[Buddha-l] Re: liturgical languages] (Richard P. Hayes)

[zelders.YH]

To: buddha-l at mailman.swcp.com
Subject: Re: liturgical languages] (Richard P. Hayes)

At 04:16 AM 5/6/2005, Richard Hayes wrote:

>Yes, thank you kindly for finding the passage. That is one of the texts
>I had in mind. There is another, perhaps near this one, that has the
>Buddha initially forbidding chanting altogether and then allowing it
>when the monks said they could remember the words better if they chanted
>rather than simply reciting the texts. In allowing chanting, he said
>that monks could use just enough intonation to aid the memory but not so
>much that people would become enthralled with the beauty of the human
>voice.

I'm not an expert but I looked hard and I cannot find such a text in either 
Vinaya Mahaavagga or Cullavagga. Maybe you read it in a sutta or in some 
classical commentary ?

By the way, some Thai style Theravada three tone chanting has great 
pulsating rhythm. There are more musical charms than melody alone. You can 
hear a good example of that in recordings of the Amaravati sangha with 
Ajahn Sumedho as lead singer. I am sure those folks themselves enjoy that 
groove, even if  their rules warn against such a wordly pleasure.

Herman Zelders