Buddhist chant
Encyclopedia
A Buddhist chant is a form of musical verse or incantation, in some ways analogous to Hindu
, Christian
or Jewish religious recitations. They exist in just about every part of the Buddhist world, from the Wat
s in Thailand
to the Tibetan Buddhist
temples in India
and Tibet
. Almost every Buddhist school has some tradition of chanting associated with it, regardless of being Theravada
or Mahayana
.
; especially as part of formal practice (in either a lay or monastic context). Some forms of Buddhism also use chanting for ritualistic purposes.
While the basis for most Theravada chants is the Pali Canon
, Mahayana and Vajrayana chants draw from a wider range of sources.
tradition, chanting is usually done in Pali
, sometimes with vernacular translations interspersed. Among the most popular Theravada chants are:
tradition, different schools are known for different chants, often accompanied by melodious chanting, elaborate rituals and utilization of musical instruments, such as the wooden fish, rin gong and drums (either of which are not used by its Theravadin counterpart):
tradition, chanting is also used as an invocative ritual in order to set one's mind on a deity, Tantric
ceremony, mandala
, or particular concept one wishes to further in themselves.
For Vajrayana practitioners, the chant Om Mani Padme Hum
is very popular around the world as both a praise of peace and the primary mantra of Avalokitesvara
. Other popular chants include those of Tara, Bhaisajyaguru
, and Amitabha
.
Tibetan monks are noted for their skill at throat-singing
, a specialized form of chanting in which, by amplifying the voice's upper partials, the chanter can produce multiple distinct pitches simultaneously. Japanese esoteric practitioners also practice a form of chanting called shomyo
.
and experimental schools related to Buddhist thought which practise chanting, some with understanding of the words, others merely based on repetition. A large number of these schools tend to be syncretic and incorporate Hindu japa
and other such traditions alongside the Buddhist influences.
While not strictly a variation of Buddhist chanting in itself, Japanese Shigin
(詩吟) is a form of chanted poetry that reflects several principles of Zen Buddhism. It is sung in the seiza
position, and participants are encouraged to sing from the gut
- the Zen locus of power. Shigin and related practices are often sung at Buddhist ceremonies and quasi-religious gatherings in Japan
.
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
, Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
or Jewish religious recitations. They exist in just about every part of the Buddhist world, from the Wat
Wat
A wat is a monastery temple in Cambodia, Thailand, or Laos. The word "wat" means "school".- Introduction :...
s in Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
to the Tibetan Buddhist
Tibetan Buddhism
Tibetan Buddhism is the body of Buddhist religious doctrine and institutions characteristic of Tibet and certain regions of the Himalayas, including northern Nepal, Bhutan, and India . It is the state religion of Bhutan...
temples in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
and Tibet
Tibet
Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...
. Almost every Buddhist school has some tradition of chanting associated with it, regardless of being Theravada
Theravada
Theravada ; literally, "the Teaching of the Elders" or "the Ancient Teaching", is the oldest surviving Buddhist school. It was founded in India...
or Mahayana
Mahayana
Mahāyāna is one of the two main existing branches of Buddhism and a term for classification of Buddhist philosophies and practice...
.
Traditional chanting
In Buddhism, chanting is the traditional means of preparing the mind for meditationBuddhist meditation
Buddhist meditation refers to the meditative practices associated with the religion and philosophy of Buddhism.Core meditation techniques have been preserved in ancient Buddhist texts and have proliferated and diversified through teacher-student transmissions. Buddhists pursue meditation as part of...
; especially as part of formal practice (in either a lay or monastic context). Some forms of Buddhism also use chanting for ritualistic purposes.
While the basis for most Theravada chants is the Pali Canon
Pāli Canon
The Pāli Canon is the standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhist tradition, as preserved in the Pāli language. It is the only completely surviving early Buddhist canon, and one of the first to be written down...
, Mahayana and Vajrayana chants draw from a wider range of sources.
Theravada chants
In the TheravadaTheravada
Theravada ; literally, "the Teaching of the Elders" or "the Ancient Teaching", is the oldest surviving Buddhist school. It was founded in India...
tradition, chanting is usually done in Pali
Páli
- External links :* *...
