Monday, May 14, 2012

How important is it to chant the opening prayer at the beginning of practice?

Yesterday afternoon, I got together informally with a couple of friends who wanted me to teach them some Ashtanga yoga. We know one another from our local Buddhist group. This is not the first time we have gotten together to do yoga; we have gotten together a couple of times in the past, and I had taught them Suryas A and B and a couple of standing postures, so they are not complete strangers to the practice (for more details, see this post).

At the beginning of practice yesterday, I decided to try introducing a new element into our session: I suggested to my friends that we try chanting the opening invocation. The last couple of times we got together to practice, we had just gone straight into the Suryas without doing the opening chant.

My suggestion immediately encountered resistance from my friends: They felt that there is no reason for a Buddhist to be chanting something that originates from a different philosophical tradition. Which is true, in a very significant sense: From the viewpoint of traditional Indian philosophy, Yoga is regarded as one of the orthodox schools (because it accepts the authority of the Vedas in spiritual matters), while Buddhism (along with Jainism and Carvaka) is regarded as a heterodox school because it does not accept Vedic authority. I tried explaining to my friends that this is just honoring tradition, and that chanting this invocation does not mean that you are becoming a Hindu or anything. But they still desisted: "Why don't we just do the yoga?" one of my friends said. Sensing that I wasn't gaining any traction, I decided not to push the issue, and so we just went ahead with the practice without doing the opening chant. The rest of the practice went very well, despite this initial hiccup.

I'm quite sure that this is not the first time in the history of Ashtanga in this country that people have had hangups with doing the opening (or closing) chant, to put it mildly. I'm pretty sure that those of you out there who teach Ashtanga in gyms or public recreational facilities probably face the same kind of resistance to chanting from your students. Am I right? In my experience, students in yoga studios tend to be more receptive to chanting, but again, this might be a generalization, I'm not sure.

To be honest, when I first started doing yoga, I was also rather uncomfortable with chanting: I think it is no exaggeration to say that for most people in this country, chanting is the form of physical expression that is most closely associated with religious devotion: For the average person, to do a chant in honor of something or somebody is almost certainly an expression of devotion to that thing or person.

Over the years, I have come to find a way to reconcile my personal religious beliefs (I'm a Buddhist) with doing the Ashtanga opening and closing chants. Personally, I see the opening chant as an expression of gratitude to Patanjali: If it weren't for him, I wouldn't be practicing this yoga. This being the case, it is only natural to begin my practice with a chant honoring and saluting him. And it doesn't bother me that it is in Sanskrit. I guess it also helps that I personally find Sanskrit to be a beautiful language... in any case, can you imagine how cheesy it would be to do the opening invocation in English, with all those references to a thousand white heads and the poison of samsara?

But perhaps more importantly for me, I really feel that doing the opening invocation sends an important message: It reminds us that the practice isn't just physical exercise. It reminds us that the practice is ultimately a practice in connecting to something bigger (and hopefully better) than our individual intellects and egos. Because of this, I can't help feeling that to do the practice without the opening chant is to remove something very important from it: Something which reminds us that we are more than our physical bodies and minds.

But maybe this is just me. Do you feel the same way? If you are a teacher, do you also encounter the same resistance to doing the opening and closing chants among your students? How do you handle such situations? Please share.

16 comments:

  1. Hi Nobel! I personally love doing the chant. It completes the practice for me somehow. In my opinion, your students disrespected you as a teacher for refusing to do the chant. For the teacher the chant can be as important as the breath, bandha and drishti. What if the student refused to use the proper breath? I don't know where this going but, anyway, you have my opinion.... For info, I'm starting a new class next week of mostly beginners and I will do the chant and they won't have the option but to listen to it. So there!

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    1. Thanks for sharing, Micqui. I think what makes the situation difficult for me is the fact that I am "officially" their friend, not their teacher. So I can't invoke my classroom persona to make them do it :-) And then there's the religion factor as well...

      Hmm... maybe next time I will just chant anyway, and they can either listen or shut their ears :-)

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  2. Maehle (and yes, he's fairly hardcore on most things) quotes the adage where in Eastern logic, all paths are good paths if they lead you where you want to go. This is always difficult for people (and this is most of us) who have found "a way" which becomes "the way" and then we confront something from "another way" and it puts us in this questionable position of "can/should i?" (what a massive run-on sentence; grammatical bad man!)

    I think it was right of you to give it up; you might in the future do it solo to "sanctify the space", which I think is another function of the chant.

    I also agree (nice posting!) that chanting was weird at the start; am i pronouncing things right? does it create bad vibes if i get it wrong? am i "enough of a yogi" to chant? all questions of this type. i lead opening and closing chant in my most traditional room, and it's in a yoga studio, and over half my regulars have learned it.

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    1. Hey Patrick, you are so right that people who have found "a way" have a tendency to see it as "the way" and to adopt a non-pluralistic, even intolerant view of anything that is even a little bit different from what it is that they see as "the way." I struggle with this too, but I have also come to believe that it is possible to have strong conviction without being rigid.

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  3. When I go to a Catholic Church, I respectfully participate. I say the prayers I know, I kneel and rise and give the sign of Peace. I don't expect the priest to change the rites because of my own non-belief in Catholocism - nor do I think doing these rites makes me Catholic. All it does is make me a respectful participant. Which is what you are asking your friends to do: respect what you are very kindly sharing with them - respect something that you love and has meaning for you.

    You should just share this blog post with them Nobel, it very eloquently states why it's right to do the invocation.

