[Buddha-l] Re: music chanting buddhists

[Richard P. Hayes]

On Fri, 2005-04-29 at 15:36 -0700, Michael Wilson wrote:

> My guru Richard wrote:

Good grief, Michael!

> - I've always wondered about that.  I've heard the
> theravadins chanting refugee in the early morning in
> Sarnath and Bodhgaya and it sounds very ancient and
> full of reverence to me - sounds from the cracked bell
> of lost civilizations.

I don't know how something can sound ancient, but that aside, there is
no doubt about the reverence. It's very strong. I suspect it's because
the monks understand what they are chanting and believe in it. Some
apparently expect to find beauty in Buddhist chanting, or find it even
if they don't seek it. Beauty seems to me an oddball thing to be seeking
in Buddhism, which, as I understand it, is all about getting over
attachment to sensual pleasures, to ideologies and to all the various
things that prop up unwholesome senses of self.

-- 
Richard Hayes
Department of Philosophy
University of New Mexico