the Dharani should be the 84 line one while the mantra should be the shorter version.

Manjushri is just Om Ah Ra Pa Sa Na Dhi. Not hard at all. In Tibet kids who recite it become really sharp and good in their studies. I've heard some malaysian kids who recited around 100,000 of it as a retreat got straight As for every exam.

I just like saying the mantra

for your exams i recommend this one for a clear and sharp mind:

i only do heart sutra and metta sutra.    metta sutra is reaaally soothing.

yes we recite most of the texts in english. mantras only in tibetan.

we also do meditations as well as guided by prayers called Sadhanas.

for certain prayers we can only reap the full benefit only if we know what it means as some of them are meant to be practiced according to the prayers/

its fine everyone has to start somewhere

i dun mind helping out to share  more tho. i cant teach.

I would approach like this.

1. Read up on the various traditions on Buddhism. Important to take note of the history.

2. Not everything you read about buddhism is true. There is something called too much faith (saddha) that makes a person believe just everything and anything about what other people tell you. Always remember buddha's advice to investigate all teachings first before you accept it as true.

3. Address your doubt  by asking question, preferably a teacher whom you may have confidence and affinity in.
You can start by reading this good good written by the late ven Dhammananda "what buddhists believe" - can google it FOC on the net.

4. Try to apply the teaching into your daily life, for example to reduce anger/hatred which is the most common problem we have in the world today.

5. Try to maintain the 5 precepts as good as possible - you won't go very wrong in this life if you follow the precepts.

6. If you can , learn some basic meditation like Metta (loving-kindness) and some form of vipassana, or anything that suits you that could calm your mind.
hmm... i think that's what I can think of for now.

may you be happy!

it does but not as good as if you recited it.

so how can you gurantee that you doing retreat is not to hide from your problems?

and if you come out of the retreat and you find that you offend more  people etc whats the point? The whole point is so that you get to train your mind to not harm others wat. also you gib bad PR: peepur see see say u sot sot after retreat u suka ka?

i've done a prostration retreat before. 10k prostrations over 3 weeks. sakit but still ok. Really gave me time to change my way of thinking and seeing things..

just try. it could be a life changing experience
lol who's so free to expose yours? i'm still checking if mine is harming others you manage your own wan lah

mine was asked by my teacher to do it. there are other ways of retreat like reciting sutras or mantras, water offerings, prostrations etc

the main point is to retrain your mind to think in a way where it becomes less selfish.

And now, some homework for you guys

I'd like to share with you one of the most illuminating texts: Advice from Atisha's heart. These pointers given by Atisha applies to anyone and everyone especially those that call themselves Buddhists. Perhaps it would give many of us a clue on how to further our own practices.

good morning.

life is so blissful. zzzzzz

40 objects of Samatha meditation
10 Recollections
10 Kasinas
10 Asubhas
4 Brahma viharas
4 Immaterial states
1 Foulness of food
1 Four Element

ANyone tried any of the above yet??

MEditation got 2 types

1. Samatha - calm meditation. Objective is to attain Calm and tranquility.  Got 40 types listed.

2. Vipassana - Insight meditation. Objective is to attain Insight into the nature of existence - Dukkha (suffering), Annata (nonself) and Anica (impermanence).
Most popular Samatha meditation are
1. Anapanasati (mindfulness of in-out breath on nostril) - this is ONE of the 10 types of Recollection

2. Metta (loving-kindness) - one of the 4 Brahma viharas (divine stations of the Brahma).

Confused liau bo?

for samatha meditation yea, got about 40 taught by the Buddha.

Not all of these meditations are suitable for everyone. It depends on your temperaments (past karma, tendencies, affinity, etc).

However, there are universal meditation such as MEtta (loving-kindness). This one is suitable for all types of temperaments, because deep inside all of us, there is a lot of hatred in our subconscious.

The effect of meditation is not something like a one-time fix.. but gradual. It has to be applied in daily life too.  Meditation serves as some positive reinforcement into the subconscious - everyday we tell ourselves to be loving-kindness to all being, slowly slowly over years, over decades,  you find your level of hatred reduces.....

For example, playing video games like dOta or Wow... They look harmless.. but if the individuals play those games, they got angry when TMNET down , or they got killed in Dota by their friends, they got angry..... on daily basis.  slowly, day by day , that person gets angry for about 10 mins everyday.... over the years... he finds himself become a very hostile person in real life... easily get irritated, angry, etc.

I am talking from real experience.

So this mental conditiioning is very gradual... if we want to become a good person , we need to do it daily, slowly... everyday throw away some bad habits.. over time, over years, over decades, we will succeed.

By the time of death, we will be a very happy person.....

Depends lo. Some got good karma can encounter good teacher and true dhamma, and the states can arise in him quite fast.  Some try entire lifetime cannot see any results, got a few explanation for that actually.

But any effort is not wasted, as there is this Dhamma that will actually lead us to Nibbana. Have confidence we must all in the teaching of the Buddha!