    However, yes, folks get really uncomfortable with chanting. So, because you asked, here's what I do:

    Led Primary and Mysore classes - traditional invocation, every time.

    Led Beginners - sometimes. It depends on who is there. If there are a lot of seasoned regulars, I do it, sometimes in call and response, sometimes outright, telling them a basic outline of what it means, why it's sung (to say thanks) and I also say they can just listen if it makes them uncomfortable. If there's a lot of new folks, then perhaps we just chant OM and start the Suryanamaskars after that.

    It's like trying to get kids to eat their dark green veggies. They aren't used to it, it tastes funny, they don't really want to do it, but ultimately, it's good for them to do it.

    I pick my battles.

    I always sing the students out of savasana with closing chant in my led Beginners classes, sometimes in Primary, too. I state the full translation of the closing chant in English afterwards. In Mysore classes, I don't do the closing chant, leaving it up to the student (and got a complaint from a student the other day who said she "misses" me singing the closing chant" in the Mysore class. Go figure. You can't please everyone.)

    It's the ignorance of what it is that we are chanting that causes the discomfort, I think. Avidya - the root cause of all suffering!

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    1. One more thing: mea culpa, I used to be really nonplussed by the chanting. But, it grew on me, and now I love it. So much that I am studying Sanskrit, and I chant every day. It's the easiest form of yoga.

      Because of my own studies, my students get a lot of exposure to Sanskrit (we've been doing a Yoga Sutra a week for about 12 weeks now, with the Sanskrit in both full Devanagari script and transliteration on the blackboard.) I teach the Sutra of the week to all of my led classes, and at the beginning of some Mysore practices, too, so they may be more amenable to chanting and Sanskrit than some.

      When my own uncertainty to share it dissipated, they came to accept it as part of the practice.

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    2. Wow, you are really into the study of Sanskrit! Right now, the only Sanskrit that I know is by transliteration; haven't actually gotten around to studying the Devanagari script. But this will probably change once I get to Mysore :-)

      Yeah, trying to get people to try the chant is a bit like trying to get kids to eat dark green veggies--except it's even harder than that, because the people I know who are adverse to chanting have this idea that doing the chant will somehow magically transform them into something they don't want to be (Hindus? Non-Buddhists?).

      I think we need to have more of that pragmatic when-in-a-Catholic-church-do-as-the-Catholics-do kind of spirit around.

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    3. LOL, yes, I love Sanskrit!

      You should definitely study it when you're in Mysore. :)

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  4. My style is to just chant it, and make it clear that it's voluntary. They can just listen if they want. I sometimes explain that the opening chant honors all the teachers that came before, beginning with Patanjali. That way it's not such a big deal, even though it is. If that makes sense. I think it's a great idea to give the English translation as well, although I haven't done that as of yet.

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    1. Well, I can't help feeling that the English translation will probably freak them out even more, what with the thousand white heads and conch and discus and all that good stuff! :-)

      Maybe I'll try to emphasize the honoring Patanjali part. That might do the trick.

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  5. Nobel,I have started teaching an ashtanga basics class at a yoga studio and I either recite the chant and let them listen or chant with me if they know it, or do it call and response style. There have been a few times I've said the whole chant without anyone joining in. I've generally skipped the closing chant and just chanted Om Shanti and they all participate. I've explained the opening chant just as you describe it - an expression of honor and gratitude to Patanjali, and to the tradition that gives us so much if we but practice with commitment. Glad to hear about your upcoming travel plans, by the way! Still haven't resumed my blog yet (plan to...just busy) but I'm going to send you an email soon. Take care - Kristen

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    1. Thanks for sharing, Kristen. Look forward to reading your upcoming blog and hearing from you :-)

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  6. I will say that having done a few practices without the chant gives your friends ammunition to argue for leaving it out. However, Even though they are your friends, you are in a position that requires their respect because you know stuff they do not, and are generously teaching it to them. Easy enough to say that you start your practice with this chant, you were reluctant to share it the beginning because of exactly what just happened, but that from now on they can kindly wait a minute and a half while you chant, and that way they won't be clueless when they visit a shala in the future and cannot say "that Nobel didn't say nothin' about no chant!!"

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    1. Thanks, sereneflavor. I think this is a good suggestion. I probably don't have to worry about their visiting a shala; they are rather self-conscious folks who tend to feel more comfortable practicing with a friend (i.e. me) rather than with a "real" teacher in a "real" studio setting. As you can see, this is a mixed bag. . :-)

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  7. Great post Nobel. I love the Ashtanga chants and miss them when I am at a shala (you know me, always on the road) where the opening prayer is not chanted together. Even though chanting can be a bit uncomfortable for for some newbies, it is very much a part of the practice and it has a purpose. Therefore I believe it should never be left out...and it's perfectly alright for just the teacher to chant, if the students prefer not to, of course.
    The opening chant doesn't necessarily have to be seen as a "religious" chant. It's really about gratitude and respect for the lineage, just as you say. And that's so important because real yoga is all about respecting parampara - the disciplical succession of knowledge. In this day and age of yoga where a lot of people are just making stuff up as they go along, I think it's especially important for us to give credit and respect where it's due. Yay Patanjali!
    Blessings :)

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    1. Totally agree, Frances. There is nothing like having gratitude and giving credit where it's due to center us in our practices. As such, I have increasingly come to feel that the opening chant isn't some "nice extra" that one can choose to tack on to the practice or discard; It's very much a living part of the practice.

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