This question was sent by a reader yesterday:
Tania, congrats! I was at a new members meeting tonight and thinking that my time may soon come. Well, I'm not officially a member, still a guest. I had a question for this blog that Jamie can answer. How does chanting affect our subconscious mind? Can it heal our subconsciousness so that we are able to behave differently? This came up in the meeting tonight and would love to see a post on it. Because there is so much talk about our subconscious thoughts sabotaging our lives in new age thinking and books. THANK YOU!!
I will do my best to answer this question based on my own experience and knowledge of Buddhism. I have also asked my dear friend Julia to make a comment on this question. She will be able to give us her insights in a few days. She is a therapist and practicing SGI Buddhist so I'm sure she'll have an interesting post for us.
My answer:
From my own experience I can say that my subconscious mind has definitely changed through practicing Buddhism, and that this key factor is one of the MAIN POINTS of practicing.
When I first started chanting I got my Gohonzon as soon as I possibly could. I realized the value of having the highest life condition...my highest potential in front of me as I chanted!
I thought of myself as a pretty positive person, but as I learned through my Daimoku (chanting of Nam Myoho Renge Kyo) as my subconscious mind was revealed to me by my strong prayer, I realized I was actually pretty terrified and angry a lot of the time.
When you chant your inner life comes forth so you can see it.
Chanting is like looking into a mirror of your inner life.
When you see what is revealed, you have the ultimate choice...
Do you look your life square in the eye and say "I AM THE BUDDHA! I will not tolerate this behavior or these thoughts any longer? I am determined to change this aspect of my life."
And when we change our inner life, our environment HAS to change to reflect our inner change. This is the core of what we call Human Revolution.
Human Revolution is not easy. It means retraining the subconscious mind....resetting the DNA...changing behaviors that we've been used to our whole lives. It is one of the reasons we practice together in the SGI - so we can support each other!
It's so much easier to do what most of the rest of the world does : blame their circumstances...blame something in their environment.
This outlook will not change anything!
This is the profound truth of Practical Buddhism. All the answers lie by changing our inner life. That is where you get leverage over our lives. But it takes real courage. REAL courage. And sometimes tears.
For some people it is very difficult, and some embrace the challenge!
We can run away from the truth in our lives or we can say "Wow! I have discovered something I can change!" and then chant to change it.
I have totally changed my nature. This does not make my perfect by any means...there will always be aspects I am still working on...
But the fact that I challenge my life every single day makes me a roaring lion. I will not tolerate anything but an excellent, happy, productive life of continuously becoming more happy and helping others become happy as well! I vow to accomplish this every day so that I can be an example of what is possible through chanting Nam Myoho Renge Kyo.
One of the biggest changes I've focused on has been the way I speak to myself in my head. My subconscious voice was often pretty angry at myself. I began to listen carefully to how I addressed myself and how I talked about myself. I realized I used the word "idiot" and the word "stupid" quite a bit, even though if you asked me, I never would have said I thought of myself as either idiotic or stupid. But my subconscious mind did! So I determined to change the way I spoke to myself. I chanted about it, and I changed the behavior. I am now much more of a cheerleader in my head...GO Jamie Go!
At the time I was also going through a program teaching energy healing. One of the requirements was to say "Jamie I love you" ten times before sleeping and ten times before getting out of bed. You'd think that would be easy but I was surprised by how difficult it was!
For many years I was about 50-70 pounds heavier than I should have been for my tiny 5'1" frame. Not anymore! I have changed that voice that was always telling me I'd feel "better" (emotionally) if I just ate something. The challenging part of it was that I DID feel better when I ate. Until I felt worse that is. Until my pants didn't fit...until the shame came on.
It was a long journey and a long story I won't go into completely here, but I have now managed to maintain a healthy weight for several years. And I have stopped the voice telling me to eat...the cry of my subconscious mind for comfort. I have changed behaviors so I comfort myself in writing, in chanting, in meditation, walking and talking with my friends. This was not easy. It requires a tremendous shift in the subconscious and the conscious mind.
This is just one example from my life.
There are so many more...
Anyone care to share your thoughts?
Tania, congrats! I was at a new members meeting tonight and thinking that my time may soon come. Well, I'm not officially a member, still a guest. I had a question for this blog that Jamie can answer. How does chanting affect our subconscious mind? Can it heal our subconsciousness so that we are able to behave differently? This came up in the meeting tonight and would love to see a post on it. Because there is so much talk about our subconscious thoughts sabotaging our lives in new age thinking and books. THANK YOU!!
