佛教音乐古今谈

一、宗教音乐概述

　　一九五三年星云大师从台湾宜兰开始为了弘扬佛法，组织了“佛教青年歌咏队”，并创作佛教音乐到各地传播佛教教义。因为他深知音乐不但具有陶冶性情、修身养性的功能，并且不会受到地域的区分、种族的隔阂、年龄的限制，且具有普遍性，可谓是弘法的利器。音乐有相当多的领域，都与宗教信仰有着密不可分的关系。不管任何的宗教都需要借着音乐，使整场的仪式更庄严、摄受、感人，并用歌咏的方式来宣传教义，以净化人心。故在宗教领域里，一首神圣的歌曲，或虔诚的佛赞，往往把人的心灵升华到圣洁的境界，而音乐文化也因为加入宗教的元素，变得更多元、丰富，所以音乐与宗教可谓是相辅相成。

就西方宗教而言，从中古时期、文艺复兴到巴洛克时期，教会的主教们都是具有高音乐素养的音乐家，他们制定了曲调的格式与演唱的方式。因此教会也间接主导西方音乐的发展。到马丁路德的时代，在赞歌中采用世俗曲调是将世俗音乐神圣化，使西方宗教音乐的风格趋于多样化而流传至今，现在还传唱的教会音乐，如：奇异恩典，平安夜与圣诞歌声等即是如此，特别是“奇异恩典”，不仅在教会中是重要曲目，甚至成为耳熟能详的世界名曲。

从东方宗教而言，佛教的音乐不仅仅是作为感谢佛恩、赞颂佛德，亦是供养佛陀的一种方式。如：《法华经‧法师品》中，有花、香、璎珞、末香、涂香、烧香、缯盖、幢幡、衣服、伎乐等十种供养；《瑜伽焰口》也记载有花、香、灯、涂、果、乐等六供养；即是将音乐作为一种供养。又《阿弥陀经》云：“彼佛国土常作天乐……，是诸众鸟，昼夜六时，出和雅音……诸宝行树及宝罗网出微妙音，譬如百千种乐同时俱作，闻是音者，自然皆生念佛、念法、念僧之心。”即是描写极乐国土中充满各种音乐，让此国土众生因此更精进佛道，由此可证，佛教的弘扬与音乐有着密不可分的关系，也显示音乐在佛教中广泛的应用。

马鸣菩萨与密勒日巴尊者也是佛教历史中极为重要的音乐家。前者制作了有名的音乐剧“赖咤和罗”剧曲，此剧是以歌唱及戏剧方式来传达人生苦空、无常的道理。马鸣菩萨并亲自弹琴演唱，其结果感动华氏城五百位王子发心出家修道，成为佛教史上以戏曲音律度众的美谈。密勒日巴尊者惯于以歌颂方式来开示或度众，后人更将其内容结集成《十万歌颂》供后世传颂。

　　音乐在佛门唱诵称为梵呗，梁‧慧皎撰写《高僧传》中云：“天竺方俗，凡歌咏法言，皆称为呗，至于此土，咏经则称为转读，歌赞则为梵呗。”传至今日，佛门每天的朝暮课诵，念佛礼拜仪式，道场忏法等梵呗唱诵，不但只是表达对佛陀的崇敬，另一方面也显示佛门子弟在音乐与修行的关系。

二、中国佛教音乐

佛教初传至三国时代，流行于中国的佛教音乐，多系印度乃至西域音乐。然因梵音与汉音的不同，为了便于弘法，佛教徒乃改创中国化的佛曲。中国传统的梵呗音乐，根据史料记载一共有五种：鱼山梵呗、连句梵呗、泥洹梵呗、高声梵呗、六言梵呗。鱼山梵呗是中国第一个出现的梵呗，由三国时代曹植所编，因其听到岩洞里有梵呗歌唱，遂记录下来，并以其音调依“太子瑞应本起经”的内容填入唱词，流传于各地。后人因其曲调产生于鱼山，故称鱼山梵呗，即为佛曲之先驱。

