Buddhist music is music created for or inspired by

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

and part of Buddhist art.

Honkyoku

Honkyoku (本曲) are the pieces of

shakuhachi A is a Japanese and ancient Chinese longitudinal, end-blown flute that is made of bamboo. The bamboo end-blown flute now known as the was developed in Japan in the 16th century and is called the .

hocchiku The , sometimes romanized as or , is a Japanese aerophone, an end-blown bamboo flute, crafted from root sections of bamboo. The bamboo root is cleaned and sanded, resulting in a surface patterned with many small, circular knots where the roots ...

music played by wandering Japanese Zen monks called Komuso. Komuso temples were abolished in 1871, but their music, honkyoku, is one of the most popular contemporary music styles in Japan. Komuso played honkyoku for enlightenment and alms as early as the 13th century. In the 18th century, a Komuso named Kinko Kurosawa of the Fuke sect of

Zen Buddhism Zen ( zh, t=禪, p=Chán; ja, text= 禅, translit=zen; ko, text=선, translit=Seon; vi, text=Thiền) is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China during the Tang dynasty, known as the Chan School (''Chánzong'' 禪宗), an ...

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.

Chanting

The chanting of mantras used in or inspired by Buddhism, including many genres in many cultures: *Repetition of Pāli chanting of "Namo Tassa Bhagavato Arahato Samma Sambuddhassa" *Repetition of Pāli chanting of Tisarana *

Repetition Repetition may refer to: * Repetition (rhetorical device), repeating a word within a short space of words *Repetition (bodybuilding), a single cycle of lifting and lowering a weight in strength training *Working title for the 1985 slasher film '' ...

of the name of Amitabha in

Pure Land Buddhism Pure Land Buddhism (; ja, 浄土仏教, translit=Jōdo bukkyō; , also referred to as Amidism in English,) is a broad branch of Mahayana Buddhism focused on achieving rebirth in a Buddha's Buddha-field or Pure Land. It is one of the most wid ...

. *Repetitious chanting of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo and excerpts of the

Lotus Sutra The ''Lotus Sūtra'' ( zh, 妙法蓮華經; sa, सद्धर्मपुण्डरीकसूत्रम्, translit=Saddharma Puṇḍarīka Sūtram, lit=Sūtra on the White Lotus of the True Dharma, italic=) is one of the most influ ...

within

Nichiren Buddhism Nichiren Buddhism ( ja, 日蓮仏教), also known as Hokkeshū ( ja, 法華宗, meaning ''Lotus Sect'') is a branch of Mahayana Buddhism based on the teachings of the 13th-century Japanese Buddhist priest Nichiren (1222–1282) and is one ...

. *Shomyo in Japanese

Tendai , also known as the Tendai Lotus School (天台法華宗 ''Tendai hokke shū,'' sometimes just "''hokke shū''") is a Mahāyāna Buddhist tradition (with significant esoteric elements) officially established in Japan in 806 by the Japanese m ...

and Shingon Buddhism. *Japanese chanted poetry shigin (詩吟). * Throat singing in Tibetan Buddhist chants.

Tibetan styles

Tibetan Buddhism is the most widespread religion in Tibet. Musical chanting, most often in Tibetan or Sanskrit, is an integral part of the religion. These chants are complex, often recitations of sacred texts or in celebration of various festivals. Yang chanting, performed without metrical timing, is accompanied by resonant drums and low, sustained syllables. Individual schools such as the Gelug, Nyingma, Sakya and Kagyu, and even individual monasteries, maintain their own chant traditions. Each instrument mimics the sound of an animal, the drums being the footsteps of elephants and the horns mimic bird calls.

Shomyo

Shomyo (声明) is a style of Japanese

Buddhist chant A Buddhist chant is a form of musical verse or incantation, in some ways analogous to religious recitations of other faiths. Traditional chanting In Buddhism, chanting is the traditional means of preparing the mind for meditation, especially as ...

; mainly in the Tendai and Shingon sects. There are two styles: ryokyoku and rikkyoku, described as difficult and easy to remember, respectively.

Notable Buddhist musicians

* Ven.

Bibiladeniye Mahanama Bibiladeniye Mahanama Thero is a Buddhist monk of the Theravada Order. The thero is the only Buddhist priest in Asia of the Theravada order to actively engage in the experimentation and the creative exploration of music as a form of aesthetic ex ...

Thero]. (in Sinhala language, Sinhalese)]. (in English language, English)http://www.lakbima.lk/oldpapers/daliylakbima/2014/April/last_06_04_14/ridma.pdf ]. (in Sinhala language, Sinhalese)http://epaper.ada.lk/images/flippingbook/2014/03/31/17.jpg]. (in Sinhala language, Sinhalese) *

Ani Choying Dolma Ani Choying Drolma (born 4 June 1971), also known as Choying Dolma and Ani Choying (''Ani'', "nun", is an honorific), is a Nepalese Buddhist nun of Tibetan origin and musician from the Nagi Gompa nunnery in Nepal. She is known in Nepal and throug ...

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

* Kinko Kurosawa *

Imee Ooi Imee Ooi FRSA ( ; ) is a Chinese-Malaysian record producer, composer, and singer who composes and arranges music for classic Buddhist chant, mantra and dharani. She performs her compositions in Sanskrit, Pali, Tibetan and Mandarin. In 1997 she ...

* Eliane Radigue * Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra * Adam Yauch * Duncan Sheik *

Sergiu Celibidache Sergiu Celibidache (; 14 August 1996) was a Romanian conductor, composer, musical theorist, and teacher. Educated in his native Romania, and later in Paris and Berlin, Celibidache's career in music spanned over five decades, including tenures ...

* Premasiri Khemadasa * Dinesh Subasinghe] * Victor Ratnayake * Alan Dawa Dolma * Leonard Cohen * Michael Jordan Touchdown Pass * Kanho Yakushiji *

Tan Dun Tan Dun (, ; born 18 August 1957) is a Chinese-born American composer and conductor. A leading figure of contemporary classical music, he draws from a variety of Western and Chinese influences, a dichotomy which has shaped much of his life and ...

David Earl (composer) David Earl (born 1951) is a South African composer and pianist. He was educated at Rondebosch Boys' High School. He made his professional debut at the age of sixteen when he broadcast Bach, Chopin and Chabrier on the SABC. In 1968, he performed ...

* Timothy Lissimore * Justin Merritt *

John Cage John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer and music theorist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading f ...

Greater China

Li Na, a famous Chinese singer who became a nun in 1997, produced many popular Buddhist music albums under her new name Master Chang Sheng (释昌圣). Influential C-pop singers like Faye Wong and Chyi Yu (who released 4 albums featuring Buddhist chants) also helped Buddhist music reach a wider audience.

Beyond Singing

In 2009, the Beyond Singing Project produced an album combining Buddhist chants and Christian choral music. The musicians involved were: *

Tina Turner Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock; November 26, 1939) is an American-born Swiss retired singer and actress. Widely referred to as the " Queen of Rock 'n' Roll", she rose to prominence as the lead singer of the Ike & Tina Turner Revue before ...

Dechen Shak-Dagsay Dechen Shak-Dagsay is a modern musician of traditional Tibetan Buddhist mantras expressed in recent lyrical contexts. Life Born in Kathmandu, Nepal in 1959, Shak-Dagsay and her family moved to Switzerland in 1963, where she has resided ever s ...

References

{{Buddhism topics Religious music