As to the use of mantras: It may be relatively easy to control karma made in the present life, so you can correct it through your own effort. However, the karma accumulated over many previous lives is very difficult to erase. For this work you must rely on the mystic power of repeating a mantra.
-So Sahn Dae Sa
I'm not very greedy for power, I usually just sit and let my breath be my mantra, but when I do chant, there certainly is a mystic presence...
This is beautiful. Thank you so much for sharing.
ReplyDeleteNamaste
Beautiful images and a great teaching from So Sahn Dae Sa. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteThat's always bugged me a bit. On the one hand So Sahn Daesa is considered to be an outstanding teacher. And yet, the idea of a mantra that no one understands....
ReplyDeleteIf it was a phrase of very deep meaning that one kept repeating and deeply inputing into their consciousness, I could get it. But a regular mantra, it seems like the benefits would come from the experience of emptiness or samadhi that might result from focused chanting. I wonder if this is what he meant.
(So Sahn Daesa is well-known for editing and producing a number of collections of mantras, along with many other texts.)
"...but when I do chant, there certainly is a mystic presence…"
ReplyDeleteOh yes! Thank you Joseph.
_/\_
Actually, the only thing I know about So Sahn Dae Sa is that his name is on the cover of The Mirror of Zen! *^^*
ReplyDeleteDo you suppose he understood well the effects of the mantra? Maybe that's enough??
I've heard that just the vibrations of the words in Sanskrit can effect your energy.
Even if I chant in Korean, Pali, or Sanskrit, I like to know what I'm chanting, though.
Something I learned from Sandima was even just repeating one word you'd like to cultivate within.