Diane Mehta, an upcoming 2021 Civitella Fellow, published a piece in the Harvard Divinity Bulletin entitled “On Chanting and Consciousness.” Reflecting on her own upbringing, Mehta interrogates the rhythm and musicality of prayer and chanting.
“There’s something about music and repetition that makes me feel privy to some sort of collective experience. If the nature of that experience is hotly contested by philosophers, it doesn’t matter to me. My soul is troubled. I am full of mistakes. My soul will never be free of desire, because desire is the only place where suffering does not exist for me.
I suspect I have misunderstood the teaching entirely.”