【Description】

What are the benefits of chanting? What is the proper mindset to hold while chanting? Will chanting for a long time make your throat raw?

Grandmaster JinBodhi answered all these questions, and guided people to calm down and chant. Grandmaster said, “When you calm down, your troubles and worries will gradually diminish. When you chant peacefully and sincerely for a while, you will create nectar in your mouth.”

What are the health effects of the nectar created while chanting? In addition to teaching us about the power of this nectar, Grandmaster JinBodhi talked about the beautifying effects and spontaneous fasting that can come about through chanting. What are the benefits of spontaneous fasting?

Let’s listen to Grandmaster JinBodhi’s teachings on the many benefits and transformations generated by chanting.

【Featured aphorisms】

• After eliminating negative karma, the ideal situation is to achieve enlightenment and obtain complete and pure wisdom.
• Enlightenment makes life more valuable and creative!

【Content】

Hello, everyone. (Hello, Master.) Today we are streaming our group practice again. There are many different ways to meditate. One way is chanting. It is also called reciting a mantra. Reciting a mantra is another way to chant. You can chant loudly or softly. That is the only difference.

Adopt a calm sitting posture. Some get sleepy when sitting down; what can they do? If you are sleepy, go to sleep. Chant later when you are awake. If you get sleepy when sitting, try kneeling instead. It is better to calm your body. Don’t chant while working. You may get distracted. So calm down; either sit or kneel, or switch between the postures. When you are tired of sitting, kneel; when you are tired of kneeling, sit. After you finish chanting, get up and do closing exercises. Do some stretches to warm up your body; it is necessary. You should force yourself to exercise.

I just talked about posture. Both sitting and kneeling are good. For beginners, you can lean against a wall. But make sure you support your lumbar with a pillow or folded blanket. Make sure to keep warm. In the North, it tends to be cold, so you should at least cover your legs with a blanket. Make sure you don’t get cold; we must stay still and calm.

Let me put it this way. What are the benefits of being in a calm state? When I was young, I was in that state for many years. Now I often stay in that state. When you face intricate work, irritations, troublesome situations, family problems, and stress from caring for seniors or your mortgage, your mind can become chaotic and anxious. When you try to think, you lose your train of thought. Your heart becomes chaotic. This agitation may due to disease or fatigue. When someone is exhausted, their energy is low and their heart becomes chaotic.

When you aren’t tired, you think logically; you are smart and wise. But when you are tired, you feel as though you can’t figure anything out. Your mind is chaotic, you don’t know what to do and can lose your temper. You can’t determine what is right and what is wrong. Your mind is a mess. That is because you lack energy in the moment. First, you lack energy. Second, all your work and activities drain your energy. So your heart becomes chaotic. If you don’t want it to be chaotic, it is simple: Just calm down. Some say, “I can’t calm down.” It is OK. Today you have the chance to calm down. You can try chanting.

When you sit down to chant, make sure your phone isn’t in reach. There are so many messages, ding…ding… Even if you silence it, it may still vibrate and the floor amplifies it. This will feed the chaos in your heart. How can you calm down with all this information coming in, along with your work, worries and fatigue? So during this time either turn your phone off or wrap it up in clothing and leave it in another room; set it to silent mode. Give yourself an one-hour break. Calm down and chant. During this time, no matter what happens, big or small, even if the sky falls, you just chant.

As long as you make it through the hour, you will feel tranquil after a short period of leg and lower-back pain. You will feel wiser; your eyes will seem brighter. What bothered you before doesn’t bother you anymore. When you hear your kids screaming, it won’t annoy you. That shows your heart has calmed and your wisdom has awoken. With this wisdom, you can judge the importance and correctness of an event. You will wonder why such a simple thing caused you to lose your temper. That is because your wisdom has awakened. That is why Buddha said we are all wise by nature. Meditation is like wiping the dust off a jewel to make it transparent and shine again. It is just like that.

