Buddhist music

, from Amaravati , Hadda, Afghanistan, 1st–2nd century CE ), Gandhara. An example of Greco-Buddhist art. In Buddhism, chanting is a traditional Buddhist devotional practice, as well as a means of enhancing and preparing the mind for silent meditation. It is a common part of formal group practice, in either a lay or monastic context. Some forms of Buddhism also use chanting for ritualistic, apotropaic or other magical purposes. In Mahayana Buddhism, the offering of music is a traditional part of devotional offerings to the Buddhas (others include water, flowers, and light). The offering of music is thus considered to bring good merit. The idea of music as an offering to the Buddhas can be found in various Mahayana sutras. Common instruments included the veena, drums, and flutes (venu). Furthermore, in some Mahayana sources, Buddhist music is considered to be a skillful means (upaya), a way to guide people to the Buddhist path and to teach them the Buddha's teachings. Some Mahayana sutras also depict the Pure Lands as filled with divine music. Meanwhile, in the Sigalovada Sutta, a sutta addressed to laypersons, music is included as a negative sense desire: There are these six drawbacks of frequenting festivals. You're always thinking: 'Where's the dancing? Where's the singing? Where's the music? Where are the stories? Where's the applause? Where are the kettledrums?'Early Buddhist sources include the practice of uposatha, in which laypersons observe a set of eight precepts. The seventh of these states one should abstain from wordly entertainments, shows and music. The Uposatha Sutta asks Buddhists to reflect how noble disciples "have given up singing and dancing, the playing of musical instruments and the watching of entertainments, which are stumbling blocks to that which is wholesome." The canonical Buddhist Vinayas (monastic codes) generally reject the use of musical chanting and singing for reciting the Buddhist scriptures, since it was seen as a sensuous distraction. They are prohibit monks and nuns from listening to or performing music since it is connected with sensual pleasure.The Mahaparinibbana sutta states that before the death of the Buddha, "heavenly music played in the sky in honor of the Realized One. And heavenly choirs sang in the sky in honor of the Realized One." After the Buddha's death, laypeople venerated the Buddha "with dance and song and music and garlands and fragrances". The Mahāli Sutta (DN 6) mentions that through a certain samadhi, one may hear heavenly sounds from the deva realms. Both Tibetan (Taranatha) and Chinese sources mention that he was also a great musician and traveled with a choir. Xuanzang (7th century) mentions that when he traveled to India, the music of Aśvaghoṣa was still remembered as having the power to impress upon people the truth of impermanence. One of his musical hymns, the Gaṇḍīstotragāthā (Chinese: ''Kien-ch'ui-fan-tsan, Hymn on the Bell), has survived in Chinese transliteration and Tibetan translation (which also include some musical notation). Musical references are also quite common in the Buddhacarita,'' which indicates the author was knowledgeable about Indian music, its styles, instruments, notes, and so forth. According to the Theravada commentary to the Long Discourses, the Dīgha-nikāya-aṭṭhakathā (Sumaṅgalavilāsinī), king Aśoka's consort Asandhimittā attained stream entry when she listened to a kalavīka bird's song and imagined that it was the sweet voice of the Buddha (DA ii.453). There are several reasons that chanting these texts have power. Firstly, they are considered to be an "act of truth" (saccakiriya). According to this theory, words which speak of the truth of the Dharma are considered to have magical power. In several Mahayana sutras, music is found as a common offering given by humans or devas to the Buddha. Examples can be found in the Lotus Sutra and the Lankavatara Sutra. In the Lotus Sutra, music is found in various parts of the text as a common offering to the Buddha (along with other offerings such as flowers and incense). One example from chapter three states: Śakra, the lord of devas, and Brahma, together with innumerable deva-putras also made offerings to the Buddha of their heavenly beautiful garments, heavenly māndārava flowers, and great māndārava flowers. Their heavenly garments floated and fluttered in the air, while in the sky the devas played hundreds of thousands of myriads of kinds of music together at one time. Furthermore, Lotus sutra chapter two states:If someone employs persons to play music, striking drums or blowing horns or conch shells, playing pipes, flutes, zithers, harps, balloon guitars, cymbals and gongs, and if these many kinds of wonderful notes are intended wholly as an