提到中国梵呗，梁武帝萧衍与其次子萧子良是非常重要的人。梁武帝为带动佛教音乐的普遍性，融合传统的中国宫廷音乐与佛教梵呗，形成了特殊的宫廷雅乐，并创立了梁皇宝忏、无遮大会、盂兰盆会等重要佛教梵呗唱仪，为佛曲增新曲调以及演唱的场合。而萧子良发起了整理传统梵呗，召请当时建康各寺庙擅于梵呗的名僧集结一起，做了唱诵曲调的比较，勘误与校正。不但恢复传统梵呗也同时培养了更多梵呗高僧来传播。

　　佛教音乐的高峰期是在唐朝，从韩愈的诗句“街东街西讲佛经，撞钟吹螺闹宫廷”中，可看出佛教在当时的兴盛与影响。相传贞观年间，长安庄严寺艺僧段本善，竟使有“宫中第一手”琵琶大师康昆伦拜而称弟。此时佛曲大盛、俗讲风行。庙会成为艺术表演的场所，寺院则为保存传习佛教音乐的中心。

宋元时期的佛教音乐，更是影响了中国说唱音乐及音乐演奏的发展。元朝时，曾一度失传的《瑜伽焰口施食要集》随着密宗的复兴而再度流传。明清时期的佛曲日益通俗化，明成祖颁布御制《诸佛世尊如来菩萨尊者名称歌曲》五十卷，并通令全国佛教徒习唱。大约在清代，中国佛教音乐盛行于现在的全国著名道场，从总体来看，声乐在江南，器乐在北方。江南主要有江苏常州天宁寺的唱腔音乐，特别是赞、偈、祝延等曲调；及宁波天童寺的“水陆腔”。清代以后，天宁寺、天童寺与北京智化寺、扬州大明寺及山西五台山诸寺，一直是传统佛教音乐之重要保存、发扬处所。

如果世俗音乐是审美、娱人，宗教音乐除审美外，又有“通神”、“娱神”、“赞圣”的特点。尤其佛教的梵呗力求舒缓、收敛、凝摄和深沉，具有正直和雅、清澈、深满、周遍、远闻等五种性质，用来弘阳佛法、歌颂佛德，能产生摄受人心、净化社会的功效。

三、佛教梵呗的新生命

梵呗音乐，过去是佛教徒用以赞咏佛德，平时只在寺院殿堂里才能听得到，星云大师肯定「以音声做佛事」的弘法功能，极力提倡梵呗音乐。于是由佛光山僧众组织“佛光山梵呗赞颂团”融合传统梵呗与敦煌舞蹈，加上现代科技，已让佛教的梵呗音乐，从寺庙步入国际音乐殿堂，从传统的佛教走向现代化的佛教，从念诵的佛教迈向歌咏的佛教，从宗教性到艺术性的展现。这种佛教文化的传递，透过音声佛事来宣扬，佛光山在二十一世纪以“佛教艺文化”作为弘法的方向。又透过“人间音缘”现代佛教歌曲，更让佛教的教义，于歌唱中，深入现代人心、遍布世间每一个角落，使法水滋润众生心灵，以建立人间净土。

一．以音声作佛事──佛光山梵呗赞颂团

　　佛光山的梵呗，是星云大师从大陆带到台湾的。从根源上说，是明清以来便成为佛门丛林正统的常州天宁寺禅腔，和宝华山律腔的嫡传。但是佛光山的梵呗，在星云大师“佛教现代化”的理念下，结合现代的科技与艺术，做了许多有益于善巧度众的尝试，使佛教的“梵呗”艺术之美，发挥淋漓尽致，达到修持、净化心灵、欣赏、教育、弘法度众等功能。并且坚持不同于时下坊间的通俗佛乐，保持佛门最纯朴、自然的梵音，忠实表达佛教音乐的本质，透过法音的传播，让有缘人接触佛教，进而体会佛法的真义。

一九七九年起，大师尝试以传统与现代、东方与西方融合的创作方式，将梵呗结合敦煌舞蹈、国乐，甚至交响乐，成立“佛光山梵呗赞颂团”，巡回亚、美、欧、澳、大洋洲等五大洲、三十多个国家举办音乐弘法大会，将佛教音乐推上国际舞台，首次把佛教梵呗带入国家殿堂演出，展现佛教音乐之美，同时也开启了梵呗音乐崭新的一页。

