1

How to Teach Youngsters the Chanting of Amitabha

Transcribed by Manli Peng Ann !lein Chun "ane Chen

By Dr. Yutang Lin

Preface
My talk was based on my Chinese article. It was delivered to members of the Miami Buddhist Lotus Society on July 29 !99! in Miami "lorida. #r. Manli $en% kindly transcribed my talk for &ublication. 'hen I reviewed her transcri&t I reali(ed that my s&oken )n%lish needed a lot of refinement. *ence I started to rewrite it based on the transcri&t. My sincere thanks to #r. Manli $en% for her many days of hard work resultin% in a very useful transcri&t to +nn ,lein for her im&rovement on my writin% and to Chun Jane Chen for her ty&in%. Yutang Lin July 18, 1992 El Cerrito, CA U.S.A.

*ow to -each .oun%sters the Chantin% of /+mitabha/

-his is an interestin% to&ic. I decided to write this Chinese article because I had e0&erience in teachin% my two sons to do Buddhist &ractices and wanted to share my e0&eriences with other Buddhist &arents. +nother reason that &rom&ted me to write this article was a dream I had a few days earlier. I saw in that dream a &iece of &a&er that resembled the first &a%e of an article. -he title was clearly written in Chinese1 23456789 and the te0t was marked by dots only. -he title means youn%sters chant /+mitabha./ :eflectin% on the meanin% I took it to be a si%n indicatin% that Buddha was assi%nin% me the ;ob of writin% on this to&ic. -hus I be%an to think about what I could say on this matter and then I wrote this article in Chinese. -his to&ic is very im&ortant for brin%in% u& Buddhist youn%sters so today I have chosen

2 to talk about it in )n%lish based on my Chinese article thereby makin% it available to the )n%lish s&eakin% world. <enerally s&eakin% the holy name chanted need not be restricted to that of +mitabha Buddha only. 'e may chant the name of other Buddhas or Bodhisattvas or their mantras. =evertheless it would be more conducive to s&iritual &ro%ress if we concentrate on chantin% only one holy name or mantra as our main &ractice. -he remarks made in this talk are a&&licable to Buddhist chantin% in %eneral. *ence you do not need to switch to the chantin% of /+mitabha/ if you are already accustomed to chantin% other holy names or mantras in Buddhism. If you have not chosen a certain chant for your main &ractice I would like to recommend that you choose a short one for e0am&le /+mitabha./ -he reason bein% that a short one would be easier to maintain in our minds throu%hout the u&s and downs of life. )ven when we become weak sick or are in a crisis we would like to be able to continue the chantin% to maintain &eace of mind and receive Buddha>s blessin%. + short one would be easier to recall and kee& in mind. My article be%ins with this ?uestion1 *ow does one who &ractices the chantin% of /+mitabha/ induce the youn%sters to do the same@ +ccordin% to the Buddhist teachin% one>s consciousness enters the mother>s e%% u&on conce&tion. -herefore we be%in the teachin% of chantin% from the time of &re%nancy. -he &arents should chant /+mitabha/ or sin% the fiveAvariation chantin% of /+mitabha./ .ou are welcome to write me for a free co&y of this melodious chantin% ta&e. -he &arents can also &lay this ta&e for the baby and themselves. -hese &ractices will reduce the ,armic hindrances and increase the merits and wisdom of both &arents and child. #urin% labor the mother is advised to chant /<uan .in $u Sa B+valokitesvaraC./ -his will reduce her &ain and hel& secure a safe delivery. Mrs. BiA:on% 'an% a mother of three from +tlanta <eor%ia asked me to mention this a&&lication of the chantin% &ractice because she herself had e0&erienced its marvelous benefits. She had noticed that children thus born have a nicer tem&erament. #urin% infancy we show the baby ima%es of Buddhas or Bodhisattvas by either carryin% him to the altar or settin% u& some ima%es in a &lace where he can often see them for e0am&le somewhere near the cradle. 'e can also &lay the ta&e of the melodious fiveAvariation chantin% of /+mitabha/ often so that the baby lives in an atmos&here of &eace and harmony. 'hen we caress the baby or %ently rock him to slee& it would be nice to chant /+mitabha/ softly or silently. 'hile

