Dharma Realm Buddhist Young Adults

Chanting is an important part of the cultivation in the monastery. To get a full experience of chanting, it is important to be single-minded and concentrated.  You’ll find that if you chant in a concentrated way, then at the end, you will feel recharged and energized in body and mind.

If the chanting is in English, it should be pretty easy to follow, but if it is in Chinese, it takes a bit more effort (unless you know Chinese).  Don’t be discouraged if the first few times you get lost or don’t know where you are because it is actually quite difficult the first few times.  Fortunately, there are some things that can help to orient you in the Handbook.  First, the resounding thump on the “wooden fish” (a block of wood that is shaped like a fish) gives the rhythm and pace of the chant.  Each knock of the wooden fish is one Chinese character (or syllable of sound).  Sometimes, on the page, there is a symbol that is a circle within a circle, which denotes the striking of the big bell.  These are helpful markers in case you get lost.  Also, people are usually very happy to point out where you are in the Handbook.  If you can’t follow or keep up, you can simply concentrate on the sounds or read the English translations of the chants.

There are three main ceremonies that occur in the monastery: morning ceremony, the meal offering, and evening ceremony.  All three of these ceremonies are chances for the community to practice together.  Just as many different kinds of medicines are needed to heal different types of illnesses, the ceremonies include many distinct practices to give each person something that they find meaningful and transformative.  We will describe some of these different practices in the next section.