Buddhist music

Buddhist music is music (, ) created for or inspired by Buddhism and includes numerous ritual and non-ritual musical forms. As a Buddhist art form, music has been used by Buddhists since the time of

In doctrine and scriptures#

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.

In the early Buddhist sources#

Various passages from the early Buddhist texts contain criticisms of musical performance directly from the Buddha. The main criticism is that music leads to sense desire and attachment, and is thus a hindrance to meditative concentration (samadhi), and to peace of mind. However, there are other passages in which the Buddha praises music and chanting. Aside from textual sources, there are numerous depictions of musicians and musical instruments at ancient Indian Buddhist sites like Sanchi, and Amaravati, as well as at various Greco-Buddhist sites in Buddhist Gandhara, such as Chakhil-i-Ghoundi.

Against music#

In the Ghitassara Sutta (Anguttara Nikaya 5.209), the Buddha admonishes Buddhist monks for reciting the teaching (Dhamma) in a musical way: : Monks, 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. 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.

Positive passages#

Certain passages in the early Buddhists are much more positive about music. Digha Nikaya sutta no. 21 (Sakka’s Questions) and its Chinese parallel at DA 14, contains a passage in which a gandharva (a celestial musician) named Pañcaśikha sings some verses to the Buddha accompanied by a lute, and the Buddha approves of it. 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. Other sources, like the Jatakas, and Avadanas, contain various stories which depict music in a positive light. For example, in one story, a bird named Cittapatta sang songs to the past Buddha Vipassī, and he eventually gained a good rebirth and became a god, and then an arahant. Another story about a bird singing to a Buddha is found in the Theragāthā commentary (aṭṭhakathā), this time, the past Buddha Krakucchanda is featured. Similarly, when Sikhī Buddha died, a tree dwelling spirit offered flowers and instrumental music, and this contributed to his future nirvana (Therapadana 118).

In later sources#

One Indian Buddhist figure who was well known as a musician was the 2nd century poet Aśvaghoṣa. 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. Furthermore, parittas are also connected with morality (sila) and kindness (metta) and the very sound of their chanting is said to calm the mind.

In Mahayana sources#

Mahayana sutras often contain positive depictions of music, which is often seen as a wholesome offering with which to venerate the Buddhas which can generate merit and prompt the blessings of the Buddhas. 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. Furthermore, according to Rambelli, the sutra presents this divine music “not only an adornment of the Pure Land, but a veritable manifestation of the Buddha Amida endowed with the power to lead beings to the Land of Bliss.”

Philosophy of music in the Sutra of Kinnara King Druma#

Perhaps the most detailed Mahayana philosophy of music is found in the Sutra of the Questions by Druma, King of the Kinnara (*Druma-kiṃnara-rāja-paripṛcchā), which was first translated by Lokakṣema (Taisho no. 624), and then again translated by Kumārajīva in the fifth century (Taisho no. 624). 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. Druma’s music is presented as so powerful that it can be heard all over the universe, it drives all the devas in the desire realm to come see the Buddha and makes all those present (except a few high level bodhisattvas), start dancing spontaneously. Druma also plays a song about emptiness which leads eight thousand bodhisattvas to attain the patience of the non-arising of all dharmas. When asked where this beautiful song came from, Druma explains his philosophy of music, which is encapsulated in the following passage: All sounds emerge from empty space. Sound has the nature of emptiness: when you finish hearing it, it disappears; after it disappears, it abides in emptiness. Therefore, all dharmas, whether they are taught or not, are emptiness. All dharmas are like sound. If one teaches the dharmas through sound, the dharmas cannot be attained in sound itself. Dharmas themselves cannot be said; what is called speech is only sound. Therefore, sound is originally non-abiding anywhere i.e., is non-substantial , thus it is not real and solid, and its reality only lies in its name. If so, and paradoxically, its reality is indestructible, has no origin and thus is not subject to extinction, therefore it is pure, immaculate, and incorruptible, like light and the mind; it is all-surpassing and beyond signs – that is, sound is the condition of enlightenment; when a bodhisattva is in that condition, he has attained the endurance of the non-origination of dharmas … All discourses are only sound/voice; one produces these sounds simply because one wants to talk about something else than voice. This endurance of the non-origination of dharmas cannot be explained nor heard. Why? Because its meaning is unattainable, that is, absent. According to Rambelli, the gist of this passage is that all Buddhist sutras, teachings and also music “are simply voiced sounds or signifiers; their signifieds are not inherent in those sounds and are nowhere to be found (they are unattainable)…In more technical terms, music, like language, is not a symbol of anything (meaning is ontologically distinct and separate from sound); rather, music is both an index and an icon (a faithful reproduction) of emptiness – in other words, music is a concrete example, in our experiential field, of emptiness.” Rambelli also notes that Druma’s instrument, the veena, is made of beryl (vaiḍūrya), which is a transparent light green stone. Transparency is also a metaphor for emptiness in Indian sources. Hence, Druma is singing about emptiness with an instrument that also symbolizes emptiness. The Buddha confirms that Druma is highly advanced in his use of music as a skillful means and that through music he can lead countless beings to omniscience. At another part of the sutra, the Buddha manifests seven giant trees which emit light and music all over the universe and then himself produces a song accompanied by music which clarifies all the doubts of the bodhisattvas. The Buddha also explains to the kinnaras that they do not need to abandon their musical arts to practice the path, because their musical sounds protect the Dharma. According to Rambelli, this sutra was influential in Japanese Buddhism, where it was used to defend the activities of Buddhist musicians and performing artists not just as an offering, but as a kind of self-cultivation.