3 takin% care of the baby cryin% in the middle of the ni%ht the &arents mi%ht %et u&set sometimes then they may want to chant to calm themselves down. Dnly when the &arents are at ease can the baby be calmed down by the &eaceful feelin% that they convey. 'hen we teach children with visual or auditory disabilities we need to make use of their remainin% faculties. "or e0am&le we could show an ima%e of Buddha to a deaf child and &lay the chantin% ta&e for a blind child. BDf course these su%%estions a&&ly to all deaf or blind &ersons re%ardless of their a%es.C In case the child is unfortunately both blind and deaf we can %ently &at or caress him carry him or lead his way in circumambulation Bwalkin% clockwise in a circleC while chantin% /+mitabha./ In this way the child can sense the &eace and harmony of chantin%. Ender such lovin% care of the &arents the child>s tem&erament will become more %entle. "urthermore we can %ive the child a strin% of beads and teach him to move the beads one by one with his fin%ers. -his amounts to /chantin%/ by touchin%. $arents who work hard to take care of children es&ecially those with a disability would find chantin% /+mitabha/ very hel&ful in freein% their minds from worries and com&laints and in inducin% a &ure fresh and &eaceful state of mind. Conse?uently the chores become easier to handle and the &arentAchild relationshi& becomes smoother and sweeter. Since our %oal is to hel& develo& the habit of doin% a &ractice rather than to &rovide the e0citement of stimulations the em&hasis is not on showin% a lot of variety. 'e sim&ly &rovide in a natural way the same ima%e for the child to look at fre?uently. "or e0am&le &lace or han% an ima%e of +mitabha Buddha in the child>s room on his desk or on the wall facin% his seat. Likewise we choose one chantin% ta&e and &lay it most of the timeF and we %ive him a strin% of beads to /chant/ by hand. Communication between minds are not limited to our usual senses of si%ht hearin% etc. Dccurrences of su&ernatural communication are fre?uently e0&erienced by s&iritual &ractitioners. -herefore when we chant /+mitabha/ for a blind and deaf child we should not hold on to the mistaken notion that he cannot sense it. 'e need to chant with the understandin% that the child can fully /sense/ it. In fact the effect of chantin% is not limited by s&ace or time. -he touch of a &erson worryin% is very different from that of a &erson chantin%. 'hen we are in the &resence of a &erson who has been doin% Buddhist &ractices for years we will sense that there is a difference. It is a harmony of serenity clarity and &rofound com&assion that &ermeates the atmos&here. -herefore it is very hel&ful to others that we do chantin%

4 daily so that when we need to convey our love and sym&athy throu%h touch the receiver will %reatly benefit. 'e need &hysical e0ercise to kee& our bodies in %ood health. Similarly we need mental e0ercise to kee& our minds in %ood s&irit. Chantin% /+mitabha/ is a sim&le &ractice which hel&s to kee& our mind active in a &ure and concentrated way. Drdinarily if we do not use our minds re%ularly they will become dull and scatteredF and if we use our minds for worldly activities it is inevitable that we will become entan%led in selfAcentered thou%hts. -herefore in order to maintain our mental e?uilibrium it is of %reat benefit to ado&t a sim&le &ractice like the chantin% of /+mitabha/ for daily s&iritual e0ercise. Dnce a blind and deaf child is accustomed to movin% the beads he will %radually en;oy doin% it because his mindfulness is constantly workin% while he moves the beads. "urthermore this is a sim&le activity which is intuitive and direct i.e. without the involvement of conce&tual framework. -herefore it induces the %rowth of one>s inner &urity. -he blind and deaf children are fortunate in that they are not sub;ect to &ollution by human conce&tuali(ations. -heir natural &urity is intact and hence what they need is sim&ly some re&etitive activities to kee& their minds active. Movin% the beads is their /chantin% of Buddha/ because Buddhahood means returnin% to our ori%inal &urity and they stay in touch with that &urity throu%h this activity. Dn a daily basis set a definite time for the whole family to %et to%ether to chant /+mitabha/ or sin% the fiveAvariation chantin% of /+mitabha./ It is very beneficial to form such a habit in educatin% youn%sters. Enless they are tau%ht ways to maintain their &urity of mind there is no tellin% what they mi%ht &ick u& from the schools the streets and their friends. -hey are constantly under the surre&titious influences of television radio movies ma%a(ines news&a&ers etc. If the &arents do not set %ood e0am&les for them and %ive them &ro&er instructions alon% the way of their %rowth it is very likely that they could be led astray by &ursuits of vanities and &leasures. It is im&ortant to start formin% these habits while they are still very youn% otherwise it may be too late when they %et older. Sometimes children mi%ht be reluctant or do not want to ;oin the family service. -he &arents should not force them to do the &ractice or &unish them for that but rather sim&ly insist on havin% their &resence in the room. -he very youn% ones can be allowed to have food or toys with them. In this way they will not develo& re&ulsive feelin%s toward the &racticeF besides their &resence makes it a &assive &artici&ation and they will not feel that they are entitled to i%norin% these %atherin%s. If &arents do not insist on the minimum re?uirement of the

