Q: Can you please explain the benefit of chanting mantras or reciting prayers on a regular basis?
A: If you read all these mantras, like the 100,000 mantras, and then all the sutra texts, and then it has its own explanation of the benefit, for this lifetime and for next lifetime, and it has a very clear explanation, and which I don’t have to explain anything further. There’s some mantras which says that if you chant this mantra, then all your negative of the 100,000 lifetimes, or 7 lifetimes of doing incredible harmful things to other, all the negativity will be dissolved and disappear. So there’s many mantras and sutras, teachings that has been existed throughout the history, that which I don’t have to explain anything further.
But my own personal experience is that, many people, many of us, we make this distinction, “Oh, you are not intellectual, you are only practitioner”, “Ah, you are only practitioner, not intellectual”, we make this kind of a separation. I don’t think we have to degrade ourselves by saying that “Oh, I’m not intellectual, I am only practitioner”, you don’t have to degrade yourself.
Anything that is functioning with your mind to bring a sense of wisdom and sense of kindness and compassion to the sentient being, and finding a method, and finding a logic, and finding a reason, combined with the Lord Buddha’s teaching, is already intellectual practice, it is already the Dharmic practice.
So I think by doing a daily practice, it brings a sense of the principle in our mind little bit strongly than any other ordinary people. Because when you practice, you are not looking externally. When you are practicing Dharma, you are looking internally. You are looking at your emotion, you are looking at the sense of the consciousness of your own state of mind. You are looking at all the negativity, you are seeing all the positivity. And then you are having this, you are trying to accumulate this clear judgement, without any self-righteousness attitude.
So I think that is very important to maintain, and to develop, and to be example, naturally, to benefit others. I think that is something I would like to say. So, now I have said it.
Kalu Rinpoche
FB Livestream – 4 July 2020
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