Zen Master Ko Bong (1890-1962) was one of the greatest teachers of his time. He was renowned for refusing to teach monks, considering them too lazy and arrogant to be Zen students. He was also very

well known for his unconventional behavior.

Ko Bong Sunim didn't like chanting. He only did sitting meditation, no matter what. That was his practice. One time, as a young monk, he was staying in a small mountain temple. The abbot was away for a few days, so Ko Bong Sunim was the only one around. One morning an old woman climbed the steep road to the temple carrying fruit and a bag of rice on her back. When she reached the main Buddha Hall, she found Ko Bong Sunim seated alone in meditation.

"Oh, Sunim, I am sorry to bother you," she said. "I have just climbed this mountain to offer these things to the Buddha. My family is having a lot of problems, and I want someone to chant to the Buddha for them. Can you please help me?"

Ko Bong Sunim looked up. Her face was very sad and very sincere. "Of course," he said. "I'd be happy to chant for you. No problem." Then he took the bag of rice off her back and they went to the kitchen to prepare the food offering. As they started to wash the fruit he said to her, "I don't know how to cook rice. You cook the rice, and I'll go start chanting."

"Yes, Sunim. Thank you very much."

Ko Bong Sunim returned to his room to put on his formal robes. But, because he never chanted, he didn't know any Buddhist chants. So, he dug out an old Taoist sutra from among his things and brought it back to the Buddha Hall. Then he picked up the moktak and started hitting it while reading out of the Taoist book. Usually it's appropriate to do certain chants for different occasions, like the Thousand Eyes and Hands Sutra, but Ko Bong Sunim didn't know about this. He only banged the moktak and chanted the Taoist sutra out loud, right from the book. After an hour or so of this, he finished.

The old woman was very, very happy. "Oh, thank you, Sunim. You are very kind. I feel much better now!" She left the temple. As she was walking down the mountain road, she passed the abbot, who was returning to the temple. "Hello, Mrs. Lee, are you coming from the temple?"

"Yes," she said. "There are many problems in my family right now, so I went up to pray to the Buddha. Ko Bong Sunim helped me."

"Oh, that's too bad," the abbot said.

"Oh, why?"

"Because Ko Bong Sunim doesn't know how to do any chanting. Maybe someone else could..."

"No, no," she said. "He did very well. He helped me very much!"

The abbot looked at her. "How do you know how well he did? These are very special chants! Ko Bong Sunim doesn't know how to do them -- he doesn't know chanting."

"Yes, I understand." This woman used to be a nun, so she was quite familiar with all the various chants. She knew that Ko Bong Sunim was only chanting a Taoist sutra. "What is correct chanting? He did it very well. He only chanted one hundred percent. Words are not important. The only important thing is how you keep your mind. He had only try mind -- only do it."

"Oh, yes, of course," the abbot said. "I suppose mind is very important." They said good-bye and went their separate ways. When the abbot reached the temple, he found Ko Bong Sunim, seated in meditation. "Did you just chant for Mrs. Lee?"

"Yes."

"But you don't know anything about chanting."

"That's right," Ko Bong Sunim said. "I don't know anything about chanting. So I just chanted."

"Then what kind of chants did you do?" the abbot asked.

"I used an old Taoist book."

The abbot walked away, scratching his head.

This is a very interesting try-mind story. It means, from moment to moment only "do it." Only keep a try mind, only one mind: do it mind. When chanting, sitting or bowing, only do it. Practicing will not help if you are attached to your thinking, if your mind is moving. Taoist chanting, Confucian chanting, Christian chanting, Buddhist chanting: it doesn't matter. Even chanting, "Coca Cola, Coca Cola, Coca Cola. . . " can be just as good if you keep a clear mind. But, if you don't keep a clear mind, even Buddha cannot help you. The most important thing is, only do it. When you only do something one hundred percent, then there is no subject, no object. There's no inside or outside. Inside and outside are already one. That means you and the whole universe are one and never separate.