5 child>s &resence then as he %rows older it will become even more difficult to introduce the &ractice to him. "or these family &ractices it would be better to do only those that are sim&le or attractive to the children for e0am&le sin%in% /+mitabha / chantin% and circumambulatin% makin% offerin%s &rostrations and &layin% musical #harma instruments. If the children become restless or noisy while they are attendin% the family service the &arents should %ently tell them to ?uiet down and such admonishin% should be %iven ;ust a few times. If they do not obey the rest of the family should sim&ly continue the &ractice without sto&&in% to correct them. -hereby the family service will not turn into chaotic shoutin% and fren(ied cryin%. =evertheless they are not allowed to leave the roomF otherwise they will have learned that makin% a fuss is a sure way to avoid the %atherin%. +fter the rest of the family has com&leted the routine &ractices the &arents should comfort the ones who misbehaved with %entle advice and encoura%in% words tryin% to &ersuade them to do at least a little bit of the &ractice to%ether with the &arents. Such a %entle and %radual a&&roach will in the lon% run &rove to be effective and without backlashes. Since it is a daily task that will continue for years it takes a lot of &atience and kindness on the &art of &arents. +nd we as &arents can im&rove our own &atience and kindness throu%h such endeavors. 'hen small children a&&roach the altar they tend to touch ob;ects on the altar and &lay with them and the adults out of cautiousness will tell them to sto& &layin% or stay away. Conse?uently children may %et the wron% im&ression that they are not su&&osed to be near these ob;ects or they may develo& a sense of uneasiness toward the #harma instruments or ima%es. 'e certainly do not want to have this kind of result. 'e would like them to feel dear and natural toward the #harma. -herefore first of all our attitude should be %entle and encoura%in%. +lthou%h we still need to be aware of the &ossibility of accidents we should not automatically sto& them in a stern manner. Instead we should teach them the &ro&er way to use these ob;ects allowin% them to &lay with the #harma instruments as lon% as nothin% is dama%ed and tellin% them the si%nificance or related stories in terms that they can understand. If they want to have Buddha ima%es or #harma instruments for themselves we should try to make these available for them. If what they desire is too costly or im&ractical we should try to satisfy them with substitutes for e0am&le a small statue in &lace of a bi% statue or a &oster in &lace of a statue. 'hen children are tau%ht to use the musical #harma instruments to accom&any chantin% it will increase their enthusiasm in the &ractice. 'hen I %ave lectures in +ustin -e0as the children of the members of