, sometimes with vernacular translations interspersed. Among the most popular Theravada chants are:
- Buddhabhivadana (Preliminary Reverence for the BuddhaGautama BuddhaSiddhārtha Gautama was a spiritual teacher from the Indian subcontinent, on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. In most Buddhist traditions, he is regarded as the Supreme Buddha Siddhārtha Gautama (Sanskrit: सिद्धार्थ गौतम; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual teacher from the Indian...
) - Tisarana (The Three Refuges)
- Pancasila (The Five Precepts)
- BuddhaGautama BuddhaSiddhārtha Gautama was a spiritual teacher from the Indian subcontinent, on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. In most Buddhist traditions, he is regarded as the Supreme Buddha Siddhārtha Gautama (Sanskrit: सिद्धार्थ गौतम; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual teacher from the Indian...
Vandana (Salutation to the Buddha) - Dhamma Vandana (Salutation to his Teaching)
- SanghaSanghaSangha is a word in Pali or Sanskrit that can be translated roughly as "association" or "assembly," "company" or "community" with common goal, vision or purpose...
Vandana (Salutation to his Community of Noble DisciplesSravakaShravaka or Śrāvaka or Sāvaka means "hearer" or, more generally, "disciple".This term is used by both Buddhists and Jains. In Jainism, a shravaka is any lay Jain...
) - UpajjhatthanaUpajjhatthana SuttaThe Upajjhatthana Sutta is a Buddhist discourse famous for its inclusion of five remembrances, five facts regarding life's fragility and our true inheritance...
(The Five Remembrances) - MettaMettaMettā or maitrī is loving-kindness, friendliness, benevolence, amity, friendship, good will, kindness, love, sympathy, close mental union , and active interest in others. It is one of the ten pāramīs of the Theravāda school of Buddhism, and the first of the four sublime states...
SuttaSutraSūtra is an aphorism or a collection of such aphorisms in the form of a manual. Literally it means a thread or line that holds things together and is derived from the verbal root siv-, meaning to sew , as does the medical term...
(Discourse on Loving Kindness) - Reflection on the Body (recitation of the 32 parts of the body).
Critique of melodious chanting
In the Ghitassara Sutta, the Buddha teaches:- Bhikkhus, there are five dangers of reciting the Dhamma with a musical intonation. What five?
- Oneself gets attached to the sound, others get attached to the sound, householders are annoyed, saying, “Just as we sing, these sons of the Sakyan sing”, the concentration of those who do not like the sound is destroyed, and later generations copy it.
- These, monks, are the five dangers of reciting the Dhamma with a musical intonation.
Mahayana chants
In the MahayanaMahayana
Mahāyāna is one of the two main existing branches of Buddhism and a term for classification of Buddhist philosophies and practice...
tradition, different schools are known for different chants, often accompanied by melodious chanting, elaborate rituals and utilization of musical instruments, such as the wooden fish, rin gong and drums (either of which are not used by its Theravadin counterpart):
- Central to daily NichirenNichirenNichiren was a Buddhist monk who lived during the Kamakura period in Japan. Nichiren taught devotion to the Lotus Sutra, entitled Myōhō-Renge-Kyō in Japanese, as the exclusive means to attain enlightenment and the chanting of Nam-Myōhō-Renge-Kyō as the essential practice of the teaching...
practice is the chanting of the phrase Nam Myoho Renge KyoNam Myoho Renge KyoNam Myōhō Renge Kyō is a mantra that is chanted as the central practice of all forms of Nichiren Buddhism...
(Homage to the Lotus Sutra). Nichiren practitioners will sometimes chant certain chapters from the Lotus SutraLotus SutraThe Lotus Sūtra is one of the most popular and influential Mahāyāna sūtras, and the basis on which the Tiantai and Nichiren sects of Buddhism were established.-Title:...
, in particular the 2nd and 16th chapters. http://www.AmericanGongyo.org is a free site that teaches all the SGI-USA Buddhist chants in perfect Japanese. Also included is a text pronunciation guide in American English. - Pure LandPure landA pure land, in Mahayana Buddhism, is the celestial realm or pure abode of a Buddha or Bodhisattva. The various traditions that focus on Pure Lands have been given the nomenclature Pure Land Buddhism. Pure lands are also evident in the literature and traditions of Taoism and Bön.The notion of 'pure...
