One reader said she was new to chanting and everything was going along just fine and one day she broke down crying while chanting.
This is wonderful, and was part of the process of becoming happier, at least for me. I'm not sure if everyone goes through this...but when I started chanting I cried while chanting quite a bit. I think chanting touched a part of me and brought me to a feeling of tremendous relief. I had been looking for the key to my own and other's happiness....and from the moment I started chanting I knew this was it. It was like my body and my heart and my mind all sighed in happiness together.
And I also cried because chanting touched the deep well of sadness that had always been within my life. I've written about this before. I started this blog because of that sadness deep in my life somewhere. Chanting touches it and helps release it. I think of the tears I shed while chanting as tears toward my golden beautiful karma. I feel they are all creating a happiness that is so wonderful I can't even imagine it now! You will get beyond whatever is troubling you. Suffering may be part of life, but in this practice it is not the GOAL! You will move beyond it. Happiness is the reason we all chant, and we all move closer to it every day...and experience it more and more every moment!
So if you are crying when you chant I say CONGRATULATIONS!!!! Let it out sweet soul! Welcome the feeling of release and the touching of your pain. It's all good! It is all for your good and your happiness. It is part of the process that will release you and make you the happiest person!
Don't think you are doing something wrong. We are all beautiful human beings with feelings.
Chant to really appreciate your life, your SELF, your own being! Chant to praise your life. Remember when you praise your life, your environment responds and the things that you are really wishing for...the things we all long for...love, recognition...appreciation all come into our lives in brilliant and new ways. Do not give up. Experience and appreciate your emotions and your SELF!!!!!
I will keep this in mind that the tears are a release. There has been lots of sadness. Knowing this makes me want to chant more...and release.
ReplyDeleteI haven't had tears during chanting, but I have suffered from anxiety attacks shortly afterwards. I feel that I should briefly share my experiences here in case another reader of this blog is having something similar.
ReplyDeleteTo begin with this phenomenon perturbed and annoyed me. I was not prone to anxiety attacks before starting to chant, so I knew that it was a result of chanting and not despite it. So I would lay there in bed, unable to sleep, suddenly worried about everything in the world, and on top of that thinking "What's the point of chanting if it's going to do this? Isn't this supposed to make me happy?" You know the kind of thing.
But it quickly became obvious to me that each time the anxiety attack cycled around (and it did so six or seven over a number of weeks), it did it with less and less emotional and physical force. It became easier to control, it stopped unsettling my mind quite so much.
In fact, the last time it happened, I was sort of almost amused by it. Instead of thinking "What's the point of chanting if it's going to do this?" my thought was "Ha! You don't get me that easily." And then I rolled over and went to sleep.
And I haven't had one since. It was seemingly something my body and mind had to work through, something that needed to be released... and daimoku released it in chunks that I could handle, in the most painless way possible.
And now - I think - it's gone.
I hope this helps someone. Don't give up because of these things - crying, anxiety, sulky moods (I've had those too!)... it's all part of the process. :)
This is so helpful! I have been chanting for a little over a week now, 15 min twice a day, and I started the first few chants feeling good and light, but since then I've been kinda down. As if the chanting is stirring up some emotions of what I need in my life now. I even turned down a job interview today and told the lady I dont think it's right for me. Wow. I know she was shocked! But I didnt want to do something that I feel is not right for me. Perhaps it is helping me to become more clear on my real desires and remember these feelings and absorb them so that I can recognize the change when it happens. It is happening.
ReplyDeleteFaith should be like river..if it is like fire then gone...according to the lotus sutra maintain faith in lotus sutra is one of the 6 difficult act.
DeleteHI ,
ReplyDeleteFIRST OF ALL I WANT TO THANK YOU FOR YOUR BLOG IT SURE DOES KEEP ME GOING.I VE BEEN IN THIS PRACTICE FOR THE LAST 1 YEAR AND WONT DENY I VE DERIVED INNUMERABLE BENEFITS.HOWEVER MY LAST 6 MONTHS HAVE BEEN PARTICULARLY DIFFICULT I VE BEEN JOBLESS AND HENCE EXTREMELY DEPRESSED . I VE BEEN CHANTING REGULARLY ATTENDING MEETINGS TAKING PART IN ACTIVITIES BUT MY SITUATION SEEMS UNCHANGED. MY MOM AND SISTER ARE FOLLOWERS OF THIS PRACTICE AS WELL INSPITE OF THEM AND FELLOW MEMBERS CHANTING FOR ME MY LIFE CONDITION SEEMS UNCHANGED. I M DEFINITELY NOT GIVING UP ON MY FAITH BUT DONT KNOW WHAT EXACTLY IS GOING WRONG.
I AM IN DESPERATE NEED OF HELP I HOPE U CAN THROW SOME LIGHT ON THE SAME.
THANKS
NMHRK
Sunshine,
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for this post. I came across this at the right moment.
After reading I got assured of the correct path of the Lotus Sutra and understand that pain and suffering are part of it.
Hello,
ReplyDeleteToday was my first time chanting. I don't have much of an altar, but it is my altar. I had not memorized the prayers yet, but I just read them. When it came to the fourth prayer, I became emotional. When I started blessing the deceased. I had 4 relatives die around the same time in the year 2006. It was a crazy time. I started out with my uncle, then my grandfather, and when I came to my grandmother I lost it. I started crying as I chimed the bells. Even right now I still miss my grandmother. She was my friend. I talked to her a lot.
Chanting right now feels like I can talk to her. It feels like I can reach out to her and know that she is in a great place. I miss her terribly, and I know it is crazy after 7 years still feeling like this. I can't help it. I think I have found a way to release all of my internal stresses and things holding me back from enjoying life through these chants. So I just thought I'd share my experience.
Peace be with you
I sometimes cry when chanting , When I mentioned this to my mentor she made me feel wrong thank you so much!!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your experience..it's really helpful.It's my first day of chant and i cried.But later,i felt so light and positive…i will continue with the chanting through out my life.
ReplyDeleteInterestingly, I cry during both nichiren and jodo shinshu chanting. I was raised in an emotionally abusive Japanese Canadian household, was not given affection, negative reinforcements were the norm, and I had also been abandoned by my mother before landing in this environment.
ReplyDeleteIn my 30's I started exploring Japanese Buddhism as a spiritual and cultural practice, but because of the social conventions in my community I became very uncomfortable as tears and overt signs of emotion are shunned by Japanese people. Its a shame though because it felt quite cleansing and I have a hard time being emotionally awake most days, as I've learned to live behind a wall of depressed isolation and emotional repression.
I'm glad to see that others are affected this way, however it would be interesting to see how many Japanese people react this way.
This blog was extremely helpfull. I really appreciate your kindness in sharing this with me and everyone else! mơ mình khóc là điềm gì nên đánh con gì.
ReplyDelete