6 the local Buddhist %rou& were %athered in the ad;acent room. -hey ta&&ed the wooden fish and the Chin% Bmetal musical bowlC while sin%in% the five variation chantin% of /+mitabha./ -heir tem&o was clear and their sin%in% was full of devotion and absor&tion. I believe that Buddhists who had the chance to see their &erformance would en;oy havin% their own children do the sameF it was so lovelyG -he lady who tau%ht these children the chantin% told me an anecdote1 Dnce she reminded the children that while chantin% they should not think of anythin% else. + threeAyear old re&lied /I cannot think of anythin% else while chantin%./ Concentration is a natural ?uality of a &ure mind and adults tend to lose it owin% to the accumulation of their attachments. Chantin% &racticed on a daily basis will %radually brin% back our natural &urity and its accom&anyin% merits. +s soon as your child is old enou%h to do certain #harma activities let him &artici&ate in them. 'hen *oward my first son was fiveAyears old my late %uru .o%i Chen told me to hel& him set u& his own small altar so that he could &ractice the daily offerin%s of incense water and candles. 'hen "rank my second son was fiveAyears old *oward tau%ht him how to em&ty clean and set u& the offerin% cu&s at the end of a day. *oward started to strin% &rayer beads and du&licate sin%in% /+mitabha/ ta&es for free distribution at a%e seven. *e started the chantin% of the hundredAsyllable mantra of Ha;rasattva even earlier at a%e three and half. -hese are some e0am&les of what kind of #harma activities that children can do as they %row u&. =ow *oward is fourteen years old and in char%e of du&licatin% ta&es for free distribution. *e makes sure that we always have ten co&ies of the chantin% /+mitabha/ ta&e available. 'henever &eo&le who have received the books and ta&es we sent write back to thank and tell us how hel&ful those materials have been to them I share this feedback with my sons so that they understand that their &artici&ation actually hel&s &eo&le. Dnce they understand the benefits they would like to hel& with #harma service. #o not ask them to work for the #harma in an authoritarian way. =ot understandin% the si%nificance may cause them to resent the e0tra work asked of them. -ry to connect the family activities with the #harma. "or e0am&le when readin% to children use books on the &ast lives of Buddha or other children>s books that contain Buddhist teachin%s on im&ermanence tolerance com&assion %ivin% and sharin% etc. -ake children to #harma activities such as releasin% of turtles birds and fish #harma talks %rou& &ractices visitin% monasteries or cemeteries %oin% on &il%rima%es etc. )ncoura%e them to &artici&ate in charity activities or community services.

7 Dnce my son "rank asked me /'hy do we chant >+mitabha>@/ My answer was as follows1 Dccasionally we are sick and feel uncomfortable we run into somethin% and %et hurt or feel &ain we feel lonely we are scared of darkness or we are an%ry. +t times like these when our body is in discomfort or our minds are not at ease if we remember to chant /+mitabha/ and re&eat it for a while %radually our minds will calm down and then the bodily &ains will not feel so bad or the darkness will become less scary. +s we chant /+mitabha/ we have +mitabha>s com&any in our hearts so we are no lon%er alone and need not feel lonely. )veryday we need to eat drink and e0ercise to kee& our bodies in %ood healthF similarly everyday we need to chant /+mitabha/ because it is both a wonderful s&iritual food and a &urifyin% e0ercise for our mind. It will naturally lead us to live a &eaceful and ha&&y life. I ho&e that my answer to "rank>s ?uestion %iven above will serve as an e0am&le of how to e0&lain the meanin% of chantin% to children. -he ne0t ?uestion isAAis there a need to teach children the chantin% of /+mitabha/@ .es indeed there is such a need. It is never too early to start this education because children also have emotional u&s and downs and hence they also need to learn how to maintain their mental balance. Besides the &ractice can be tau%ht without resortin% to abstract words. 'e can sim&ly let them start by listenin% to the melodious fiveAvariation chantin% of /+mitabha./ If we &lay this chantin% ta&e often the family is bathed in a harmonious atmos&here. -his will hel& the children to %row robustly in body and mind. -he methods em&loyed in teachin% children the chantin% of /+mitabha/ should be carefully chosenF our attitude should be kind and %entleF and we must be &atient. Dnly then can we e0&ect and %et %ood results. 'hen a child is an%ry or u&set we need to comfort him and talk to him to calm him down. 'e talk to him to find out what is u&settin% him and then we try to lead him to look at thin%s from many an%les. -hereby we may be able to brin% him out of his entan%lements. 'e can su%%est an activity that the child would like to do and ;oin him in doin% it. Dnly after the child has calmed down or become ha&&y can we &lay the chantin% ta&e or ask him to ;oin us in #harma activities. 'hile teachin% children we should not be confined to usin% only Buddhist terminolo%y. It would be better to e0em&lify humbleness and care for others in our lives rather than re&eatin% idealistic talks. #o not force children to do #harma &ractices. :i%ht now they have to listen to the &arents but when they %row u& they will not do it unless they want to. If children are forced to do #harma &ractice they will