“佛光山梵呗赞颂团”，是由受过“佛光山丛林学院”之正统僧伽教育的成员所成立的组织。该团透过佛教音乐的演出，达到弘法度众之利，在星云大师的倡导之下，大家不分你我，不分昼夜，集体创作。成军以来，已走过二十多个国家、举办百场的梵音乐舞的音乐弘法大会，不但让佛教音乐，步入国际音乐的舞台，而且结合传统的梵呗音乐，与现代的佛教圣歌，配合国乐、西乐、舞蹈共同演出，让佛教界与社会大众，真正体会梵呗的天籁艺术之美，也开创了融古会今弘法度众的先例。

如：一九九五年于澳洲的雪梨“佛教梵呗赞颂团”踏出了世界演出的第一步，足迹遍布各大洲以及海内外各大歌剧院，音乐厅等。如香港红勘体育馆、上海大剧院、纽约的林肯中心、洛杉矶的音乐中心与柯达剧院、伦敦的皇家剧院、巴黎的会议殿堂，甚至雪梨歌剧院、德国莱茵科隆大教堂、日本东京的Suntory Hall等，所到之处皆是各国的记者必定采访的物件，也广受欢迎及赞叹。大师接受奥地利Kurhalle Oberla演出采访时表示：奥地利的音乐世界有名，东方的梵呗则有天籁之音的美誉，多次海外演出的目的，乃希望藉此佛教音乐的演绎方式，除了弘扬佛法，更是促进东西方宗教文化交流、增进友谊，以及宣扬世界和平的讯息。

二．心灵净化之声──人间音缘

二○○三年为纪念“星云大师佛教音乐弘法五十周年”，也让佛教音乐更普及化、大众化，佛光山筹办“人间音缘”征曲活动，以星云大师所作的词，征求作曲家谱曲，在全球五大洲、三十多个国家、地区，全球同步推广，达到文化交流、以乐会友的目的。五十年前星云大师到台湾宜兰弘法，在那保守、刻板的传统社会，为了引导青年学佛，以佛教歌曲为桥梁，成立了’佛教青年歌咏队‘。由于青年歌咏队的青年，对于佛法弘扬的热忱，一九五七年起，在星云大师领导下首创佛教在广播电台布教的先河，并录制全台湾第一张佛教唱片。这种突破传统的弘法方式，当时获得热烈回响。自此，佛光山的活动皆穿插佛教歌曲，让信众透过音乐的传递，学习佛法提升信心。

人间音缘秉持着“以乐曲宣唱善巧的法语—给人信心；以乐曲宣唱美妙的诗偈—给人欢喜；以乐曲宣唱佛法的成就—给人希望；以乐曲宣唱慈悲的心肠— 给人方便”的宗旨，每年的活动参加人数越来越庞大，应征歌曲达数千首，曲目也越来越多元化。星云大师说：“音乐与宗教一样无国界，佛教音乐的展演，对于倡导世界和平、促进种族融合，都发挥了重要的功用。”

担任“人间音缘”代言的青少年歌手沈建宏，在演出中表示：“能够为‘人间音缘’征曲活动演唱歌曲‘有佛法就有办法’，以现在流行的饶舌曲风来阐述佛法，除了自己获得佛法的启发，更希望让年轻族群藉此歌声了解这首歌词中所传达的意义。”另外，为让在囹圄之中的受刑人有机会接触佛法，进而体会生命的意义，在全世界各监狱亦为受刑人举行“人间音缘卡拉OK比赛”，以清净的梵音歌声，使他们在习唱之中，体会佛法真理，因此该活动获得很大回响与成效。

“人间音缘征曲活动”从二○○三年开始举办至今，每年皆有来自英国、美国、加拿大、巴西、阿根廷、南非、澳洲、奥地利、德国、法国、中国、台湾、日本、韩国、菲律宾、新加坡、马来西亚、印度等二十多个国家及地区的曲目参加，数年来已入选近三千多首歌曲，二十多种语言，在不同国家以当地的语言传唱，造成新的一股佛教音乐风潮，此乃是将不同国家的文化与创意元素的融合下，赋予佛教音乐崭新的风貌。未来“人间音缘”仍然继续配合时代的需求，戮力创作佛教歌曲，让佛教音乐传唱下去。

