Sojun Gives Chanting Instruction

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BZ-01051

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Good morning. So this morning, I'm going to go over our chanting. Give us some chanting practice. It's a little loud, Pop. Oh. No, on the top thing. The top. The top one. Thank you. How's that? Too soft. Too soft. How's that? How's that? That's probably pretty good. So this chanting session, I'm calling it the long and the short of it, how we chant with long syllables and short syllables. Because that's most of our problem in chanting, is that we sometimes have a tendency to chant everything the same. all the syllables are the same. When we're chanting in Japanese, kanji, zai, bu, san, su, yo, there are no connecting words.

[01:05]

So we don't have this problem of giving the connecting words the same value as the main words. You know, like sometimes we'll say, we take refuge in Buddha. We take refuge. a long time ago we decided that we wouldn't say we take refuge, we take refuge in Buddha rather than emphasizing we, we emphasize Buddha. So this kind of understanding I think is important. And when we get into chanting in Japanese, it's very important because otherwise we lose the rhythm, the rhythmic value. So I want to talk about how we chant in Japanese and also how we chant the Heart Sutra without the Mikugyo.

[02:11]

Can you hear? Okay, so there are rules for chanting in Japanese and when we look at the Sandokai or the Buddhist ancestors especially, there are these diacritical marks over syllables. So it makes it very easy for us If we pay attention to that, the diacritical marks mean you hold it longer. So let me look at this table of contents. Uh-huh.

[03:20]

Page 12. Oh. Yeah, 12. Page 12. Oh, they're not there. My book does not have them. What? No, it has the names. It doesn't have the diacritical marks. Okay, so first place, let's just look at some of the rules for chanting. each vowel gets its own beat.

[04:26]

In English we tend to run the vowels together to make a sound, like A and I would be, I, I, but in Japanese A, I, the A is pronounced and the I is pronounced as I. So in Daiyosho, it's actually Daiyosho. Bibashibutsu Daiyosho. Shikibutsu Daiyosho. We put some emphasis on the Daiyosho, on the Dai. Sometimes they say Bibashibutsu Daiyosho, Shikibutsu Daiyosho. So we have to pay attention to the rhythm Dai-yo-sho, shikhi-butsu, dai-yo-sho, bishop-butsu, dai-yo-sho. And unless there is a reason for elongating the syllable, they're all the same.

[05:35]

Bi-ba-shi-butsu, dai-yo-sho, da-i, dai. The da gets, the ai gets two beats. But all the rest of the syllables get one beat. Pibashibutsu taiyosho, shikibutsu taiyosho. Kuru-san. Now here there's a diacritical mark over the O. Kuru-san. Actually, you know, it should be on the N, but When the N follows an O, it's an extra beat. Kuru-san, kuru-san. It should be kuru-san. The N gets the extra beat instead of the O. But because of our way of pronouncing, we put the diacritical mark over the O.

[06:39]

bi bashi kuru san kuru san butsu dai yo sho kun na gon and there's another daikuriko mark over kun na gon muni kun na gon muni butsu dai yo sho ka sho there's a daikuriko mark over the ka sho over the o ka sho so that gets two beats KASHO BUTSU DAIYO SHO SHOKAMUNI BUTSU DAIYO SHO MAKAKA SHO MAKAKA SHO there's a DAIKURUKU mark over the O, the last O MAKAKA SHO so it's two beats MAKAKA SHO DAIYO SHO ANANDA DAIKURUKU mark over the A ANANDA DAIYO SHO I like to elongate the U. The A and the I each get a beat, right? Dai, Taka, Dai, Yosho, Mishaka, Dai, Yosho, Washumitsu, Dai, Yosho, Butsu, Den, Nan, Dai, Butsu, Den, Nan, Dai, Butsu, Den, Nan, Dai, Yosho, Fuda, Mitta.

[08:17]

So when there are two Ts, two consonants together, that's a double, two beats. even though they put the diacritical mark over the I, it's really emphasizing the two Ts. You just kind of hold the T with your tongue, you don't pronounce it until it, you know, it's like, You hold silence for one beat and then... Each syllable, each vowel, Each one of those, E and the I, each get a beat.

[09:28]

Anabhotei daiyosho, Kabhimara daiyosho, Nagya arajuna daiyosho. Now that's a lot of vowels there, I mean a lot of vowels. Nagyarjuna Dayosho, Kanadeva Dayosho, Raghurata Dayosho, Sogyenandai Dayosho. That's a great word because it has all these wonderful stresses in it. Sogyenandai Dayosho. The two and a's there, but there should only be one. As far as I can see. I think that's a mistake. In other words, it would be, There's the two T's again, two consonants.

[10:44]

Here's A and two N's. So the A The stress is actually on the two ends. Dai-i, Dai-i-do-shin, Dai-yo-sho.