8 resent it and associate #harma &ractices with o&&ression. -hen it is inevitable that they will want to discard these &ractices as soon as they are on their own. Such cases would be in my view tra%ic. +nother reason for teachin% children the chantin% of /+mitabha/ is that youn%sters are also not free from im&ermanence. #eath comes to &eo&le of all a%esG If you visit a cemetery and read the tombstones you will see many who died in the womb in stillbirth in infancy in childhood or in their teens. +ccidents may ha&&en to anyone. In Miami many &eo&le have a swimmin% &ool in their backyards and there are youn% children who have drowned in these swimmin% &ools. By teachin% children the chantin% of /+mitabha/ we could hel& them to obtain a better rebirth in case they die youn%. =ow and then I %o to cemeteries to &ray for the dead and read the inscri&tions on the tombstones thereby learnin% of many short lifeA stories and %ainin% an intuitive sense of the transience of life. I have invited my sons to %o with me on these visits but I have never ordered them to come alon%. Sometimes they ;oined me and we walked amon% the tombstones and chanted. I asked them to read the tombstones to find out how lon% the deceased have lived how lon% one of a married cou&le outAlived the other etc. I es&ecially &ointed out to them the fact that there were even babies buried here not to mention children and teens. -hus they have witnessed and learned that death is a natural &art of life that life is short and hence &recious. -herefore we should make %ood use of it while we are still alive. Hisits to the cemetery and &rayin% for deceased ones have not &roduced a fear of death in my sons. Instead when they hear in school that someone has &assed away after they return home they ask me to &ray for the deceased. <enerally s&eakin% older &eo&le are more likely to turn to reli%ion because they have %one throu%h life and encountered many situations and thus reali(e how limited we all are. 'e need the teachin%s and &ractices of reli%ion to hel& us maintain at least a balanced mentality or even achieve inner tran?uility and ha&&iness. .oun%sters e0ce&t those who have been reared from a reli%ious back%round are less likely to be even interested in reli%ious &ractices or theories. *ow are we %oin% to show them the benefits of chantin% /+mitabha/@ -he first and foremost &oint is that we need to do the &ractice dili%ently ourselvesF we teach others by settin% e0am&les ourselves. =o one can &ersuade others the value of a &ractice without doin% the &ractice himself.

9 -he second &oint is that we %ive advice only when the time is ri%ht. 'e should not kee& re&eatin% our views or try to indoctrinate the youn%sters if they are not interested in the sub;ect. If we kee& advisin% &eo&le who are not interested they will become resistant or feel offended. It sim&ly will not work. =e0t time they will even avoid %ettin% close to us. It is better to wait until they ask what we are doin% and why then it is their ?uestion and we are not forcin% our views on them. +nother o&&ortunity to talk to them about chantin% is at a time when they are sufferin% from worldly sorrows. -hen we should first analy(e their situation for them &ointin% out the sources of their &roblems and %ive advice on &ractical solutions. 'e can then recommend that they try the chantin% &ractice as a means to release their worries and tensions. 'e also e0&lain the lon% term benefits of a daily chantin% &ractice em&hasi(in% its merits based on our own e0&eriences. "or e0am&le if a youn%ster is in a difficult situation we can show our em&athy by sharin% our e0&eriences of such difficulties with him. "urther we can mention many other difficult situations that &eo&le have %one throu%hF thus we hel& him enlar%e his views and his situation becomes more tolerable. 'e advise him on how to handle the situation so that the result will be better for all involved. "inally we recommend the chantin% &ractice e0&lainin% that without such mental e0ercises it would be very difficult for us to kee& our heads above the muddy water of worldly sorrows. -he central theme of our advice is the Buddhist teachin% that e%oism is the root of all our sorrows. + life free from the slavery of e%oism is &eaceful harmonious o&en and deli%htful. In order to en;oy such a life we all need to work on the elimination of our selfAcenteredness. 'hen we are not blinded by our selfAcenteredness we will see the obvious fact that we are all very fra%ile and we all want love &eace and all the %ood thin%s that life may offer. =evertheless the resources are limited so we sim&ly have to save and share. Dver&owerin% others by force will brin% us only tem&orary advanta%es at the e0&ense of others> miseries and then we live in fear of losin% our &ossessions and become enslaved by our &ossessions. +lthou%h the elimination of one>s e%o is very difficult to achieve it is not im&ossible. 'hen we look at the whole human race &ro%ress toward the elimination of the e%o seems like it could never become a reality. =evertheless if we do not advocate and &ractice this ideal of nonAe%oism whatever we are en;oyin% now may soon be lost. Badded later1 Lookin% at the riots in Los +n%eles in +&ril !992 one immediately reali(es the often overlooked im&ortance of reli%ious teachin%s and &ractices. -here are limits as to what the law and &olice can do. -he

