Okyo as Zen Training
Resonance is the principle of okyo (sutra chanting). The objective of practicing okyo is to change the way you vibrate. If you change the way you vibrate, you can change the way others and your environment vibrate as well.
We have different techniques for practicing okyo. But, the key to effective practice is repetition. For example, practicing okyo for 30-45 minutes at a time, and then repeating daily. Practicing in this way allows the okyo to work on you.
In okyo, we send the breath down to the seat, just like in zazen. Relax and open your throat, so it feels like you’re swallowing the sound. Alignment and removing unnecessary tension are key. In my experience, the sound feels like it is reverberating inside a hollow jar, extending from the diaphragm to the pelvic floor, between the side bodies, lower back and abdomen.
A fundamental technique is practicing the vowels. Whitelaw Roshi introduced the sequence O-U-A-E-I-MM-NG, which acts like a pipe cleaner by following the location of the sounds’ resonant cavities in our body from bottom to top. Greene Roshi gave us A-E-I-O-U, which feels like a wave. Ki-ai, or shouting, quickly clears out cobwebs and helps us practice sending the sound downwards. It’s also a good way to find our natural pitch before doing okyo. You can ki-ai: “EH!” And then immediately, chant “AH.” This will be your most resonant pitch.
When we start doing the choka (sequence of chants), we often get caught up in reading the words and lose our resonance. The only way to overcome this is through a lot of practice with saying the words; memorization is actually best. The syllables should be connected like beads on a string, where the string is a syllable droning in your belly. Each chant has its own syllable. For example, Namusanda has “AH.” We often refer to this as horizontal penetration. At the same time, each syllable must get its own distinct character by focusing through your mouth shape and dropping it into your lower abdomen. In this way, each word becomes a piercing arrow. We refer to this as vertical penetration.
When practicing the choka, it's important to match the rhythm of the day, which changes. You can find the rhythm by looking in nature and being grounded in your hara, rather than your head. Matching this rhythm gives us energy and is easy to follow. If we don’t match this rhythm, the mind wanders, and we struggle. Playing the mokugyo (drum) and bells can be very helpful for making progress with okyo because it’s difficult and requires accessing “no mind.”
When practicing okyo, you should give it your all. Become each syllable moment by moment. Samadhi, or “the state of relaxed concentration of no self,” is a natural outcome of doing okyo. If this isn’t happening when you do okyo, it means you’re stuck on yourself. Don’t get too focused on your own sound or the words on the page, which create isolation. Instead, keep your awareness big, listen carefully, and enjoy the vibrations being created. When you practice, it should feel like others’ voices are going in your ear and out of your mouth.
We practice okyo in the U.S. on Saturday mornings at 7:30-8:15 am CT and Monday nights at 7:30-8:15 pm CT. In Europe, okyo is daily at 7:30-8 am CET. For more information, please visit this page.
