Chanting
Practice for Christians
For a Christian,
the main spiritual practice, besides attending church services and Bible
studies, seems to be prayer. It is not easy to formulate a prayer. It involves:
1. knowledge of the Christian teaching, 2. awareness of the immediate concern
of the person or group conducting the prayer, and 3. expression of faith,
willingness to follow divine guidance instead of one's selfish interests, and
good will toward all. A prayer usually lasts for only a short time, but the
difficulty one encounters in life may linger on indefinitely. After all that
one can think of has been uttered in a prayer, what more can be done to sustain
one in the light of the Christian teaching? Bible study is a good alternative
to prayer. Is there any other spiritual practice in the Christian tradition
that may be of great help but does not demand much use of reasoning? Indeed,
there is one maintained in the Russian Orthodox Church.
The practice is to
repeat a short prayer continuously; and the prayer, called the "Prayer of
Jesus," is as follows: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a
sinner.
If a Christian
forms the habit of repeating (silently or audibly) this prayer daily, at a
definite time for a certain number of repetitions, e.g., 1,000 repetitions
continuously, then it will become easier for him or her to establish a
spiritual affinity with the Grace of Jesus. In time of difficulty or crisis, a
Christian who is accustomed to this practice can easily or even automatically
rely on this practice to stay in touch with the divine Grace. Due to the
shortness of this prayer, continuous repetition of it becomes a kind of
spiritual chanting. Hence, the usual employment of reasoning in a prayer is
bypassed and one may readily become absorbed in the spiritual communion that is
beyond words and conceptuality.
The teachings on
this practice as preserved in the Russian Orthodox Church include more advanced
training for the more devoted Christians. They include silent repetitions done
in solitude for years until the prayer is repeated automatically with each
heartbeat. A Christian attaining such mastery often exhibits an ability to
provide spiritual healing of diseases or perform exorcism effectively.
Interested readers may consult the following book: On the Prayer of Jesus,
Ignatius Brianchaninov, tr. by Father Lazarus, Element Books.
There are many
good reasons and benefits for ordinary people to adopt a chanting practice. I
have written an article, "On Chanting 'Amitabha'," which contains
detailed explanations. Christian readers may simply substitute "Amitabha"
with "Jesus" or the "Prayer of Jesus" and find the
reasoning similarly applicable. When people ask me for advice, I often
recommend a chanting practice. To Christians seeking my advice I recommend
chanting the "Prayer of Jesus" so that they may get the spiritual
help within a familiar context based on a faith already established in their
hearts. I hope that the spiritual growth they will cultivate through this
practice would eventually carry them upward toward higher spiritual quests.
Thanks to Ann
Klein for editing this article.
March 3, 1996 |