10 best solution to the &roblems of our world does not lie in laws and &owers but in the %ood will amon% &eo&le.C Chantin% /+mitabha/ is a &ractical method for eliminatin% our selfA centeredness. It is a slow sure and safe &ractice. It will enhance the clarity of our minds because it hel&s to &acify our scattered thou%hts. It will o&en u& our minds because basically we are limited only by our selfAcenteredness. Chantin% /+mitabha/ also trains us to concentrate. "rom the above it becomes obvious that chantin% is not a &assive way to esca&e from the worldF rather it is a &ractice for &urifyin% our minds. Dnly with a clear and &ure mind can we render e0cellent services to &eo&le. +s we concentrate on re&eatin% the holy name /+mitabha/ our minds become free from selfish desires and obstinate &re;udices. -hus our minds return to their ori%inal intuitive and dynamic state. 'e em&loy this method daily to &urify our intentions so that we may actively serve &eo&le with a &ure and em&athic mind. -here is an old Chinese sayin%1 /.oun%sters are formidableF how do we know that the comin% ones are inferior to the &resent ones@/ .oun%sters are less dee&ly entan%led in the worldly ways and hence have a sim&ler outlook on thin%s. Dnce they have learned the si%nificance of the chantin% &ractice ?uite often they will dili%ently &ractice it and even become very devoted. -herefore we should not look down u&on youn% &ractitioners. In a classic Chinese book on military strate%y it is said /$ut the army into a dead s&ot then it will survive./ -hat means once the army is in a des&erate situation it will e0ert its ma0imal force for survival and conse?uently come throu%h. Similarly in order for our chantin% &ractice to brin% about a s&iritual renaissance we need to learn first of all the fra%ility and transience of our lives. In our daily lives we are accustomed to unconsciously assumin% that life will %o on as usual. 'e make so many &lans for ne0t year five years ten years retirement and old a%e. *owever there is no %uarantee that we will live that lon%. 'hen we drive a car on the streets we do not know if the other drivers are drunk senile absentA minded an%ry etc. hence our lives are not com&letely in our hands. 'e can easily %et sick and we do not know when we will encounter a deadly fire a flood a hurricane or an earth?uake. 'e are all on nature>s death roll and we do not know when our time will be u&. )ven if we are lucky enou%h not to encounter any ma;or &ersonal disaster in our lives eventually we will have to face death alone. 'e are dee&ly attached to livin%F while death means the unknown fear

11 and %rief. -he more wonderful our lives are the harder it is for us to %ive them u&. =evertheless an instant and com&lete relin?uishment of &ossessions and se&aration from dear ones awaits every one of us. *ence we need to &re&are for our death by &racticin% renunciation. Chantin% is a trainin% on renouncin% our attachments and &re;udices. If we build it into a daily e0ercise then %radually we will sense the o&enness freedom and rela0ation that comes as a result of our s&iritual %rowth. "urthermore we will be able to face death be it our own or others> with ease and understandin%. :eflections on death will sober our minds and show us what is more im&ortant in our lives than our worries and fi%hts. #eath may knock on our door at any moment. 'hen we do our chantin% &ractice we should be aware that death may be already on the doorste& outside. In this way our &ractice will become &ure and sincere. +lso we may use our daily chantin% &ractice as a rehearsal for our final e0it from the sta%e of the world of the livin%. -his will hel& reduce the wild chases in our minds and add concentration to our &ractice because when we look back from the moment of death thin%s are sim&ly either insi%nificant or hel&lessly unchan%eable. +t the moment of death we want to rely on chantin% /+mitabha/ because the only thin% available to us is our consciousness and we use it to communicate with Buddha by callin% his name for his com&assionate hel&. If we chant /+mitabha/ daily with the awareness of death>s a&&roachin% then we will surely %ain the benefits of this &racticeF conse?uently we will live in ha&&iness and die in &eace. My best wishes to you and may Buddha bless you allG