Chanting: A concentration training of the brain
In addition to preparing for the exam, adults may rarely take the initiative to memorize. I am no exception. The last time it had anything to do with "recitation" was during the law exam. Until one day, I saw someone who could memorize three hundred odes without difficulty, and I thought it was incredible.
So, I also tried to recite a hundred. After about four months, I ended up with less than thirty of them that I was really familiar with. At that time, I used Anki as a memory card, thinking that I could easily remember it just by checking in every day, but the result was not ideal. The reason is: on the one hand, it is a scattered memorization, which is recorded in isolation one by one and fails to connect in series; on the other hand, it is also because I didn't take it seriously.
Look back at the reasons for failure:
Lack of commitment – Spending too little time each day, sometimes even not doing it for a week, naturally not productive.
Improper method – recitation is not placed at the right time, such as early in the morning or before bedtime; The frequency of reading through is too low, and it is difficult for memory fragments to form a whole.
Later, I adjusted my method: after waking up at six o'clock every morning, I recited it for half an hour. The memory during this period is indeed deeper. Individual hymns are still used with Anki memory cards, and every ten hymns are used as a small unit to sort out the order in the form of "keyword fill-in-the-blank" on Obsidian to help connect them.
Slowly realize that recitation is actually a practice of concentration. The more focused you are, the more solid your memory will be. Every hymn, from vague to clear, seems to feel that the neural network of the brain is lit up little by little, which is a very wonderful experience - this may be the power of "deliberate practice".
The process of memory is actually a practice of concentration. Perhaps, recitation can become another spiritual exercise for us as adults. What do you think?