Chants to Awaken the Buddhist Heart

Steven Halpern | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 14, 2000)
• Original Release Date: November 14, 2000
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Inner Peace Music
• ASIN: B0000508CD
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #107,528 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #65 in Music > Miscellaneous > Self-Help

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not what I expected, January 3, 2001

By 

Jeremy J. dePrisco (Harrisburg, PA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Chants to Awaken the Buddhist Heart (Audio CD)

As both a musician (mindspeak.com) and a meditating Buddhist, I found many things disturbing about this recording. From the musician side, the drum machine was a complete turn-off, as was the "Third Stone from the Sun" Jimi Hendrix guitar lick that was mixed in to the first song. The trendy production style on this recording does not do the chants justice. Listeners who aren't familiar with the true beauty of these chants could mistake this New Age treatment for the real thing, which would be unfortunate. The mechanical drum machine sounds provide only Nintendo-like accompaniment, and detract so much from the music. The voice is not heart-felt. The liner notes indicate that both Lama Surya Das and Halpern were college-mates without knowing it, but this collaboration sounds like the direct result of tripping at a late-night pot-smoking party. This is one of few CDs I own that will probably find its way to the used CD store.

31 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not at all what I expected..., February 11, 2002

By 

Chris Letempt (Marietta, GA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Chants to Awaken the Buddhist Heart (Audio CD)

Lama Surya Das writes wonderful books. This is not the case though with this album. I have a problem with Hip Hop beats while meditating!!! This was not at all what I had hoped for or wanted. Take away the drum machine, please!

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I Love It, March 4, 2004

By 

Swing King (Cincinnati, OH USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Chants to Awaken the Buddhist Heart (Audio CD)

Track 3 (Female Buddha Tara's Mantra) and 4 (Seven Line Prayer) are my absolute favorites on this unusual & unique CD. Sure it's a bit different from the common sounds we might be accustomed to hearing in the category we are obviously pursuing here: Buddhist chants and music. But different isn't bad. Not that tradition is not good to stick to, but occasionally it is nice to hear a bright and new example of these ancient chants. I personally found this entire CD to be a terrific companion to meditation at times, and the opening track "Jewel and the Lotus Sutra" has such a wonderful rhythm to it. I mean, I don't recommend listening to music every time you sit down to meditate, but occasionally it's a nice and calming experience to be had. So here is one reviewer who is kind of amazed by all of the bad reviews this CD is getting. This CD has a "healing" effect in some senses, a trait commonly associated with mantras and Tibetan lamas. Stephen Halpern brings to the table his unique style of "healing sound" for us. Sure it has a hip-hop feel, but it's done extremely well! I hope you enjoy it and are willing to give this a try.