The Bible says, "Be still, and know that I am God." When you are still, then you don't make anything, and you are always connected to God. Being still means keeping a still mind, even if your body is moving or you are doing some activity. Then there's no subject, no object, a mind of complete stillness. That's the Buddha's complete stillness mind. When sitting, be still. When chanting, be still. When bowing, eating, talking, walking, reading or driving, only be still. This is keeping a not moving mind, which is only do it mind. We call that try mind. 

~  Zen Master Seung Sahn  ~

http://www.kwanumzen.com/primarypoint/v14n1-1996-spring-dssn-kobongstrymind.html

Praise to the Dipper Mother (Dou Mu)  

This invocation refers to Dou Mu (Tou Mu), 

the goddess of the Big Dipper and the mother deity in charge of all star deities. Ken Cohen says "In qigong theory, the dipper is a reservoir of cosmic qi, collecting qi from all the other constellations and stars as it makes its yearly course." (See Kenneth S. Cohen, The Way of Qigong: The Art and Science of Chinese Energy Healing.)  

A kindly correspondent at Taoist Mission Singapore sent me a CD of this chant. Since this recording appears to be unavailable in the West, I include a brief sound clip. The text is as follows:  

(Transliteration:) Xiao Zai Yan Shou Tian Zun
(Sounds like:) Shao Tzai Yen Sho, Tien Tzun
Click here to listen to the sound clip:   http://baharna.com/chant/White_Cloud_Orchestra__Shao_Tzai_Yen_Sho_Tien_Tzun.mp3
http://baharna.com/chant/MostAccessibleChants.htm

The Brahma Viharas

(in English by Andrew Quernmore)

http://www.vipassana.com/audio_files/bv.ram

I will abide pervading one quarter with a mind
imbued with lovingkindness ... compassion ...
gladness ... equanimity ...

Likewise the second, likewise the third,
likewise the fourth;

So above and below, around and everywhere
and to all as to myself.

I will abide pervading the all-encompassing
world with a mind imbued with lovingkindness
... compassion ... gladness ... equanimity ...
abundant, exalted, immeasurable, without
hostility and without ill-will.

http://www.vipassana.com/audio_files/bvra.php     

Homage, Refuges, Precepts

(in Pali by Andrew Quernmore)

http://www.vipassana.com/audio_files/chant.ram

Pali and English translation here:
http://www.vipassana.com/audio_files/chantra.php

Bhajans

"Children, first purify the atmosphere by singing the Divine Name without shyness. In this age of Kaliyuga, to get concentration, bhajan is better than meditation. Bhajan, concentration, meditation, this is the progression."

 - Amma -

Mata Amritanandamayi

Vinãyaka Vinãyaka
vinãyaka vinãyaka
vishvãdhara vinãyaka
siddhi vinãyaka bhava bhaya nãsha
suramuni vandita shri ganesha

vinãyaka = Destroyer of obstacles
vishvãdhara = Substratum of the Universe
siddhi vinãyaka = Who accomplishes
bhavabhayanãsha = Destroyer of the fear of Becoming
suramuni vandita = Who is bowed down to by gods and sages

AMMACHI - Mata Amritanandamayi

http://amma.hindunet.org/amma_bhajans.html

Robert Gass & various artists

"Chant: Spirit in Sound"

"Allah-Allah-Allah," Sufi chant (Zikhr)
by Oruç Güvenç & Tümata

www.plumebleue.ch/extrait/Chant_5a.WAV

www.plumebleue.ch/pages/discs_pages/chant.htm

"From Jerusalem to Cordoba"

(A Voyage in Time, Space, and Religions
Through Chant, Music, and Texts)
 
   
Catherine Braslavsky & Joseph Rowe

"Abinu"

http://www.naturalchant.com/mp3/Abinu.mp3

http://www.naturalchant.com/disco.htm