Re: A larger presence, the unknowable total of all there is

Ned wrote:
> 
>  Ask William if he recited the mani mantra 10,000 times.
> 

There is
    Nam myoho renge kyo
for the Nichirens.  More strictly it is Namu, but
the last syllable tends to be suppressed.  The "a"
in Nam is more like in "say ahhh" rather than in the
slang for Vietnam.  Some mp3s on the web provide
examples.

Unfortunately, this chant has so many connotations
these days (well after the days of Nichiren himself).
Chant this for cars, chant this for good-looks, chant
this to win the lotto, chant this to sup****t a party
of the Japanese government.  Really, of course, the
chant is the name of the Lotus Sutra in Japanese.

There is
    Om mani padme hum
with the "hum" possibly pronounced as in "things that
make you go..."  This is a well-known chant.  It
tends to be associated these days with Tibetan
Buddhism.

As an activist for human rights -- regardless
of what government or group is suppressing those
rights -- I certainly sympathize with the Tibetan
people.  But, as a meditative chant to transcend
all categories, for some people this chant can tend
to reinforce the categories.  Not for all people, of
course, but for some.

So, what is a good "whatever you meet, whether
facing inward or outward, just kill it" Rinzai sort
of person supposed to chant, when he or she decides
to employ the time-tested practice of chanting
(empirically, at least, to observe what it might be
useful for)?

The above two chants are OK, of course.  Try them.

There are also various Japanese-language chants of
whole sutras, but really, who has time to learn all
that?

There is the "supreme mantra" from the Heart Sutra:
    Gate, gate, paragate, parasamgate, bodhi svaha
But really, in practice, it doesn't seem to be
optimized for 10,000 repetitions (like a crazy Nichiren
would do with Nam myoho renge kyo).  At least that's
how it seems to me.

So, for the Zen-types who want a chant to consider, I
present the following.

For a while I tried the chant of "zero, zero, zero, ..."
and had some success with it (in some very harsh
conditions).  It is a good chant, signifying nothing. ;-)
But it still does not have quite the right musical-feel
and cadence to it.  This gives the advantage to the
crazy Nichiren-types, which Zen-devils certainly cannot
allow!

Without further ado, the suggested chant for the Zen
types is:
    Mu, only just don't know

As usual, the "u" in "Mu" is pronounced as in the word
"put."  Put the infinitum in "ad infinitum," rather
than the nauseum in "ad nauseum"!  Repeat 10,000 times,
plus or minus!

     Mu, only just don't know
     Mu, only just don't know
     Mu, only just don't know
     Mu, only just don't know
     Mu, only just don't know
     Mu, only just don't know
     etc.


Svaha!