In terms of your mindset, don’t think about your bad liver, your insomnia, your toothache, your heart issues, your high blood pressure or your diabetes. You may say, “I have so many problems and Buddha helps people. Buddha, please cure me.” Don’t think any of this. Don’t think it at all. Empty your mind. Don’t worry that you can’t return to this world. Empty your mind for an hour. Give yourself a break.

I am aware that as a beginner, you will experience leg pain. But when you push through this, you will feel, like the dusty jewel, that you will start to shine. You are the jewel. You will find yourself tranquil, wise, healthier and happier. When people gain wisdom, they are happier. Why are they happier? Because there are no worries and troubles, or at least fewer. Few things can bother you. People like this are wiser. Anyone can be like this. As long as you can calm down and meditate.

Chanting is one type of meditation. It is easy to learn and do. Put your heart into chanting, don’t think anything. People from the South may not understand this idiom. What does it mean to put your heart into something? It means when disaster happens, there is nothing you can do; whether it is about to rain or your mother is getting remarried. Maybe you can stop your mother, but you can’t stop the rain. So what do you do? Just take care of yourself. Don’t waste energy on things you can’t affect. You have to calm down. Always remember to be calm.

Besides helping you gain wisdom, meditation is a way to gain a unique type of wisdom and healthy energy. You will understand what I mean after you try.

Chanting with a calm and sincere heart brings wisdom and healthy energy.

Next I will talk about the benefits in more detail. I have practiced a long time, so my experience will be different from a beginner’s. I talked about a friend earlier; he was feeling tension in his neck and head due to the fatigue of work and other pressures. After he relaxed and chanted for half an hour, he felt lighter both physically and mentally, happier and unblocked. I have known many people like him.

For a beginner, you chant with me; just chant normally, don’t get angry. If you were to sing 3 songs, your throat would become sore. After 10 songs, you may not be able to speak. Your throat would be too sore. You wouldn’t be able to speak for 2 days. But if you chant with me for a whole day, your throat won’t be sore. You may not even need to drink. I am not telling you not to drink. You should drink a lot of water. But we have chanted 7 hours a day for 7 days and our throats are fine. What’s more, our voices have grown stronger over time.

When you obtain a sincere and tranquil heart and you aren’t distracted by too many troubles, you will find a sweet liquid in your mouth after chanting for an hour. This sweet liquid is called nectar in Taoist tradition. Buddhists later appropriated this term. My master taught me that when your practice reaches a certain level, this sweet nectar will appear in your mouth. When the nectar becomes very sweet and cool with more advanced practice, you swallow it slowly. Do not spit it out. I am sure you won’t want to spit it out because it is so sweet. If you are coughing, swallowing the nectar will stop the cough that same day. If you have stomach problems, swallowing the nectar on at most 3 occasions will fix them. It is that effective. It is very good.

There are many expressions in Taoist tradition which we don’t understand. They are actually describing sensations that occur while meditating. When you are able to create this very sweet and cool saliva in your mouth, it is called nectar. When you swallow this cool nectar, it might even cure cancer. It sounds incredible. What I think is that this is a resurrection elixir. Through ancient Taoist and Buddhist meditation practice, many people gained longevity. If you can swallow a few mouthfuls of this sweet nectar, you can live up to 100 years. It is a form of energy.

Second, it is auspicious. Its auspicious energy will help you fulfill your desires and accomplish great achievements. Some say, “I want better health.” “I retired, I don’t work anymore.” “I want a peaceful heart and mind.” “I want to be at ease all the time, be healthy and live a long life. And also have pure wisdom.” No problem. As long as you chant diligently, you will obtain all of these. For those who want spiritual growth, they all want wisdom. And they will obtain this through meditation.

