[Buddha-l] liturgical languages

[Erik Hoogcarspel]

Franz Metcalf schreef:

> Curt et al.,
>
>> Is the same true of "Japanese" Buddhist chants - are these
>> actually in a "Nipponized" liturgical version of Chinese?
>
>
> Yes, exactly, at least in the Zen traditions. Total gibberish, but 
> that's a Zen point of pride, the mind of unknowing and all that. 
> Shingon brings in Nipponized versions of Sinified versions of 
> Sanskrit, too. Lucky them--and those are *mantras*! One wonders what 
> unintended powers the new sounds might have. The Pure Land traditions 
> are perhaps not as bad, being more folksy from the get-go (though they 
> do chant from the Sukhavati Sutras, which are--like all Mahayana 
> sutras--incomprehensible even if they're written in own's own 
> language). I'm not sure they do this in Japan, but, in America, Jodo 
> Shinshu Buddhists often chant from the writings of Shinran and those 
> should be at least as comprehensible to contemporary Japanese as, say, 
> Chaucer is to English speakers.
>
I remember the new Japanese temple in Rajgir where Indian cleaners and 
their families chanted 'Namyo Ho Rengengyo' twice a day (sorry for the 
spelling). Is it just the Biharis or do Indians living nearby Tibetan 
monastries in other states also sing 'Om benza sato hung'?

erik