In Vajrayana Buddhism#

The Indian Buddhist tantric literature includes music, song and dance as common ritual offerings to tantric deities. 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 East Asian Buddhism#

Buddhist music is a central feature of East Asian Buddhism, where it is seen as an important offering to the Buddhas, as a skillful means of teaching Buddhism and also as a kind of meditation. 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. In Chinese Buddhism, these positive views of music combined with the Mahayana Buddhist views of music as a meritorious offering and a skillful means. According to Trân Van Khê, East Asian Buddhist music is mainly ritualistic vocal music, mostly the chanting of traditional dharanis and sutras like the Heart Sutra, Lotus Sutra, or the Amitabha sutras. However, instrumental music is sometimes heard during special ceremonies, such as funerals. Rituals in which Buddhist music may be heard include repentance ceremonies and rites like the Shuilu Fahui and the Yujia Yankou. Instruments which are found in East Asian Buddhist music include: the pipa, erhu, yangqin, biwa, oboe (ken), transverse flute (sao), mouth organ, ceremonial drums (like the taiko, or the Vietnamese trong nhac), gongs, bells, the Vietnamese bow lute, and the tap pyong so (Korean).

Chinese Buddhist music#

Chinese Buddhist chanting is known as fanbai, which means “Voice of Brahma”. This style of chanting is typically performed during ritual contexts such as daily liturgical services or ceremonies such as the Shuilu Fahui ceremony and the Dabei Chan. Since the melodies and tunes used for this style of recitation tends to be passed on through oral tradition, various regional variations of fanbai exists in different parts of China. One example is Shangjiang-style of fanbai (上江腔梵唄) in the southwest, which is still preserved at Wenshu Temple in Chengdu and Huayan Temple in Chongqing. Another example is Taiwan, where two main sub-traditions of fanbai exists: “Gushan style” (鼓山調, lit: “Mount Gu”) and “Haichaoyin style” (海潮音, lit: “Sound of ocean waves”). Traditional Chinese musical instruments are also frequently employed as accompaniment, such as the gong, the muyu (木魚, wooden fish), the qing (磬, sounding stones), the gu (鼓, drums), zhong (鐘, bells) and chazi (镲仔, cymbals). 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#

Japanese Buddhism includes various traditions of chanting, sutra recitation (dokyō) and Buddhist music. The vocal element is generally the most important element of Japanese Buddhist music. Chanting of the names of the Buddha (especially popular is the nembutsu), 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. Traditional styles like shomyo were still preserved however and are still heard in Japanese Buddhist temples today. In the 2000s, Japanese clergy also began to adopt traditional Buddhist texts to modern musical genres like rock and pop music. Modern technology like vocaloids, robots, and keyboards have also been used to promote Buddhist chanting and many of these new musical compositions have spread through the internet.

Honkyoku#

Honkyoku (本曲) are the pieces of shakuhachi or hocchiku music originally played by wandering Japanese Zen monks called Komuso. Komuso temples were abolished in 1871, but their honkyoku music remains popular in modern Japan. Komuso played honkyoku as a meditative practice and for alms as early as the 13th century. In the 18th century, a Komuso named Kinko Kurosawa of the Zen Fuke sect was commissioned to travel throughout Japan and collect these musical pieces. The results of several years of travel and compilation were thirty-six pieces known as the Kinko-Ryu Honkyoku.

Nepalese Buddhism#

The music of Nepalese Buddhism reflects native Nepalese, Tibetan and Indian musical traditions. 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). It is commonly practiced by groups who meet at the Svayambhū stūpa hill and circumambulate the stūpa, also visiting other sites in town. The ensembles use the small nāykhī and the larger dhā drums as well as cymbals, and woodwinds and brass instruments are also sometimes added. The most recent style is a modern bhajan style called gyānmālā bājan which Newar Buddhists adopted from modern Indian bhajans. This style uses the Indian harmonium and tabla, and sometimes other less traditional instruments like keyboards or guitars. The Gyānmālā Bhajan society is one popular Buddhist group which is influential in the development of this modern Newari language tradition. In the 20th century, numerous Newari Buddhist authors composed new bhajans in Newari, some of them focus on teaching the Dharma, and others have a more devotional Indian bhakti style.

Bengali Buddhism#

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.

Genre family: Religious music