10. It can open your eyes and keep you out of the hell of incessant suffering.

9. It's free and you have nothing to lose by trying it.

8. You can remain ignorant of the concept of ichinen sanzen and still attain enlightenment.

7. It helped my friend Tony come to peace with his father's death and become a better person in general. He can still be a jerk, but not as bad as before.

6. You never know what disasters are averted by chanting.

5. It doesn't matter if you are good or evil or smart or stupid, you can still benefit from chanting. Even jerks like Tony can benefit.

4. It creates fortunate karma for your family, seven generations into the past and seven generations into the future -- and right now, too. Even if you resent your family or they disown you, your chanting helps everyone.

3. You don't have to believe in it for it to work. You don't have to call yourself a Buddhist for it to work. Try it and see. Then as you chant more you deepen your faith. Then you'll want to study more about Buddhism to understand how it works and stuff.

2. If you're not a stupid, hateful jerk, so much the better for you. But if you ARE a stupid, hateful jerk, chanting is your only hope.

1. There are no reasons because chanting is not a reasoning thing. Chant with whatever you got. Chant stupid. Chant greedy. Go ahead. Chant angry. Chant happy. Chant uncertain. Chant however you are. Buddhahood is in you right this very moment, no matter how impossible that seems. Just chant and you'll see.