offering; or if one with a joyful mind sings a song in praise of the Buddha's virtue, even if it is just one small note, then all who do these things have attained the Buddha way. This bodhisattva travels to our world and beautiful musical sounds follow him everywhere. The Buddha then explains that this bodhisattva "paid homage to the Buddha Meghadundubhisvararāja with a hundred thousand kinds of music and eighty-four thousand seven-jeweled bowls" for twelve thousand years. It is said that because of the roots of merit cultivated by this devotional practice, he attained rebirth in another Buddha's pure land and gained transcendent powers. In later sources, the bodhisattva Wonderful Voice (Jp. Myōon) became identified with Saraswati / Benzaiten. The Longer Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra also contains passages in which music is part of a set of devotional offerings for Buddhas and bodhisattvas. In one passage, a group of bodhisattvas is said to "play heavenly music and praise the virtues of the buddhas with hymns accompanied by wonderful sounds". Apart from presenting music as an offering to the Buddha, some Mahayana sources also depict music as a skillful means employed by the Buddhas to impart the Buddha Dharma in their pure lands. In the Longer Sukhāvatīvyūha, Amitabha's bodhi tree produces "innumerable exquisite Dharma sounds", "which spread far and wide, pervading all the other buddha lands in the ten directions". The sutra further states: Those who hear the sounds attain penetrating insight into dharmas and dwell in the stage of non-retrogression. Until they attain buddhahood, their senses of hearing will remain clear and sharp and they will not suffer from any pain or sickness... Again, in that land, there are thousands of varieties of spontaneous music, which are all, without exception, sounds of the Dharma. They are clear and serene, full of depth and resonance, delicate, and harmonious; they are the most excellent sounds in all the worlds of the ten directions. Various passages in the sutra describe numerous performances of heavenly music, most of them performed by King Druma, the vīnā playing king of the kinnaras (Skt. Kiṃnara), and his retinue of musicians (which include devas, kinnaras and gandharvas). In some passages, the Buddha himself preaches through song. The use of singing and dancing as a spiritual practice is promoted in various Buddhist tantras, for example, singing and dancing is an important practice in the Hevajra Tantra, which states:If songs are sung from bliss, they are supreme vajra-songs. When bliss arises, dance for the sake of liberation, dancing the adamantine postures with full awareness...The songs are mantra and the dance is meditation; therefore a practitioner of yoga must ever always sing and dance.The Hevajra Tantra further states that this is to be performed "with mindfulness, distracted, meditating with impassioned mind, in a state of unwavering awareness." An inscription from Gaya also shows that during the Tantric age, sophisticated styles of song and dance offerings were made in Buddhist temples with the support of Indian royalty. Indian Vajrayana sources state that these songs, along with music and dance, were part of tantric Buddhist feasts (ganachakras, esoteric gatherings and celebrations). These Carya songs contained esoteric instructions on the Vajrayana Buddhist view and practice. Many esoteric references were communicated through coded language. Many of these songs survive in Tibetan translation. One collection by Viraprakasa has songs from the eighty four mahasiddhas, and is known as Vajra Songs: The Heart Realizations of the Eighty-four Mahasiddhas. A similar genre of tantric Buddhist songs have survived in the proto-Bengali–Assamese Charyapadas. One famous tantric Buddhist musician was the Mahāsiddha Vīṇāpa (the vina player), one of the 84 mahasiddhas. He was known for using the playing of the vina as a form of spiritual practice (sadhana). According to the Buddhist sources, his guru Buddhapa taught Vinapa to meditate as follows: "meditate upon the sound of your instrument free of all distinction between the sound struck and the mental impression; cease all mental interference with the sound, all conceptualization and all critical and judgemental thought, so that you contemplate only pure sound." Some Tibetan Buddhist traditions, like the Chod tradition of Machik Labdrön (1055–1153), still include the singing of songs with instrumental accompaniment as part of their ritual practices. One contemporary figure known for his yogic songs is Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso. According to Ari Goldfield and Rose Taylor, Singing Dharma songs is an extraodinarily skillful and enjoyable Buddhist practice