Chant Heart’s Love

show me your true colors ~ d nelson

Singing humbly
with gratitude and praise
for parents, teachers & ancestors
who have shown me the way
in this life.

May I sing
like a bird
with all my heart,
even if it sounds
like a squawk,
owning my song.

peacock feathers

Below is a quote by Thich Nhat Hanh about chanting. May we keep him in our hearts as he continues on his path of well-being while recovering in the hospital. (Official announcements at http://plumvillage.org/ .
Below that is a chant, an old prayer, by Jai Uttal, Shri Ram Jai Ram. This piece was recorded for my children radio show, “Shooting Stars” over 10 years ago as an introduction to chanting. Hope you enjoy this short, sweet piece!

“There is a story I would like to tell you about a woman who practices the invocation of the Buddha Amitabha’s name. She is very tough, and she practices the invocation three times daily, using a wooden drum and a bell, reciting, “Namo Amitabha Buddha” for one hour each time. When she arrives at one thousand times, she invites the bell to sound. (In Vietnamese, we don’t say “strike” or “hit” a bell.) Although she has been doing this for ten years, her personality has not changed. She is still quite mean, shouting at people all the time.

A friend wanted to teach her a lesson, so one afternoon when she had just lit the incense, invited the bell to sound three times, and was beginning to recite “Namo Amitabha Buddha,” he came to her door, and said, “Mrs. Nguyen, Mrs. Nguyen!” She found it very annoying because this was her time of practice, but he just stood at the front gate shouting her name. She said to herself, “I have to struggle against my anger, so I will ignore that,” and she went on, “Namo Amitabha Buddha, Namo Amitabha Buddha.”

The gentleman continued to shout her name, and her anger became more and more oppressive. She struggled against it, wondering, “Should I stop my recitation and go and give him a piece of my mind?” But she continued chanting, and she struggled very hard. Fire mounted in her, but she still tried to chant “Namo Amitabha Buddha.” The gentleman knew it, and he continued to shout, “Mrs. Nguyen! Mrs. Nguyen!”

She could not bear it any longer. She threw away the bell and the drum. She slammed the door, went out to the gate and said, “Why, why do you behave like that? Why do you call my name hundreds of times like that?” The gentleman smiled at her and said, “I just called your name for ten minutes, and you are so angry. You have been calling the Buddha’s name for ten years. Think how angry he must be!” ~ Thích Nhất Hạnh, Being Peace