【Description】
Some people chant for religious reasons, while others do so to go to the Pure Land in their afterlife. So, why do we chant for this life?
Grandmaster JinBodhi explains the changes that chanting can bring to your life. Not only can it help you obtain health and improve your spiritual realm, but it also produces the all-powerful “heavenly dew” each time you chant.
Why does chanting create this wondrous effect? How can this effect be enhanced? In this video, Grandmaster JinBodhi answers these questions to give you a deeper understanding of chanting and its wondrous benefits.
【You will learn】
- The meaning of chanting
- Ways to make chanting more effective
- The effects of chanting on physical health
- How chanting elevates the spiritual realm
- The secret formula for health and longevity
- The “heavenly dew” produced by chanting
- The repentant chanting method
【Featured aphorisms】
- A bright yin tang (space between the eyebrows) is a sign of having wisdom and fortune.
- Chanting with a sincere and compassionate heart can make a big difference.
- Inner wisdom and understanding is great beauty.
- Sincere repentance can remove the burden of mind and body. When you relax the whole body, diseases will disappear.
【Content】
It is a rare opportunity for us to maintain purity of body and mind through our meditation process. When people with Divine-Eye look at ordinary people, they can see many impurities and unhealthy colors that reveal unhealthy parts of the body. People with severe illnesses have no glow in the eyes or on the forehead. Instead, there is a cloud of muddy and gray qi. Ordinary people who never underwent training can’t see it. If you continue to practice with me, one day I will teach you to see that layer of qi.
If you always think of positive things and have joyful feelings, compassion or a bit of wisdom, your qi will be bright. Your eyes and forehead will be glowing. In Korea’s physiognomy — everyone might have heard that the spot between your brows is called Yin Tang by Chinese people — having a glowing Yin Tang represents having wisdom and fortune; having a darkening Yin Tang represents bad fortune.
A boy wants to find a girlfriend; his Yin Tang is dull and dark, can he find a girlfriend? No. If your Yin Tang is dull when you are about to marry, will the marriage be good? No. When I look at those who are dying of disease, their Yin Tang looks like gray ashes from burnt wood. Even their lips are dark. Many parts of them will have color. The sputum would either be black, blood-like or an ugly yellow color. Their hands lose firmness and their voice isn’t loud or clear.
So how can we obtain health? We usually think that we chant for religious reasons. Few Christians chant the name of Buddha. That is uncommon. But some senior masters would tell you, “Chant, so that Buddha will come to pick you up.” Once, I listened to an old master’s teaching. He told us, “Chant, regardless of age, so Buddha will take you away.” I was afraid to chant. I want to stay on Earth for a while. There are many movies I haven’t watched yet. I am not in a hurry to leave this place. So I was afraid to chant.
Maybe the old master was right. But the real meaning of chanting the name of the great Sakyamuni Buddha is to respectfully praise our most noble teacher, Sakyamuni, because I am here to learn from him. Chanting’s purpose is not to ask the Buddha to take you away. The more sincere and focused we are, the better we learn. How to reduce distracting thoughts? Sometimes, our brain thinks about things uncontrollably. That is OK. I have ways to make you more sincere.
These sincere and compassionate self-reminders or visualizations can create great effects from your chanting. Try to visualize your body being very pure. Can you do that? Think of your body being very pure and compassionate. There is light shining through the sound of you chanting. That way, the effect will be very good. So among our ancient ancestors, some high-level masters could practice to the level that each chant became a lotus. This doesn’t mean that an actual lotus would appear. It means resembling colors of compassion.
When we are very pure and compassionate, together with long-term visualization and chanting, the chanting sound that comes out of us is no longer just a normal phrase. Occasionally, we or others can see lotus-like or very beautiful colors. The color is so gorgeous that it looks like a lotus. But I haven’t seen much of this happening. When my Master chanted, he radiated golden light. It was rare to see pink or white light. Some wouldn’t have the light even if they practiced well. Or it might be that we can’t see it.