technique that Rinpoche has introduced to his students in a variety of ways: Rinpoche himself sings regularly; he has given illuminating explanations of the profound songs of the great masters; has composed many of his own songs; and has instructed and encouraged students to translate these songs into their own languages and sing them in their own national and cultural melodies. In his Nanhai Ji Gui Zhuan (Commentaries on Dharma from the South Sea), the Chinese Tang dynasty monk Yi Jing (635-713) presented six merits of Buddhist chanting: "1) understanding Buddha's great virtue better; 2) becoming well versed in Buddhist sutras; 3) purifying organ of speech; 4) improving the thoracic cavity; 5) inducing calm and confidence in the multitude; and 6) longevity." As such, if we practice Buddhist liturgy by chanting and listening with one's "whole body-and-mind", one eliminates the space between the self and the chants. In this way, developing an intimate practice of chanting can be a skillful means to allow the practitioner to transcend all conceptions of self and other and to experience the non-dual ultimate truth. ==Types of Buddhist music==

Most forms of Buddhist music is vocal music and religious chanting, often accompanied by musical instruments. A Buddhist chant is a form of musical verse or recitation, in some ways analogous to the religious musics and hymns of other faiths. There are numerous traditions of Buddhist chanting, singing, and music in all three major schools of Buddhism: Theravada, East Asian Buddhism, and Himalayan Vajrayana. The basis for most Theravada chants is the Pali Canon, though there are traditions which use more recent compositions. The Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions draw from a wider range of sources, like the Mahayana texts, the Buddhist tantric literature and other sources. East Asian Buddhism East Asian Buddhist music is known as fanbai in Chinese and includes numerous genres. The first Chinese Buddhist music appeared in the Three Kingdoms period and consisted of sutra recitation (zhuandu) and fanbai which drew on Buddhist stories from the scriptures and were set to Chinese music. The first well known figure to promote Buddhist music in China was the translator Zhi Qian, who complied Sung Chants for Sakra Accompanied by Qin Music (Dishi yuerenban zheqin gebai). During the Six Dynasties period, Buddhist music flourished. The Tale of the Luoyang Temple describes the Jingle Temple at Luoyang thus: "even in the six cloisters, female musicians were installed. Their singing echoed around the rafters. The sleeves of the dancers gently fluttered. The music of zithers and flutes resounded loud and clear, enchanting the hearers. When the temple's thousand images of Buddha were paraded through the streets clouds of incense hung like a dense fog, the sacred music shook Heaven and Earth, the players ranced and danced, all was a festival." Buddhist music rose to further prominence in Buddhist temples during the Sui and Tang dynasties when it became widely influential on Chinese culture. These court Buddhist musicians famously took part in a very large ceremony during the funeral of Xuanzang. Korean Buddhist music Korean Buddhist musical chanting is called pomp'ae (Beompae). There are two main styles chissori (grand elaborated style) and the hossori (simple style). The chanted text may be in Chinese, Sanskrit or in Korean, depending on the style. Japanese traditions ("blowing zen") and their Honkyoku (本曲), pieces of shakuhachi music at Seattle Buddhist Church, Seattle, Washington. ), and of specific sutras (such as parts of the Lotus Sutra) is a central practice in various traditions of Japanese Buddhism. This may be accompanied by drumming, standing bells, or other instruments. One important tradition of Japanese Buddhist choral music is shōmyō (声明, lit. "bright voice"), which dates from the 12th century. Eventually all Japanese Buddhist schools had kōshiki repertoires. Japanese chanted poetry is also another form of Buddhist music found in Japan. Other forms include hyobyaku (pronouncement of intention), saimon (offertory declaration), and wasan (Japanese Hymns). The Meiji period (1868–1912) saw much innovation in Japanese Buddhist music. Japanese Buddhists modernized many of their music, often borrowing from Western musical styles. Newar Buddhism includes a rich musical tradition which has been subject to numerous ethnographic studies. Newar musical genres include dhāpā, cācā, and bājans. Dāphā is the oldest surviving devotional musical genre of Nepal, having originated in the 17th century. It is an important role of many Newar men to practice with a local musical group. These are three main types of Buddhist bājans found in Nepalese Buddhism: mu