I will do my best to answer this question based on my own experience and knowledge of Buddhism. I have also asked my dear friend Julia to make a comment on this question. She will be able to give us her insights in a few days. She is a therapist and practicing SGI Buddhist so I'm sure she'll have an interesting post for us.
My answer:
From my own experience I can say that my subconscious mind has definitely changed through practicing Buddhism, and that this key factor is one of the MAIN POINTS of practicing.
When I first started chanting I got my Gohonzon as soon as I possibly could. I realized the value of having the highest life condition...my highest potential in front of me as I chanted!
I thought of myself as a pretty positive person, but as I learned through my Daimoku (chanting of Nam Myoho Renge Kyo) as my subconscious mind was revealed to me by my strong prayer, I realized I was actually pretty terrified and angry a lot of the time.
When you chant your inner life comes forth so you can see it.
Chanting is like looking into a mirror of your inner life.
When you see what is revealed, you have the ultimate choice...
Do you look your life square in the eye and say "I AM THE BUDDHA! I will not tolerate this behavior or these thoughts any longer? I am determined to change this aspect of my life."
And when we change our inner life, our environment HAS to change to reflect our inner change. This is the core of what we call Human Revolution.
Human Revolution is not easy. It means retraining the subconscious mind....resetting the DNA...changing behaviors that we've been used to our whole lives. It is one of the reasons we practice together in the SGI - so we can support each other!
It's so much easier to do what most of the rest of the world does : blame their circumstances...blame something in their environment.
This outlook will not change anything!
This is the profound truth of Practical Buddhism. All the answers lie by changing our inner life. That is where you get leverage over our lives. But it takes real courage. REAL courage. And sometimes tears.
For some people it is very difficult, and some embrace the challenge!
We can run away from the truth in our lives or we can say "Wow! I have discovered something I can change!" and then chant to change it.
I have totally changed my nature. This does not make my perfect by any means...there will always be aspects I am still working on...
But the fact that I challenge my life every single day makes me a roaring lion. I will not tolerate anything but an excellent, happy, productive life of continuously becoming more happy and helping others become happy as well! I vow to accomplish this every day so that I can be an example of what is possible through chanting Nam Myoho Renge Kyo.
One of the biggest changes I've focused on has been the way I speak to myself in my head. My subconscious voice was often pretty angry at myself. I began to listen carefully to how I addressed myself and how I talked about myself. I realized I used the word "idiot" and the word "stupid" quite a bit, even though if you asked me, I never would have said I thought of myself as either idiotic or stupid. But my subconscious mind did! So I determined to change the way I spoke to myself. I chanted about it, and I changed the behavior. I am now much more of a cheerleader in my head...GO Jamie Go!
At the time I was also going through a program teaching energy healing. One of the requirements was to say "Jamie I love you" ten times before sleeping and ten times before getting out of bed. You'd think that would be easy but I was surprised by how difficult it was!
For many years I was about 50-70 pounds heavier than I should have been for my tiny 5'1" frame. Not anymore! I have changed that voice that was always telling me I'd feel "better" (emotionally) if I just ate something. The challenging part of it was that I DID feel better when I ate. Until I felt worse that is. Until my pants didn't fit...until the shame came on.
It was a long journey and a long story I won't go into completely here, but I have now managed to maintain a healthy weight for several years. And I have stopped the voice telling me to eat...the cry of my subconscious mind for comfort. I have changed behaviors so I comfort myself in writing, in chanting, in meditation, walking and talking with my friends. This was not easy. It requires a tremendous shift in the subconscious and the conscious mind.
This is just one example from my life.
There are so many more...
Anyone care to share your thoughts?
This was very powerful and thoughtfully written. I am the person who asked the question. Right now I am struggling out of my environment and I am tired.
ReplyDeleteI read personal development books all the time and with chanting I feel like there is a choice between the two. But like someone said at a meeting, why not do both? Why not?! My subconscious mind is saying not another commitment, not another religion. So, I stay stuck. I am ready to make a decision too. I am desperate to make a decision. I have been chanting since March and even if I skip some days, I come back to it. It's addictive, it makes me feel powerful.
And sometimes on good chants, my mind is so light and clear, you can blow the wind through it. So nice.
Now I have to take the next step. Next step...Thank you Jamie.