Namo Avalokiteshvara

I had the opportunity to listen to this chant many years back. I fell in love with it immediately and recalled tearing when I listened to it. It had been a long time and I had forgotten about it.

Two days ago, Yip sent me a documentary that centred around the theme of mindfulness. It was titled "Walk with Me" and was filmed at the Plum Village Monastery. Somewhere in the documentary, this chant was performed. I was dumbstruck when the chant started. It was a simple chant that only comprise the words "Namo Avalokiteshvara". The words meant "Homage to Avalokiteshvara" - "Avalokiteshvara" being the name of a goddess commonly known in chinese as the Guan Yin, or the Goddess of Mercy, the Compassionate.

Before I knew it, I starting tearing. I chided myself mentally for being emotional and tried hard to control my tears. But as the camera panned across the audience, I saw many in the audience tearing. One woman was crying so bad she had to be consoled. It was then that I realised it was I was not the only one that reacted this way to the chant. The chant evoke in my head images of Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, the calm, and the compassion. It contrasted strongly with the current state of my mind. And next thing I knew, mental images of my mum’s passing, my grieve, my pains, my emotions, my depression, my failed relationships, everything that I had done or did not do that ended with me harming myself, etc... all came crashing down onto me. And at that moment, I totally submitted myself to my emotions and everything just flowed out. I didn't realise I had so many pent up emotions in me. The momentary letting go helped me tremendously. It centred and calmed me down.

I was glad I watched the documentary (embedded below). I need to restart cultivating my mindfulness again.