dhimay bājans, gumlā bājans and gyānmālā bājans. Dhimay Bājan is a popular form performed by Newar farmers, who often worship both Buddhist and Hindu deities. It is performed by one or more drummers using an oversized drum (dhimay). The earliest known Bengali songs are the Buddhist Charyapadas (Songs of realization, c. 900–1100 CE) of the medieval tantric mystics. The Baul tradition, while not a Buddhist tradition per se, still makes use of some of the Bengali Buddhist Sahaja tradition's Carya songs. The devotional Buddhist music of Bengali Buddhists is often called Buddha-samkirtan or Buddha kirtan. It is a common practice among the Barua Buddhists of Bangladesh. The main distinction is between the musical traditions practiced by monastics in Buddhist monasteries and the musical traditions practiced by laypersons. The singing of popular songs (mostly called glu) by Buddhist laypersons of the Himalayan regions is widespread. Most are secular, but chos-glu (dharma songs) are also sung. Sometimes this may be accompanied by a few instruments like the dra-nyen lute, the chiwang fiddle; and the duct flute (gling-bu). The term mgur meanwhile, refers specifically to devotional Buddhist songs, which have been traditionally used to teach Buddhism. One of the most famous songwriter of these was the great yogi Milarepa, and his Hundred Thousand Songs remains popular today. There are also other traditions of musicians, including mendicant musicians, and epic storytellers (Sgrung-mkhan, who often focus on the Epic of King Gesar) and the Manipa (who sing mgur and mantras, including the famous Mani mantra). Individual schools, and even individual monasteries, maintain their own chant traditions. Tibetan Buddhism developed its own musical notation system and manuscripts depicting this system have survived in use until the present day. Tibetan monks are also noted for their skill at throat-singing or overtone singing. The intonation and style of the chant varies by tradition, with some preferring a more monotone chant and others a more melodic chanting. A common type of chanting in Theravada is pirit (paritta, "protection") chanting, which is one of the oldest forms of Buddhist chanting. Among the most popular Theravada paritta chants are: Tisarana (The Three Refuges), Pancasila (The Five Precepts), Upajjhatthana (The Five Remembrances), Metta Sutta (Discourse on Loving Kindness), and Mangala Sutta (Discourse on Blessings). This tradition can be traced back to the 18th century when several new musical forms arose, including prashasti ('praise songs'). These songs draw on religious themes, and are commonly broadcast in Buddhist monasteries, and during religious festivals and donation feasts. Contemporary music genres There are also several contemporary musicians which have been labeled "Buddhist music" and who make use of modern musical technology. They include popular singers like the Chinese-Malaysian Imee Ooi, the Tibetan singer Dechen Shak-Dagsay, the Japanese priest Kanho Yakushiji, American Buddhist ngakma Lee Mirabai Harrington, who sings Tibetan chants influenced by Indian kirtan styles, and the Nepalese singer Ani Choying Drolma. Some contemporary Buddhists have adopted specific styles like Hip hop (MC Happiness), and Metal (The Firstborn). == Influence outside of Buddhism ==

There are also a number of New Age and experimental musical forms which are related to or draw on Buddhism, some with understanding of the words, others merely based on repetition. A large number of these schools tend to be syncretic and incorporate Buddhist influences along with music of other traditions, like Hinduism. The first "New Age music" album, Music for Zen Meditation, draws on Buddhist themes. While not strictly a variation of Buddhist chanting in itself, Japanese 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. In 2009, the Beyond Singing Project produced an album combining Buddhist chants and Christian choral music. Tina Turner and Dechen Shak-Dagsay were involved. Dutch gothic-symphonic metal band Epica are also incorporating and combining Tibetan monk prayer chants as background openings in 2009's Design Your Universe, 2014's The Quantum Enigma, and 2021's Omega. == Notable Buddhist musicians ==

– Sri Lankan Buddhist monk, spiritual music composer • Ven. Bibiladeniye Mahanama Thero • Ani Choying Dolma • Alan Dawa Dolma • David Bowie • Kinko Kurosawa • Imee Ooi • Eliane Radigue • Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra • Adam Yauch • Duncan Sheik • Sergiu Celibidache • Premasiri Khemadasa • Dinesh Subasinghe] • Victor Ratnayake • Lee Mirabai Harrington • Leonard Cohen • Michael Jordan Touchdown Pass • Kanho Yakushiji • Tan Dun • David Earl (composer) • Li Na • Faye Wong • Chyi Yu == See also ==