[11:47]

Dai-man, Dai-man-ko-nin, Dai-yo-sho. Dai-kan-e-no, Dai-yo-sho. Sei-gen-gyo-shi, Dai-yo-sho. There's a tendency to want to elongate gyoshi, but you don't. So it's seigen-gyoshi-daiyosho, sekito-kisen-daiyosho, yaku-san-igen-daiyosho. The rhythm changes. It's really interesting. ungan donjo dayo sho tozan ryokai dayo sho ungo do yo dayo sho do an do hi dayo sho do an kan chi dayo sho

[12:53]

Ryōzan Enkan Daiyōshō, Taiyō Kyōgen Daiyōshō, Tōsugi Sei Daiyōshō, Fuyō Dōkai Daiyōshō, Tanka Shijun Daiyōshō, Choro, Sei, Ryo, Dai, Yo, Sho, Ten, Do, So, Ga, Ku, Dai, Yo, Sho, Set, Cho, Chikan, Dai, Yo, Sho, Ten, Do, Nyo, Jo, tendo nyojo dayo sho e he do gen dayo sho. This is one that people seem to have a lot of trouble with. It's not e he do gen, it's e he do gen.

[13:56]

e he do gen, do gen, e he do gen dayo sho. ko un e jo, not ko an e jo. we hear when we chant it, koan ejo, ko un, u, u is u, ko un ejo daio sho, te, here we have two t's, te tsu gi kai, te tsu gi, te tsu gi kai daio sho, kei zan jo kin daio sho, and then we have the great teachers, and there are no critical marks over them. And so, you know, Indian names and some Chinese names. Eric had told us that there weren't any when we put this together.

[15:05]

Say that again. Eric had told us that there weren't any to be. Yeah, well, but they're spelled out in a way that facilitates that, I think. Yeah. Question. Yeah. The third ancestor? Of what? Who does an ancestor? The third one. The third one isn't by each of you. It's each of you. Isn't it just one? You're going a little fast for me. Go to the beginning. The verse... Bishafu Butsu? Yeah, Bibashi Butsudayo, Shoshiki Butsudayo, and then comes the third name. Bishafu. Baishafu. Is it Baishafu or is that A not supposed to be there? Yeah, it usually is Bishafu. Yeah, I don't think the A... Butsu, not Butsu. That's the Jewish ancestor.

[16:21]

Yes, it should be changed to Bishafu Butsu. Yes. Yes. Anybody else have a question? mind about it, but some of these ancestors, some of the women ancestors are, most of them are Chinese, some of them are Japanese, but the same rules would apply on some of the Japanese ones, where you have, like, Mugai, Well, Japanese, you know, always put diacritical marks. I mean, because it's important in the meaning of the word. But if you, yeah, I think you're right.

[17:25]

Mio, mu, gai, mu, mu, gai, nyo, dai, is how I think it ought to be. Nyo, gai, nyo, dai. And the Miaoshin, the one above that. Miaoshin, mi, ah, oh. You kind of pronounce it, you don't have to do each letter separately, but each one should make its own sound. Meow. Like your kitty cat. Meow. What is this one? Oh, yo-do. Yeah, yo-do. Well, maybe not be. No, we don't know. Yo-do. I think it's just yo-do because it's simply yo-do. So, Also, it seems to me that another place that we tend to hold it too long is the show at the end of Dayo's show.

[18:44]

And so, it seems like sometimes to keep the speed up, people rush through the name instead of ending the Dayo. That's, I think, a better way is just to end the Dayo show and start with a new name, but give the name the weight. So it's like, not Bi-ba-shi-bu-tsu-bu, Dayo show, Shiki-bu-tsu-bu, but Bi-ba-shi-bu-tsu-bu. We don't want to hold the Osho too long. Yeah, but also, you know, we tend to not take a space between the names so that it becomes like a... Then go right into the next one. You don't want to say, Bebashibutudayosho, shikibutudayosho, and that yawing kind of.

[19:50]

I think the same thing with the great teacher, people tend to go, great teacher, da da da, instead of great teacher, da da da. Yeah, that's right, great teacher. So the pause is after, the name somehow gets the focus. Somebody back there. Yes. So you end it. Right on, so that it doesn't go any further. Well, as long as you want the O to be, you decide how long the O is going to be. Dai-yo-sho.

[20:55]

Dai-yo-sho, boom. That's too long. And sometimes they cut it off too short. Dai-yo-sho. Dai-yo-sho. So that's very critical, where you put the kachink. Jay? As a writer, this is a valuable suggestion. The delight of saying new names is a great feature. You have to speak up, speak to me. The delight of saying the names of the teachers and not saying great teacher, great teacher, makes me wonder what would happen I meant to do it every fifth one or something? Yeah, I'll just read one.

