood within oneself and manifesting one's highest potential for wisdom, compassion, and enlightenment.

That phase of my Buddhist study lasted about a semester. Chanting did not get me that woman or anything else that I wanted. I would study Buddhism more seriously and with better teachers several times over the course of my life, but I can't say that I ever became a Buddhist. (Desire gets in the way.)

You can chant"Nam-myoho-renge-kyo" silently or aloud, with the focus on the rhythm and vibration of the mantra. Since the repetition of the mantra is believed to quiet the mind, I have been using it as a way to cultivate some  inner peace before I go to sleep. Yes, I use it as a sleep aid. 

Though I know the meaning of the words which translates to "I devote myself to the Lotus Sutra of the Wonderful Law," I find it works better to forget the translation. Thinking about it in English leads my mind to wander to meanings. I use the words with my breathing. I start with a breath in on Nam and a breath out on myoho, in on renge and out on kyo. After several repetitions, I increase the intake to Nam-myoho and breathe out to renge-kyo. All of this is silent. Eventually, I am taking deep breaths to the full Nam-myoho-renge-kyo and long exhales to it.

Sleep has often eluded me in my life and I have tried many thing from meditation, to exercises, reading and just about every herbal remedy and prescription sleep aid on the market. All of them work to a degree but none work long-term or without side effects. Even reading has side effects, as it causes my brain to connect to all kinds of related things.

I know that I am not using the chant in the "proper" Buddhist way. Or am I?

The mantra is believed to embody the universe's all-pervading nature, and since the closest I come to prayer these days is addressing the universe, the mantra seems like a good path.

mantra tattoo via Ryven

How Is Your Sanskrit?

Sanskrit in Sanskrit

Sanskrit is a language of ancient India (3,500 years old) and is the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, the predominant language of most works of Hindu philosophy as well as some of the principal texts of Buddhism and Jainism.

It was the lingua franca of ancient and medieval India.In the early 1st millennium CE, along with Buddhism and Hinduism, Sanskrit migrated to Southeast Asia, parts of East Asia and Central Asia. It became the language of high culture and of the ruling elites.

Sanskrit words have been and still are the secret language of Yoga.

You probably know some Sanskrit: Karma and Nirvana are ancient Sanskrit words. But there are other Sanskrit words that are very good at summing up large principles of guiding one's life.

Here is a quick primer on some Sanskrit:

• Santosha = contentment and finding a feeling of content no matter what your circumstances may be. 
• Ananda = bliss, that state of utter joy and fulfillment.
• Mantra is another fairly common word, especially if you have seriously studied mediation. It is defined as a mind instrument - not a prayer as we normally think of that word, but a sacred phrase that can be repeated, even "hummed" during meditation 
• Satya = truth, which includes truth-telling, practicing positive moral and also finding your own personal truth as well. While being honest with others is important, being honest with yourself allows you to realize your purpose. 
• Saucha = cleanliness, physically and in spirit and emotions that are toxic, such as fear, jealousy, and anger.  
• Ahimsa – non-violence both physically and mentally. 
• Upeksha means staying grounded which is the way to an ultimate state of peace 
• Prajna = wisdom, but not so much the learned wisdom of schooling or experience, but from spiritual wisdom

You'll find more at mindbodygreen.com  and yogajournal.com

Do Nothing To Be More Competitive

It's hard to ignore a title like "Want a competitive edge? Do nothing every day."  Call it a bit of clickbait, but the article went on to discuss a way to reduce work stress, boost energy, improve focus, and help you be more productive at work. Is it a drug? No. Nothing with side effects. Do I have to buy some new tech gadget? No special equipment. Do I have to go to a gym or run 100 miles a week? Nope.

It is ancient. It’s meditation.

According to the article, 40% of us say we already meditate at least once a week. That seems high to me.

The benefits of meditation are many and have been found in multiple studies: reduced anxiety and stress, improvements in focus and cognitive function. Those are results after just a few weeks of mindfulness training. If you do it long-term, there is some evidence that your brain may age more slowly.

Probably some people meditate at home but the article suggests that meditating during the work day is also important. 

Since I have seen it suggested that you should take short naps during the work day - which sounds like a bad thing for the boss to catch you doing - I guess some meditation is possible at work.

Actually, some of the big "best places to work," like Google, Ford, Aetna and Adobe, offer corporate mindfulness programs. Viewed as a kind of preventative care, they say it improves employees sleep quality, lowers stress and increases productivity.

