How to Chant if Perplexed

Over the last few posts, I’ve discussed how to achieve goals successfully. But what if you don’t know what your goals are. At times it’s possible to have more questions or fears than ideas for goals, very like the boy in the picture. It seems that you can’t see beyond your current situation.
Maybe you’ve just gone through the death of a spouse or a divorce, or perhaps retired after working for thirty-five years. Perhaps you’ve gone through a period of upset when you have been immersed in negativity for some reason, a bad situation at work, an unraveling of a relationship or a major life transition.

Chant for the best Possible Resolution

Sometimes all you can do is just chant for the best possible resolution to your situation, particularly when you have no idea of what that might be. If you’re dealing with a negative situation and don’t have a clear goal, I would chant for the best possible resolution. That is a positive goal and is much better than focusing on the negativity. You want to create a positive resolution for yourself and the situation.

If you find yourself resisting setting a goal, it may be your inner self saying you are not ready to move forward. This is all right. Inwardly we may need time before we can move forward again and get our feet back on the ground. This often happens when you have been following a certain direction for a long period of time, when you have come to the end of that phase of your life.

After I retired from a twenty-five year career of being a counselor, it took me a year and a half to figure out my new direction. Be patient with yourself and allow yourself the time to work it through.

Chanting is Never Wasted

Chanting is never wasted. You can chant your way through the fog of uncertainty with the positive goal to raise your life condition out of the lower worlds. Then you will see your way more clearly. If you feel as full of question marks as the child in this picture, you can always chant for clarity.

Finding A New Direction

Sometimes various steps are required before the new direction actually manifests itself. While I was still working as a therapist I was introduced to the practice and started chanting. For the next few years I took some writing classes to learn the craft, and proved the practice to myself by chanting about various life problems I had encountered, surmounting them successfully. Then I retired and continued with my writing critique group, practicing my writing skills, and using the chant to deal with issues in my own life.

One day I realized, I’d proved the great value of the practice in my own life. I’d taken on challenges I thought were impossible and saw them resolve successfully in ways I never could have imagined. I’d heard many experiences of how the practice worked in the lives of many other people, enabling them to overcome problems in their lives. I’d seen lives turn from negative paths onto positive ones. I’d found what I’d looked for as a therapist, a way to enable anyone to become happy. My new direction had shown up. I wanted to make this Buddhism accessible to anyone.

I began to write my first book, Your Path to Unshakeable Happiness. Over the next six years, I chanted for ideas, wrote it and published it. The writing has continued from there. I have found the way of life best suited to me, where I can use all of my abilities and skills in the work I love.

Chant. Your Life Will Come to Express You Perfectly

You too can be confident that if you chant regularly, your life will move in the direction that is both authentic and right for you, even if you don’t know what that is right away.

In summary:

 Keep chanting
 If you can’t articulate what goal is best, chant for the best resolution to your situation.
 Chant for clarity if you have many questions.
 Be patient with yourself as there may be many steps to take.
 Be confident that as long as you are chanting, your life will move in a progressive direction that is right for you, and one day you will see your way