Then what would we obtain if we reached this state? Health. People have too many types of diseases to count. From head to toe, outside to inside, we can get sick in any part of our body. Using this method of practice is very easy and safe. Extended chanting creates health of body and mind. We will have several changes in our body. First, your skin will be smoother. Look in the mirror and take a picture of yourself in natural light. After this class ends, take another one. Compare the photos; you’ll look 10 years younger. This is about the skin.
The second change is the eyes. When our energy is low, our sight gets blurry. Today, I have met several practitioners with gleaming eyes. This light is a sign of ample energy. Then if my body is healthy, will my mind be healthier through chanting? It will. If you used to frequently criticize, deceive or slander others and have a sharp tongue, your speech will change after you become more compassionate. Because as the control center of your speech, your mind has changed.
Your mind has a biological natural state. In ancient times, there was limited food and people competed for it. If you couldn’t grab the food first, others would take it and you would starve. Inheriting this behavior for millions of years, we usually hope that we can take what we want. This becomes a habit. But when we have compassion, we will change this habit. When we hope to obtain something, we will reflect on whether it is really for us. If there are several people going after this thing, should I give it to people who need it more? This mentality stems from being compassionate.
When we have compassion in our lives and chant the name of the Buddha frequently, we can understand the aforementioned mentality easily. Everyone has already learned it. Why will being compassionate bring us wisdom? The reason is that we have received blessings from Buddha and Bodhisattva. In my personal interpretation, aside from that, there is also the spiritual elevation from self-cultivation. Our inherited behavior is to take whatever we want. But today, we no longer want to do so. At least we know how to control our greed. That is an improvement.
Through our repeated chanting and communication with Buddha, we are given something we are not aware of in the moment. We might discover later: I have become healthier; my pain is gone; my age spots are fading or disappearing; my eye floaters are gone; I don’t wake up at midnight anymore; I sleep well and get up in the morning with ease. Our body naturally changes. These are visible things we obtain.
Next let’s find changes from the mind. In the past, you were an irritable person, angering easily over a trifle. After chanting for several days, you won’t get angered easily by the same problems. Why is that? It is hard to explain. We can only say it is all blessings from the Buddha and Bodhisattva. They give us a broad mind that creates wisdom.
Some also start tearing up. During chanting, tears start to flow for no reason. This is a good thing. After the tearing has stopped, you will find that your sight will be much better. For some, the tears are paste-like; it looks like salt when dry. It has white powder-like substances in it. These are the hidden illnesses in your brain, which are expelled in tears. Some release their illnesses through defecation. Of course this is hard to test, but you can see that your tears are very thick. They are sticky and have sand-like substances in them. These are the things that cause your serious illnesses.
If you put the substances from your tears together, it may be the size of a single rice grain; what if you continue to accumulate these in your body? Then you wouldn’t know which blood vessel in the brain could be blocked. That is why some have distorted faces, or lose their hearing or control of hand movement. Their hands shake. These symptoms are related to the brain. These illnesses will be discharged.
So during chanting, these bad things that cause illness will be discharged. Some of these are expelled with our awareness, such as through defecation, tears and sweat. Or it could be discharged through the cushion we sit on without leaving a trace. We used to practice on chairs, so we could see the expelled water under our feet. Now we practice on cushions, we don’t usually see a wet mark as big as our butt. The harmful substances are expelled, and we become healthier.
(Do more chanting with sincerity and compassion. Purify mind and body to have bright eyes and a good complexion. Each chant transforms into a glowing lotus.)
After practicing, we will change physically and mentally. Our skin will become smoother, more fine and white. So you can save on skincare, and treat yourself with good food. Also, from now on, some will taste sweetness in their mouth resulting from practice. One day’s taste of sweetness allows you to live a year longer. How can we get the sweetness through practicing? Chant with great sincerity. If you only think about the outside world, you will taste only bitterness in your mouth. Especially for those who are lured by all kinds of outside temptations, they taste bitterness in their mouth.
People with the sincerest heart may kneel when chanting. When you chant sincerely while kneeling, your mouth will definitely be sweet. If the sweetness continues for the next 4 days, let’s convert the days to hours. If an hour of sweetness means living a year longer, you can live 100 years longer. You must think I am joking. How can one live that long? Of course you won’t. Because after this class, you will go back to being a bad guy. After returning home, you will start scolding, being greedy and petty, and conducting all kinds of other crimes. You will turn sweetness gained from practicing into sourness if you have jealousy, or into spiciness when you are angered; binge-eating would cause it to smell. Your mouth would have these tastes.