There are lots of classes and books and even apps to get started with meditation. I have done both of those approaches multiple times. I know what to. The tough part is doing it.

The basics are having a space that is quiet and private, and being consistent in your practice.

Every class I took or book I read starts with following your breath. That may involve counting the inhalation, holding and exhaling. Most of us are pretty shallow breathers.

The second thing that is emphasized is emptying your mind. That is much harder than the breathing. You're told that when a thought comes, realize it is that and let it go. Much easier said than done.

How much mediation do you need to do? Start out small. Even after years of on and off practice, I had trouble with sessions that ran for an hour or more (zazen). It is okay to start with 5, 10 or 15 minutes a day.

An old old Zen adage is that you should sit in meditation for 20 minutes every day—unless you’re too busy, then you should sit for an hour.  Fifteen minutes a day every day is better than an hour twice a week.

It was a revelation to me to realize that meditation - or mindfulness, which is a term I prefer - can be incorporated into activities. I am very fond of recommending kinhin which is walking meditation. It is usually done between long sessions as a break, but I like doing it as its own activity. It is a lot more than just taking a walk in the woods. But it can be done as a start just walking from your desk to lunch.

Another place I often bring my meditation is in the garden. I particularly find the usually unenjoyable and "mindless" chore of weeding to be a good activity for mindfulness. It has actually become enjoyable.

Sitting on a nice empty beaching to meditate is great, but not practical for most of us on a regular basis. Find you places and times.

Walking Meditation

Walking meditation is a form of meditation in action. In this meditation, walking is used as our focus. We become mindful of our experience while walking, and try to keep our awareness involved with the experience of walking.

There are several different kinds of walking meditation, but I was introduced to one at a Zen monastery In Buddhism, kinhin is the walking meditation that is practiced between long periods of the sitting meditation known as zazen.

In walking meditation, we certainly keep our eyes open and are less withdrawn from the outside world - although the walking can be done indoors. In my experiences, I have walked clockwise around a room and walked outside in woods. The hands are held in shashu (one hand closed in a fist while the other hand grasps or covers the fist) and each step is taken after each full breath. I have done it at a slow pace and at a brisk pace.

The practice appealed to me for several reasons. Right off, I enjoy walking outdoors. Second, I found it appealing that we needed to be aware of things outside of ourselves. I suppose that wind, sun, trees, nature sounds and manmade sounds like airplanes and cars can be viewed as distractions, but there were plenty of distractions for me in sitting meditation. It is certainly easier on the back, neck and knees.

I found that I could easily work walking meditation into my day, from the walk from the car to my office to the walk in the park at luch or the walk in the woods after dinner.

I looked at several books on the practice, including The Long Road Turns to Joy: A Guide to Walking Meditation by Thich Nhat Hanh.

He describes the practice but also includes walking meditation poems and alternative practices. It is probably a change for many people to "walk not in order to arrive, but walk just for walking."

He recommends bare feet touching the earth as a way to better live in the here and now.

Thich Nhat Hanh

Step and breath are important to this simple practice of walking with attention and mindfulness. For some, prayer is part of the practice.

This practice is very old and not restricted to Buddhism. The term "circumambulation" means walking around a sacred object or idol. This circumambulation of temples or deity images is part of Hindu and Buddhist devotional practice (known in Sanskrit as pradakśina or pradakshinaṇā) but is also present in other religions, including Christianity, Judaism, and Islam.

There are many books on walking meditation, but it is easy enough to begin uninitiated on your own or by reading an online article. It is, however, the kind of thing that can only be learned by doing.

This is not walking to get your 10,000 steps or as exercise or to get to any place. This circular path is done with attention to the walking - your steps, your breath as the metronome setting the pace, the path ahead. And, as with almost all mediation, you try to acknowledge and then dismiss the distractions.

For my "monkey mind," this last part is the most difficult. It is hard for me in walking in the woods not to want to stop to examine a plant or stone or dismiss the water in the creek or the call of a bird.

Teaching the Daily Practices

Daily practice is a part of many religions and spiritual quests. But the discipline of daily practices does not have to have anything to do with religion or spirituality. The self-discipline of having a daily practice is good for the mind, body and soul.

My writing online is a daily practice that is spread around in a number of places. It is the best thing I have done in my life to improve my writing. I have tried daily writing practices before. William Stafford and other poets are known for their daily poems.

It did that in 2014 with a daily poetry practice that I called Writing the Day. It helps that Stafford, when asked about how he could write a poem each day, replied that he lowered his standards. He didn't write a gem every day. But he did write every day.