The second big effect, which women will especially love, is that you will become prettier. After chanting for an hour— I am not sure how quickly you chant, but anyway— after about an hour, you will find your hands start to sweat, which didn’t happen before. This is because your body’s meridians have been unblocked. Some seniors have frozen shoulders; they can’t comb their own hair or touch the back of their head. After chanting for a while, they will be able to.

In what ways are you becoming prettier? Your skin will become moisturized. After chanting for an hour, look in a mirror: You will find yourself more attractive. Your face will radiate healthy light. Your body is filled with energy. That’s why after chanting for a few days, a lot of people will feel 1 or 2 years younger. It is obvious. The filthy qi hanging over your face, even the freckles, are diminished. So your skin becomes moisturized, beautiful and smoother. This is the effect that many desire but can’t achieve. Right? You will see that with chanting and practice, you can become prettier.

You may wonder why. Am I exaggerating? It is because the qi can flow smoothly in your body. You let go of your worries and troubles. Your body becomes unobstructed. Your body is like a car, some of the parts have stopped or are blocked. It makes you feel uneasy. When you go through a zen process like this, all the parts and organs return to normal functioning. Your qi, your energy, flows smoothly. This will make you healthy. Also, when chanting, we can even be blessed by Buddha and bodhisattvas. Those who aren’t religious probably won’t believe this.

Chanting while maintaining sincerity and tranquility can create nectar, unblock your body and mind, and change your appearance.

There are more benefits. What is most amazing is the third benefit. Some people will start spontaneous fasting today. While practicing, they naturally find they don’t need to eat and they are not hungry. If you haven’t practiced before, you may think it is impossible. Those who claim to be fasting must be lying.

If you start spontaneous fasting, you won’t be hungry when looking at food. It is hard to swallow if you try to eat. It is not because you are suffering or something. You are normal and healthy; after practicing, you find you aren’t hungry. This is called spontaneous fasting. Some used to eat 3 bowls of rice at every meal, now they only need one. This is half spontaneous fasting. Some people may only need half an apple or a glass of water for one meal. This is half spontaneous fasting as well.

There are different degrees of spontaneous fasting. Most people will experience full or half spontaneous fasting. However, a small number of people will actually eat more. The more expensive the food, the more they eat. That is because their appetite has been strengthened. Their liver and spleen were blocked, making digestion difficult, so their appetite was limited. Now the blockage has been cleared, so they can eat more. This is a sign of improving health. Through chanting, your diseases may be alleviated, or you may regain your health. It is possible.

Some people will gain good luck. They find a good job. Single people find a good relationship. Those who wish to buy a house get a house. Those who can’t get a loan have one granted. It is all possible. Such good luck can really happen. Those who chant often have safe trips wherever they go. This is not magic. If you have a chance to practice with me, give it a try, and find out if you will get good luck.

If you want to get good luck, don’t seek it; don’t pray, “Please let it be me.” Don’t think that way. Just let what happens happen. Say to yourself, “Focus on the chanting.” This will make it more effective. What is this mindset? I would call it a dauntless mindset. It is what I mentioned earlier, “Put your heart into it, nothing matters.” We can’t change the world, anyway. I will quietly relax my heart and accept the world. Yes, this is called a dauntless mindset. It is most effective to chant with this dauntless mindset.

It is most sincere when you chant with your body, voice and mind all aligned. Use your body, voice and mind in concert; they become one. This way, you are entirely focused on one thing. What is this one thing? Chanting. A compassionate visualization. Its effects are far-reaching. When you chant with your body, voice and mind all aligned, for over one hour, the evil energy can’t get close to you. The Buddha’s light not only shines on you, but also on all of your family.

The place where you chant will be filled with auspicious light. Buddha’s light will radiate throughout the area. That is why the energy field where we practice becomes so strong and positive. This is because of Buddha’s light and the energy generated by people practicing with their body, voice and mind all aligned. So meditating there or even drinking some tea is good for your health.

When you chant with your body, voice and mind all aligned, you will be bathed in Buddha’s light and an auspicious energy field.