The sound of chanting actually irritates some people:
Somehow I never did take to the Daimoku, the chanting of Nam myoho renge kyo. The first time I heard the Daimoku, and the Gongyo, a recitation of liturgy chanted in a kind of phonetic pidgin Chinese, the sound struck me as cacophonous, jangling, unpleasant. Nine years later my opinion of it hasn't changed.
Read the whole entry to get a sense of what it's like to be a non-chanter surrounded by people who chant. Helps me understand the perspective of my ex.
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I've encountered people who can't stand the sound of daimoku. Maybe this wasn't the case here, but I don't like it either if a room full of people are not chanting in unison. It gives me a headache.
Hey, Cultmember -There are a variety of ways to get people in the same rhythm when chanting. One of the simplest, I find, is for person leading service to use a mokusho or mokugyo. These are wooden percussion instruments, similar to small drums, struck with a wooden or felted mallet. The mokugyo is usually carved into a sort of "fish" shape (mokugyo means "fish drum"), while the mokusho is usually cylindrical.The effect is very similar to chanting with a metronome. I will say, though, that it is much smoother and easier for a person to vary tempo, etc., with the mokusho/mokugyo than needing to adjust the setting on a metronome.When I was first exposed to this tool, I was quite surprised at how easily one could keep a big group of people on the exact tempo, even when that tempo was increasing and decreasing during the service.http://www.metmuseum.org/works...http://zenartpeace.blogspot.co...Here are some (non-commercial) descriptions of Mokusho and mokugyo. I hope this is helpful.
Glad to see your screen name on this board. Hope all is well.
Hola, Brooke -Things are doing reasonably well. I certainly can't complain at any rate.Hope things are well with you too.