What is the purpose of chanting in Buddhist services?
Chanting serves many purposes. When everyone chants in harmony, our individual differences are melted away, and we are unified. The words in chanting are usually confessions (to repent our misdeeds) or praises to the Buddha or bodhisattvas. So chanting is a way to remove karmic obstacles, to cultivate respect, and to diminish arrogance. When we chant, each syllable should be chanted from the heart, with sincerity and concentration, so it is also a form of meditation. Q: Buddhism seems to be a religion with many teachings and philosophy. Does it have a most important book like the Bible in Christianity? A: The entire collection of Buddhist teachings is called Tripitaka (Three Canons), consists of sutras (scriptures spoken by the Buddha), vinaya (precepts and regulations), and treatises or commentaries on the sutras (works by Buddha’s disciples or later masters). Buddha taught for nearly 50 years, and with the long history (2500 years) of Buddhism, the Tripitaka is very very big–a stand
