Praying/ chanting?

Hagakure_irl

Should i be doing this?....i'm not sure what to do when i read about this...

Asiaprod

Hagakure_irl wrote:

Should i be doing this?....i'm not sure what to do when i read about this...

Hi Hagakure. Thanks for the post. It would be great if you could explain a little more, hard as it may be, so we can understand your question better.
By way of a short answer for you, Praying and Chanting has the potential to be both Good or Bad depending on the circumstances. The fact that you are not sure is good:).

Hagakure_irl

Hey Asiaprod, thank you for the warm welcome again

As path has been a little bit confusing the past months, but i've been doing a lot of Buddhist practices, meditations and reading Zen Koans, quite simply trying to be better and a have better peace of mind,

Just one thing confuses me, i love reading about Buddhism is well and basically should i be praying? I read that some sects view the Buddha as god-like and pray to him...thats where i'm confused, because i'm trying to draw aspects from different parts of Buddhist branches....and not sure how exactly i would pray? or if i should be praying at all? Or ( last question i promise ) What are your views on praying?

Asiaprod

Hagakure_irl wrote:

Just one thing confuses me, i love reading about Buddhism is well and basically should i be praying? I read that some sects view the Buddha as god-like and pray to him...thats where i'm confused, because i'm trying to draw aspects from different parts of Buddhist branches....and not sure how exactly i would pray? or if i should be praying at all? Or ( last question i promise ) What are your views on praying?

Hi Hagakure, well to start the ball rolling, and I hope others do add to the debate. In Buddhism, prayer and chanting are much the same thing. Think of them as to seperate approches to the same thing.

Why do Buddhists chant?
Chanting reminds one of the Dharma so that it is not forgotten; when meditation is not possible and when bare mindfulness does not give much consolation, it can be used to great advantage as an extension of meditation into words to produce calm, some peace within; and certainly, it expresses one’s strong confidence in the Dharma. Reciting the same chants day after day also has an advantage - the making of wholesome repetitive karma which of course will bear very good fruit.

Do Buddhists pray and why?
Buddhists don’t pray to a Creator God, but they do have devotional meditation practices which could be compared to praying. Radiating loving-kindness to all living beings is a practice which is believed to benefit those beings. The sharing of merit is a practice where one dedicates the goodness of one’s life to the benefit of all living beings as well as praying for a particular person. Keeping this in mind, we can say that in general Buddhists do not pray. Buddhists do not have one or many deities of which they ask anything. Contrary to the belief of those who are not Buddhist, Buddhists do not pray to the Buddha. The Buddha is seen as a teacher, much as Jesus is also seen as a teacher, but is not prayed to. When a Buddhist meditates it is not in prayer, but in an attempt to clear their mind of mortal thoughts to find inner-peace and happiness.

In Tibet prayer is going on most of the time. Tibetans pray in a special way. They believe that when certain sounds and words, called mantras, are said many times, they arouse good vibrations within the person. If a mantra is repeated often enough it can open up the mind to a consciousness which is beyond words and thoughts.

One exception to the rule that I know of is in Japan where millions of Buddhists pray to Amida Buddha, the Buddha of Infinite Light. They believe that Amida has created a Pure Land in the west and that those who have faith and repeat Amida’s name in prayer will go there. Yet they also believe that Amida is really within them.

Please understand that my knowledge is limited and others here may give you a more accurate answer. And please continue to ask questions, they are good for us, and are an opportunity to learn:).

Hagakure_irl

woah....thats pretty much the claritfication i was looking for! Makes more sense to me now, thank you!

I think i was confusing chanting and praying, but what you said i see the difference. I confused the chants themselves as prayers....

Would chanting be placed in all branches of Buddhism...or?