This year, I still write poems and I still contribute weekly to that poetry blog, but my daily practices have changed.

Maybe your practice is yoga, meditation, working in the garden, painting, or making time for serious reading. The list is long with possibilities.

It takes discipline. I know that "discipline" has a bad bad reputation. It makes you think of school and getting sent to the principal's office for detention. But discipline is good and necessary.

As a teacher, applying what you learn is one of my top goals for my students. It's also a goal that we should have in our non-academic life.

When I was more seriously into meditation practice, it became important to me that the practice moved into some actions in my life. The idea of meditating peacefully on some hilltop or is some tranquil Zen monastery is very appealing. But it also seems very self-indulgent.

Buddhism is generally not taught in America as a religion. Buddhist teachings are offered in a very practical, nonreligious way, and students of any – or no – religious background can benefit from learning them and putting them into practice.

When I stumbled upon the European Institute of Applied Buddhism in Germany, that's what I was thinking about. EIAB has a mission to not only offer training but also "methods for using Buddha’s teachings to relieve suffering and promote happiness and peace in ourselves, our families, our communities and in the world. "

The institute operates under Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, the world-renowned meditation teacher, scholar and writer, and with Dharma teachers in the Plum Village tradition.

People apply Buddhist teachings in such a way as to release tensions of the body, reduce bodily stress and pains, and in many cases alleviate not only symptoms but also underlying causes of illness. Can you pass on that knowledge and teach others to have a daily practice? I think that is the ultimate point of gaining the knowledge.

The other place I see this happening is with yoga - a practice that I have very little experience with. (I took a 5 week class that didn't work for me.) But i saw a blog post about Yoga from the Heart by Seane Corn and she talks about a concept of "body prayer." She applies her yoga practice to her humanitarian efforts. (There is a a video excerpt of her demonstrating the movement of "body prayer")

I see yoga classes being offered everywhere from corporate centers to churches, hospitals, schools and storefront and formal fitness centers. It's a 5,000-year-old spiritual practice.

Healing yourself is good, but healing the world, or at least a small part of it, is better. I have been a teacher in schools for my entire adult life, but my sense of the "teacher" is not really connected to schools but to every experience.

I have posted on another site about contemplative practices. I posted something about a very simple and brief guided practice using a bell sound meditation. It takes five minutes to do. Everyone can do a daily practice that only requires five minutes. But that is still more time than many people seem willing to give to quiet contemplation.

Even a daily practice of five minutes a day requires discipline.

One of my new daily practices is taking a few minutes every night before I go to sleep to review the day and note what I am grateful for from the day. Honestly, when I started, for a few nights I couldn't come up with anything I was grateful for that day. That first saddened me, but then it bothered me. How could there be nothing that day I was grateful for? Sure, I could say I am grateful for being alive and healthy, for having a job, and for being married to someone I love and for my children. But that sounded corny, a bit of a cliche and too easy. I could use them every night. I am grateful for all those things every day, but it is harder and more important to probe deeper and

In the Tao Te Ching, Lao Tzu says, "Do you have the patience to wait until your mud settles and the water is clear? Can you remain unmoving until the right action arises by itself? The master doesn’t seek fulfillment. Not seeking, not expecting, she is present and can welcome all things.”

At the top of this page is the Tree of Contemplative Practices, which is a nice visual of seven branches of practices, that I found on the website for the Center for Contemplative Mind in Society.

You can see that it ranges from quiet practices for stillness (sitting meditation; centering prayer) to movement (walking meditation; pilgrimage). These practices can be done alone, but most of them actually involve others (especially work and volunteering or storytelling), Some of these practices can produce tangible results. That might be music, art, a house, a sacred space, a journal or a dialog with someone.

I asked a co-worker this past week if she sets aside any time each day for conscious contemplation. She said that it was those ten minutes that would sip coffee while waiting for the train every morning. "What do you think about?" I asked. "Nothing. I stare mindlessly at the tracks."

I know that many teachers of meditation will encourage you to empty your mind, but the "mindless" nature of my co-worker's practice make me think it's not a contemplative practice.

You can add another level to an activity that seems mindless or just relaxing. For example, gardening is one of my favorite activities and I consider it to be a contemplative practice when I am conscious of an intention of cultivating awareness. I know someone who gardens as a way of developing a stronger connection with God. That's different from just gardening.

You can do it while sitting quietly, walking in the woods, watching a fire, gazing at the ocean waves or resting on the couch, but you have to move beyond the experience and the moment.