You can maintain the sweetness if you keep practicing after going home. But not many people can do that. After returning home, there is always someone to distract you, right? They won’t let you chant. Even if you live alone, you can’t. You will feel lonely. It is too boring that no one is there to disturb you. All you can do is watch movies. You feel bored and don’t want to practice when there is no disturbance. When there are others around, it would be their fault that you can’t practice.
When the environment is messy, you won’t be able to practice. So after returning home, there is no place for practicing. At home, you still fight with your family as you did before. All those bad thoughts come back. You could have lived 100 years longer, but a burst of anger knocks off 10 years, being jealous once means 8 years gone. After all the deductions, you won’t have many years left.
So in Buddhism, there is always a Pure Land nearby. I say it is not far at all; it is here. The Pure Land is determined by your heart. Due to your lack of manners, you have created many troubles. Then here is hell for you. If you are kind, compassionate, generous, upholding precepts and meditate diligently, you are in Heaven and the Pure Land. You can create your own Pure Land by yourself.
Let’s talk about dharma practice; you need to practice diligently to obtain health and longevity, and avoid inherited sicknesses. Through meditation, I believe we will see the effects that can improve our life.
In Vancouver, there were 2 practitioners. One had undergone surgery for liver cancer, and another had lung cancer. 10 years ago, they came to ask me if they could come here to practice. I said yes. “Will we recover?” “I don’t know.” They had no options left. Then they started to practice; they felt more comfortable and getting better through practicing.
The one who had lung cancer, about 10 years later, his family forced him to do a physical examination. Turns out there were still cancerous cells left in his body. He said, “I practiced and accumulated merits for nothing. This is affecting my cultivation. I don’t want to practice anymore.” And I said, “Sure, just leave.” When he was leaving, he couldn’t make up his mind; he had a meal with me to chat. I said, “Don’t focus too much on the cancer. How long did the doctor say you can live?” “3 years.” I asked how long it had been. “8 years.” “Did you die yet?” “Of course not!” I said, “Do you look like someone who’s going to die within 2 years?” He said, “No, but when I had a checkup, my cancer is still there.”
I said, “Sometimes it is like this. “Your inherited genes and personality cause your disease. “This is a fact. “But through practicing, you have a compassionate and kind heart. “Being under the radiance of Buddha’s compassionate light “allowed your cancer to be controlled in a part of your body. “It won’t grow. This way, it won’t take your life.” “Oh, that makes sense.” “That is why you haven’t died all these years.” He asked, “What if I maintain the practice?” “Then you won’t die for 1,000 years, like Korean ginseng.” There is an old ginseng in Korea that can live up to 800 years, right? It is like that.
People can get sick easily; one of the reasons is anger. Severely negative emotions can stimulate illnesses, like yeast makes bread dough ferment and inflate. After you trigger the cancerous genes inside you, you could be diagnosed with cancer. Activate the illness and it will explode like a nuclear bomb. When Chinese people make buns, they use the fermented dough. Put the fermentation primer in normal dough, and give it proper temperature and time; after around 7 or 8 hours, the normal flour will be inflated.
That’s how Chinese buns are made. And it is how cancer is activated. By what? Bad emotions. So learning to control our emotions well can reduce accidental deaths and possible diseases, such as cancer, diabetes, heart and kidney failure, etc. It is very hard to maintain calmness. It sounds easy because you are calm now. When it comes to troubles in life, it is hard to keep calm. There are things you haven’t experienced yet, such as your mother passing away, how can you be calm?
Especially those who are loved dearly by their mother, After his mom died, he said “I don’t want to live.” When he has this thought, he won’t even have the will and energy to walk. Not due to cancer, but he can cry to the point of unconsciousness. This kind of mental state would shorten his lifespan. He could initially live till 85, now it is 80 at most. If he has more of these feelings, his lifespan could be 10 or 20 years shorter.