Buddhists chant nianfoNianfoNianfo , is a term commonly seen in the Pure Land school of Mahāyāna Buddhism...
, Namu Amida Butsu or Namo Amituofo (Homage to AmitabhaAmitabhaAmitābha is a celestial buddha described in the scriptures of the Mahāyāna school of Buddhism...
Buddha). In more formal services, practitioners will also chant excerpts from the Larger Sutra of Immeasurable Life or occasionally the entire Smaller Sutra of Immeasurable LifeAmitabha SutraThe Amitābha Sūtra is a popular colloquial name for the Shorter Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra. The Amitābha Sūtra is a Mahāyāna Buddhist text, and it is one of the primary sūtras recited and upheld in the Pure Land Buddhist schools.-History:...
. - Popular with ZenZenZen is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism founded by the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma. The word Zen is from the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese word Chán , which in turn is derived from the Sanskrit word dhyāna, which can be approximately translated as "meditation" or "meditative state."Zen...
, Shingon or other MahayanaMahayanaMahāyāna is one of the two main existing branches of Buddhism and a term for classification of Buddhist philosophies and practice...
practitioners is chanting the Prajñāpāramitā Hridaya Sūtra (Heart SutraHeart SutraThe Heart Sūtra is a Mahāyāna Buddhist sūtra. Its Sanskrit name literally translates to "Heart of the Perfection of Transcendent Wisdom." The Heart Sūtra is often cited as the best known and most popular of all Buddhist scriptures.-Introduction:The Heart Sūtra is a member of the Perfection of...
). In more formal settings, larger discourses of the Buddha (such as the Diamond SutraDiamond SutraThe Diamond Sūtra , is a short and well-known Mahāyāna sūtra from the Prajñāpāramitā, or "Perfection of Wisdom" genre, and emphasizes the practice of non-abiding and non-attachment...
) may be chanted as well. Particularly in the Chinese and the Japanese traditions, repentance ceremonies involving paying deep reverence to the buddhas and bodhisattvas, as well as executing rituals to rescue and feed hungry ghosts are also occasionally practiced.
Vajrayana chants
In the VajrayanaVajrayana
Vajrayāna Buddhism is also known as Tantric Buddhism, Tantrayāna, Mantrayāna, Secret Mantra, Esoteric Buddhism and the Diamond Vehicle...
tradition, chanting is also used as an invocative ritual in order to set one's mind on a deity, Tantric
Tantra
Tantra , anglicised tantricism or tantrism or tantram, is the name scholars give to an inter-religious spiritual movement that arose in medieval India, expressed in scriptures ....
ceremony, mandala
Mandala
Maṇḍala is a Sanskrit word that means "circle". In the Buddhist and Hindu religious traditions their sacred art often takes a mandala form. The basic form of most Hindu and Buddhist mandalas is a square with four gates containing a circle with a center point...
, or particular concept one wishes to further in themselves.
For Vajrayana practitioners, the chant Om Mani Padme Hum
Om mani padme hum
is the six syllabled mantra particularly associated with the four-armed Shadakshari form of Avalokiteshvara , the bodhisattva of compassion...
is very popular around the world as both a praise of peace and the primary mantra of Avalokitesvara
Avalokitesvara
Avalokiteśvara is a bodhisattva who embodies the compassion of all Buddhas. He is one of the more widely revered bodhisattvas in mainstream Mahayana Buddhism....
. Other popular chants include those of Tara, Bhaisajyaguru
Bhaisajyaguru
Bhaiṣajyaguru , formally Bhaiṣajyaguruvaidūryaprabharāja , is the buddha of healing and medicine in Mahāyāna Buddhism. Commonly referred to as the "Medicine Buddha", he is described as a doctor who cures suffering using the medicine of his teachings.-Origin:...
, and Amitabha
Amitabha
Amitābha is a celestial buddha described in the scriptures of the Mahāyāna school of Buddhism...
.
Tibetan monks are noted for their skill at throat-singing
Overtone singing
Overtone singing, also known as overtone chanting, or harmonic singing, is a type of singing in which the singer manipulates the resonances created as air travels from the lungs, past the vocal folds, and out the lips to produce a melody.The partials of a sound wave made by the human voice can be...
