The Heart Sutra Chant is something that exists in many forms of Qigong, a staple of this ancient practice that has helped students to heal for many thousands of years. One of the most popular forms of the Heart Sutra Chant is taught by Master Lin of the Spring Forest Qigong Centre, and that’s what we will take a look at in this article.
The SFQ’s Heart Sutra Chant
The full name of the Heart Sutra Chant is the “Heart of the Perfection of Wisdom” chant, which goes a little further to explaining the goal of this chant. Simply put, the Heart Sutra Chant helps you to enhance your spiritual enlightenment and development, connecting you to the universe and to the wisdom of the Buddha.
In fact, the Buddha plays a big role in this chant. There are many ways in which the practice of Qigong connects to Buddhism and this can be felt throughout the Spring Forest Qigong Centre and the courses that they offer. In Heart Sutra Chant, the goal is to capture the essence, the love and the wisdom of the Buddha.
The Heart Sutra Chant is simply a chant that is played on repeat. This is chanted by Master Chunyi Lin and just keeps going, with ambient music played in the background. The goal is not necessarily to chant along (although you can do that if you want) but to simply play it, absorb it and benefit from it. And there are many areas of your life that can benefit from the Heart Sutra Chant.
How to Use Heart Sutra Chant
The Heart Sutra Chant can be played as an addition to your practice, either when you are exercising or when you are meditating. This is perhaps when you will get the most out of it as it will help you to go deeper into a meditative state and to remain there for longer. It will also help you to make a connection to the universe and to yourself, which is essential for many meditations and exercises.
You can play it and/or chant it while you are trying to sleep, while you are doing chores, while you are going for a walk — whatever works best for you. Master Lin also recommends chanting the Heart Sutra Chant when you are performing healing exercises, whether on yourself or on others.
Similar Guides and Courses
There are many guides at the Spring Forest Qigong Centre that are similar to the Heart Sutra Chant, both in the way they are performed and the benefits that they can bring. These can all be downloaded from the SFQ Digital Library and include some of the following guides:
- Six Word Chant: Just like the Heart Sutra Chant, the Six Word Chant is based on a Buddhist chant. Unlike the Heart Sutra Chant, this one was designed to be performed by the listener. You simply need to repeat these six words along with Master Lin, either as an addition to another meditation or as a meditation in itself. These words help you to heal, and they help to connect you to the universe and its energy.
- Deep, Deep In Stillness Meditation: The SFQ hold many retreats throughout the year, most of which take place at the SFQ Healing Centre. This is not just for convenience sake either, but also because the Healing Centre is located in a beautiful spot, next to the idyllic Lake Superior. One of the retreats held here, and one that took advantage of that location and the energy of the lake, was Deep, Deep In Stillness Meditation. This was a level 4 retreat attended by a number of students and led by Master Lin. It is no longer hosted at the Healing Centre, but it was recorded and those recordings can be downloaded from the SFQ website.
- Healing Our World: The Heart Sutra Chant is closely connected to Buddhism and this is a religion of love and compassion. One of the other meditations that focuses so much on compassion is Healing Our World, which helps you to spread unconditional love, to understand the beauty in the universe and everything in it and to heal the world with your meditating.
- Back into the Universe: This is actually meditation music as opposed to a meditation guide, but it can be a great addition to your practice, helping you to go a little further. In fact, Back into the Universe works in much the same way as Heart Sutra Chant, effectively helping you to go deeper and do more, albeit without the opportunity to chant along.