Chanting

Chanting is when you sing or intone the same word or sound over and over. It is easy to do - but why do it at all?

Phil Morimitsu began chanting in the US in the 1970s, and he is still doing it today with his wife, Nancy. For them it is a way of life, and part of their spiritual development. For millions of people around the world, chanting provides a way of reaching a meditative state.

Mr Morimitsu explains that certain words 'attract' other words. For example, the word love attracts other loving words - when you say the word, you might think of the people you love in your life. But if you say the word hate, it attracts other hateful words. He describes these words as 'magnetic words'.

So it follows, that if while you are meditating you chant - or repeat - a word that has a positive vibration, you will reach a higher spiritual level. The question is, which word, or sound, should you chant?

Mr Morimitsu has chanted many mantras over the years, but he has now settled on a sound that he says is as old as the hills. 'It's said to predate the yogis, and has been practiced in the most spiritually advanced ancient cultures,' says Mr Morimitsu.

What is the magic sound? It's spelt 'Hu', and pronounced like the boy's name, Hugh. Mr Morimitsu says it is the chant of universal spiritual energy. If that sounds a bit far-fetched, consider this: if you took all the sounds in the universe and put them all together, you would apparently get one great over-sound - Hu.