, a specialized form of chanting in which, by amplifying the voice's upper partials, the chanter can produce multiple distinct pitches simultaneously. Japanese esoteric practitioners also practice a form of chanting called shomyo
Shomyo
Shōmyō is a style of Japanese Buddhist chant, used mainly in the Tendai and Shingon sects. There are two styles: ryokyoku and rikkyoku, described as difficult and easy to remember, respectively....
.
Non-canonical uses of Buddhist chanting
There are also a number of New AgeNew Age
The New Age movement is a Western spiritual movement that developed in the second half of the 20th century. Its central precepts have been described as "drawing on both Eastern and Western spiritual and metaphysical traditions and then infusing them with influences from self-help and motivational...
and experimental schools related to Buddhist thought which practise chanting, some with understanding of the words, others merely based on repetition. A large number of these schools tend to be syncretic and incorporate Hindu japa
Japa
Japa is a spiritual discipline involving the meditative repetition of a mantra or name of a divine power. The mantra or name may be spoken softly, enough for the practitioner to hear it, or it may be spoken purely within the recitor's mind...
and other such traditions alongside the Buddhist influences.
While not strictly a variation of Buddhist chanting in itself, Japanese Shigin
Shigin
Shigin is a form of Japanese poetry, which is usually chanted, either individually or within a group.Individual poems are termed gin , and are usually composed of four or more lines of Chinese characters, or kanji , each line having the same number of characters...
(詩吟) is a form of chanted poetry that reflects several principles of Zen Buddhism. It is sung in the seiza
Seiza
Seiza is the Japanese term for the traditional formal way of sitting in Japan.- Form :To sit seiza-style, one first kneels on the floor, folding one's legs underneath one's thighs, while resting the buttocks on the heels...
position, and participants are encouraged to sing from the gut
Dantian
Dantian, dan t'ian, dan tien or tan t'ien is loosely translated as "elixir field". It is described as an important focal point for internal meditative techniques.There are various points of dantian...
- the Zen locus of power. Shigin and related practices are often sung at Buddhist ceremonies and quasi-religious gatherings in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
.
See also
- Funeral (Buddhism)Funeral (Buddhism)In Buddhism, death marks the transition from this life to the next for the deceased.Among Buddhists death is regarded as an occasion of major religious significance, both for the deceased and for the survivors. For the deceased it marks the moment when the transition begins to a new mode of...
- Householder (Buddhism)Householder (Buddhism)In English translations of Buddhist literature, householder denotes a variety of terms. Most broadly, it refers to any layperson, and most narrowly, to a wealthy and prestigious familial patriarch...
- ParittaParittaParitta , generally translated as "protection" or "safeguard," refers to the Buddhist practice of reciting certain verses and scriptures in order to ward off evil fortune or dangerous conditions, as well as to the specific verses and discourses recited as paritta texts...
- phrases recited by Buddhists to ward off danger and evil - Puja (Buddhism)Puja (Buddhism)In Buddhism, puja are expressions of "honour, worship and devotional attention." Acts of puja include bowing, making offerings and chanting...
- devotional acts - mantraMantraA mantra is a sound, syllable, word, or group of words that is considered capable of "creating transformation"...
s - sacred sounds, often chanted by Buddhists, Hindus, Sihks, and Jainas
External links
- "Buddhist Chanting" at BuddhaNet Audio.
- "A Chanting Guide", by The Dhammayut Order in the United States of America.
- "Chanting with English translations and Temple Rules", chant book of the Kwan Um School of Zen.
- "Perceive Universal Sound", article on Zen chanting by Korean Zen Master Seung SahnSeung SahnSeung Sahn Haeng Won Dae Soen-sa , born Dok-In Lee, was a Korean Jogye Seon master and founder of the international Kwan Um School of Zen—the largest Zen institution present in the Western world. He was the seventy-eighth teacher in his lineage...
, originally published in "The American Theosophist" (May 1985) and reprinted in "Primary Point," Vol. 5, No. 3 (November 1988). - Buddhist Chanting Service Important Theravada chanting texts digitized for online contemplation and chanting
- Pali Chants A collection of audio files of Pali chants. Morning/Evening chants, reflections, discource, blessings, etc.
- American Gongyo A free site offering a complete true tutorial of all the SGI-USA chants in perfect Japanese pronunciation, rhythm and tone. A free American English pronunciation guide is available to read or download.