Then how to maintain a good mood? To put it simply, a compassionate heart is needed. Second, understand a bit of the Laws of Nature. The most fatal thing is the reason causing our illness. So that is why Buddhism is used to confront the troubles in life. When troubles in life arise, how can we use Buddhadharma to eliminate them? This can be learned. We can avoid the rise of these poisonous fires, and therefore, avoid activating fatal diseases. That way, we can live longer.
(Practicing diligently and maintaining calmness can help with health and longevity.)
Previously, I have asked everyone, “When chanting, how many of you tasted sweetness in your mouth?” Please raise your hand. Alright. Congratulations! Why? In both Chinese Buddhism and Taoism, those who truly practice self-cultivation have a deep understanding about tasting sweetness in the mouth when chanting. When true sweetness occurs in a cooling and pleasant way, it is called “Heavenly nectar,” a name from ancient times.
In Taoist legends, what kind of people can taste this Heavenly nectar? Divine beings, only they can drink it. Even the liquor that emperors drink can’t be considered Heavenly nectar. That liquor is made of grains and fruits and does not have the same effect. Some call this Heavenly nectar “resurrection pill”, “life supplement”, and “longevity pill”, which is the most straightforward name. It is called resurrection pill as it can bring people back to life. That is what it means.
So this Heavenly nectar has many benefits. I can speak for it personally. Say, you have a stomach illness, especially a severe one; in the morning, you always get acid reflux, Have the nectar once, and your acid reflux will be gone. If you have heart diseases such as arrhythmia, your heart feels very uncomfortable, right? Or heartaches. Experience this nectar once, I guarantee you won’t ache for 3 years.
This nectar is the result of your practice, so it is way better than the medicine you buy. There is no such medicine available. So this is an all-purpose Chinese alchemy pill. This pill is mentioned the most in Taoism. So in China, only truly ascetic practitioners with the right methods can taste Heavenly nectar. In Buddhist practices, I haven’t heard anyone talk about this. But for the dharma that we are practicing, the more focused and sincere you are, the stronger the results will be.
Does everyone want the effect to be stronger? (Yes.) Then use the method of repentance. If you want it to be stronger, kneel to chant and repent. Chant the name of the Buddha with a heart of repentance. You might ask what you should repent. You can start with your mother. Remember how you treated her, think of your wrongdoings. The disrespect that you have shown. After that, repent what you have done to your father, your friends, your teachers, and people you’ve fought with; the list goes on.
If you were to think of ways to repent, this medicine of repentance would cure your diseases. Say, you have a bone spur that hurts when you walk, the bone spur will disappear. If you have kidney stones, they will be gone or become smaller after you repent. If you have a small tumor under your skin that you can feel, maybe it will be gone after repentance. Because a lot of these diseases are caused by crimes in our mind. Once you repent, this illness will be gone. So chant with a heart of repentance. The results are really good.
Don’t pursue it. Say, you want to be pretty. Even though appearance is important, the health of our body and mind, the beauty from inside, and the beauty coming from wisdom are true beauty. That is why many Taoists practice for longevity. What they pursue is living as long as the sun, moon, Heaven and Earth do. You will understand this feeling. They practice till they can taste the Heavenly nectar which can bring them physical changes. An 80-year-old man can climb mountains like it is nothing. It is all through practicing this way.
There are definitely practitioners here today who felt heaviness and pain in their legs 3 days ago; they can now walk with ease. You will feel joyful; your body is getting lighter. You will start to feel that. Some people couldn’t hear, see or smell properly; through repenting and chanting, they are soon recovered. Whether you sit or kneel, and no matter where your body starts to ache, it is all to lessen your karmic sins.
In this life and past lives, we have accumulated countless mistakes. To those who have raised us and showed us kindness, we have done too much harm. These are all karmic sins. In past lives, we have also harmed countless people and other beings. We have brought pain to others, and left ourselves with karmic sins. These sins are presented in this life as various misfortunes and pain, including diseases.
After sincere repentance, our whole body will be at ease. The heavy burden on your back will be lifted. The illnesses will also be gone. After that, we will probably feel that our body is more relaxed, healthier, more at ease, and more active. (Received.)
(Chanting with sincerity could create Heavenly nectar in the mouth. Chanting with repentance could transform body and mind.)