[21:57]

I won't. No, I won't. To say the word great teacher and pause for appreciation and then say, I can't read them, but then I was, because I kept sailing off the word and just reading like great teacher, patachara, upalavana, jinken, like that. Just say great teacher once for every five minutes. Yeah, that's what I thought you were saying. Thank you. Send it back to committee. I can't tell you how much time was spent. Well, you know, in Japanese they don't necessarily say great teacher for all of them, they just say teacher. Well, in Japanese they don't chant it with an ancestor die, so I don't know what they do.

[23:04]

Well, that's for the dio show, yeah. Peter and Alan? Yeah, just a clarification now. When you first started chanting, it seemed to me that you were, there was a beat between I wasn't chanting for the... Well, from the beginning, like, bi-ba-shi-bu-tsu-da-yi-yo-sho, shi-ki-bu-tsu-da-yi-yo-sho, there was a beat in between. Well, no, because the O is what gets the beat. I'm talking about F to the O. In other words, you weren't going, bi-ba-shi-bu-tsu-da-yi-yo-sho, shi-ki-bu-tsu-da-yi-yo-sho, there was one measure, one beat in between these names. Which sounded right to me, and that seems to make more sense than just Yeah, there should be one bead between them. I wasn't focusing on that part.

[24:05]

But, bibashibutsudaiyosho shikibutsudaiyosho shikibutsudaiyosho I am holding it, the O, the last O for two beats. But it could be a... No, it could be a space O. But that's a little jerky. So we just kind of hold the O, an extra beat. Like that. strictly speaking, accurate, but it might be helpful, would be to put a diacritical mark over the eye, dying in Yorkshire. Yeah.

[25:06]

Nobody ever, we just always... Yeah, it should be over there. People might remember it's dying in Yorkshire. Yeah, I think it should be. Because it really is dying in Yorkshire, and everybody here just runs right through it. It's almost seven, maybe you'd like a chance to chant with me. Yeah. One more fine point, which you have emphasized at other times, Which is, don't breathe at the end of Dayo Cho. Well, that's what I was going to say. Find a place to breathe that's not at the end of the name, so that it doesn't interrupt the flow. And if everybody's breathing at different places, then the flow is good. But if everybody breathes at the same place, the chanting stops. Well, let's do it one time. Okay. Vibhashiva-siddhaya-sok. Siddhaya-sok. Siddhaya-sok.

[26:07]

Siddhaya-sok. Siddhaya-sok. Shakyamuni Taya Osho, Shakyamuni Taya Osho, Bhagavad Gita Taya Osho, Tathagata Taya Osho, Mithaka Taya Osho, Ashwamitra Taya Osho, Buddha, Nandai Taya Osho, Mita Taya Osho, Harishipa Taya Osho, FUNE YOSHO DAI YOSHO NAVOTE DAI YOSHO HAVIMARA DAI YOSHO NAGYA ARACHUN I will show you. I will show you.

[27:08]

ZU DAI-YO SHO MA-RA DAI-YO SHO GA-RUN DAI-YO SHO SHI-SHI-BU-PAI DAI-YO SHO WA-SHE-SHI-TA-TA SHO-BU-NYON-MI-TA DAI-YO SHO-AN-MI-YA-TA-RA-TA SHO-BU-DAI-DA-RU-MA DAI-YO SHO TAI-SHO-RA-GA DAI-YO SHO-GA Hisosan daisho, Dairoshin daisho, Daimangonen daisho, Daikane no daisho, Seigenbyoushi daisho, Sekitokisen daisho, Yakusanigen daisho, Om Gan Don Shok, Dai Yo Shok, To San Yo Gai Da

[28:26]

shungo touyou daisho touwa kanchi daisho touwan kanchi ga shoryo sanen kan daisho daihyo gen daisho tousu gisei daisho fuiyou toukai daisho TANG KA SHI CHUN, DAI WO SHO CHO RO SE, DAI WO SHO TEN DO SO GAKU, DAI WO SHO ZE CHO, CHI KHAN, DAI WO SHO TEN DO NYE CHO, DAI WO SHO EI RO GEN DA, Shogo Unnocho Daisho Zetsugika Daisho Gisan Chokinda Shogo Great Teacher Mahapajapati Gautami Great Teacher Dhammadhina Great Teacher Dhamma

[29:41]

Great Teacher Sundari Manda, Great Teacher Patachara, Great Teacher Upalabana, Great Teacher Jimin Jim, Great Teacher Somji, Great Teacher Vinjao, Great Teacher Tai Shang Rek, Chu Mo Xiang Rek, Li You Jie Mo Rek, Chu Shi Zi Ni Rek, Chu Mai You Zi Rek, Chu Miao Zong Rek, Chu Miao Xin Rek, Wu Gai Liu Tai Rek, Chu You Do Rek, Liu Qi Ni Rek, Chu Kyu hey teacher So how much time do we have?

[30:43]

I'll work it over. Okay, let's just collect.

[31:11]

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