The Great Compassion Mantra in Sanskrit
Fo Guang Shan Buddhist Choir
So simple yet so profound, the Buddhist chanting has the power to unify, inspire, and transcend.
Fo Guang Shan Buddhist Choir 佛光山梵唄讚頌團
So simple yet so profound, the Buddhist chanting has the power to unify, inspire, and transcend.
Buddhist Music as a Means of Promoting the Dharma
More than 40 years ago, Buddhism in Taiwan was still conservative. The youth also lacked an interest in Buddhism. In order to generate an interest amongst the youth, Master Hsing Yun established a Youth Choir to attract them through song. Two such youths are Venerable Tzu Hui and Tzu Jung.
Under the leadership of Master Hsing Yun, the youth choir followed him whenever he toured to spread the Dharma. Later songs by the choir group were broadcast by the Taipei Chinese Broadcasting Company. It was indeed an historic era for Buddhist music to be broadcast across the airwaves. After Master Hsing Yun established the Buddhist College, the monastic students were taught the traditional fan-bei, so in 1979 Fo Guang Shan Buddhist College was made responsible for fostering talent through Buddhist Music concerts. They first performed at the Taipei Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall and Taipei Cultural Hall followed by many more concerts held at various public theaters.
“Buddhist Music as a Means of Promoting the Dharma” has always been the vision of Master Hsing Yun, therefore members of the Choir were screened for selection and practiced constantly in order to qualify for international performance tours in Asia, America, Europe and Australia. Their performances have gained profound recognition from experts and scholars in the field of music. It is hoped that in this way oriental Buddhist music and Buddhism can be introduced to the world.
In 2000, the Fo Guang Shan Buddhist Choir was formally established, and periodic music tours are organized to introduce the harmonious sounds of Buddhist music. The main objective is to spread Buddhism and Buddhist music to every comer of the globe, thus to build a Pure Land on earth.
Fo Guang Shan Buddhist Music has stepped out of the monastery and has spread to every corner of the globe. After 50 years of introducing Buddhist music, the following features have been attained:
1. Diversity – As Buddhist music has a wide scope, there is always variety in every performance. Besides combining different musical instruments, Dun Huang Dances have also been included thus the programs are always rich in diversity.
2. Internationalization – In order to have a universal influence, Sanskrit chanting has also been added to the Chinese music. Also, dialog with other countries (including Japan and Korea) in sharing the music’s appreciation, has extended international friendship and harmony.
3. Traditionalism – To encourage the audience to understand Buddhist music, some of the melodies are played through a combination of traditional musical instruments so that the pureness and serenity of fan-bei can be experienced. Also, a sketch on monastic life is presented with the hope that people will have a correct understanding of Buddhism.
4. Initiative – Computerized animation is added to the scene as well as subtitles in order to produce clearer visual qualities for the audience. This helps the audience to better understand Buddhism.
5. Harmonization – Fo Guang Shan Buddhist music is chanted in hai zhao yin (sea -wave sounds) according to one’s breath and tenderness, at the same time harmonizing with each other like the rhythm of the sea’s waves. This unique feature is exclusive to this music. The concerts are always performed to perfection, as they are recording history. Thus, whenever this sacred music is played, there will be sounds of the Dharma.