What’s the point of chanting?
What’s the point of chanting? Other Power breaks through. Aramati writes about her five day chanting retreat
Aramati during the arts retreat at Amida France 2011. Photo by Jnanamati In August 2011, I did a chanting retreat in the retreat hut at Amida France. The retreat hut is near the edge of the woods and a wild flower meadow, in a secluded corner of the estate. Sujatin, the head of the ministry team, had suggested I practise 'until it permeates every cell in my body'. At first I did not know how I could do that, but after a few days I had the idea of doing a chanting retreat (as I had done a five day chanting retreat the previous summer in the same hut). I thought a chanting retreat would both deepen my practice as Sujatin had suggested and might also provide comfort and benefit to others, as they would know I was doing practice at that time. Sujatin agreed with
both aims. I began the retreat in the evening just before dusk, which in France at that time in August was between 9.45pm and 10pm. I chanted in front of my shrine in the candlelight for a while and then went to bed. My shrine was made of boxes covered by a piece of golden yellow fabric. The Buddha rupa just fitted comfortably on the upper box. Beneath him on the first evening was one fat red candle and two tea lights in glass holders, and the next day I added some posies of wild flowers. For the whole retreat I used the form of Namo Amida Bu that we normally use to do the
RT 9