四、结语

比起影像、图片和文字，声音是最直接表达生命内在的一个媒介，音乐是最直接撼动人心的途径。佛光山五十年来的弘法历程，以音乐为媒介的弘法活动有相当的份量，对于传统梵呗，除了僧众的唱颂要求更加精致化、艺术化之外，更能够帮助于修持与度众的功能。佛教音乐的传播，有利于教内的佛法弘扬，更有助于让教外社会大众，了解东方佛教音乐之美，不同宗教信仰的人也可以当成一种高尚的音乐艺术来欣赏。近年来，为了广度现代的社会大众，举办“人间音缘”各种相关音乐活动，以具有佛教意义为内涵的歌曲，来传唱弘扬，接引现代人，其终极的目地，主要希望以佛教音乐净化心灵，增进修持建立人间净土。除此之外，于二○○六年更创立佛教第一支以中国乐器为主的“人间音缘梵乐团”。藉由多次的演出，希望带动音乐界创作佛教歌曲梵呗，教团有了专属的乐团，将使未来音乐弘法工作的展开更为完备，并让佛法更大众化、普遍化，融入每一个人的生活中。

On Buddhist Music, Ancient and Modern

Ven. Tzu Hui

A Brief Introduction to Religious Music

　　In 1953, Venerable Master Hsing Yun turned the page for Dharma propagation by organizing the Buddhist Youth Choir in Yilan, Taiwan. He composed Buddhist music which was performed in a way to promote the Dharma and extended the reach of Buddhism beyond its traditional setting. He realized music was able to nurture and cultivate people’s minds, not being confined by boundaries, races, and age, and it could be a very good instrument for propagating the Dharma. Religious belief is heavily influenced by music and all religions use music to make their services dignified, embracing, and touching. Propagating the Dharma by means of singing helps purify minds. When coupled with religions, in the form of a hymn or a chant, in praise of the Buddha, music is able to enhance people’s minds. With the element of religion, musical culture becomes much more diversified and rich. Therefore, music and religion complement each other.

In regard to Western religions, starting from the Medieval period, through the Cultural Renaissance, and up to the Baroque period, Christian archbishops who, being all highly educated musicians, were the principal architects who formulated the singing and performance styles. Indirectly, the church had impact on the development of Western music. In the time of Martin Luther and the American civil rights movement, people wrote hymns for others to sing using the then popular genre of folk music. This created a new avenue for Western religious musical expression and created a modernized trend, which has continued to this day. There is still religious music, which is very popular, such as Amazing Grace and Silent Night, to name a few. Amazing Grace is still a very prominent hymn sung frequently in churches as well as numerous other locations worldwide.

In the orient, Buddhism uses music not only to show gratitude and praise the virtue of the Buddha but also to make offerings to him. For example, in the Dharma Teacher Chapter of the Lotus Sutra, there are ten types of offerings, such as flowers, ornaments, banners, clothes, different types of incense, and music. The Yogacara Offering Service also mentions about six kinds of offerings: flowers, incense, lamp, soap, fruits, and music. According to the Sutra of Amitabha Buddha, “In that Buddha Land, the air is permeated with celestial music …birds sing harmonious songs day and night …magic trees and nettings give off subtle, wonderful sounds, like hundreds and thousands of instruments, all playing at the same time. Those who hear such intonations naturally will be mindful of the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha.” From this description, we can see that the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss (Amitabha’s Pure Land) is full of music that encourages sentient beings who reside there to be diligent in their cultivation. This proves that the Dharma propagation is inseparable from music and music is highly valued in Buddhism.

Both Aśvaghosa and Milarepa are important musicians in Buddhist history. The former produced a very famous musical Rāstrapāla to show the truth of suffering, emptiness, and impermanence by means of singing and drama. Aśvaghosa, accompanied by a musical instrument, sang a song, which was so touching that five hundred princes from the Pātaliputra city resolved to become monastics and tread the Path. This incident has been greatly praised in Buddhist history. Milarepa used to benefit people by singing. The songs that he sang were compiled into the Mila Grudum and were widely circulated.

　　Music in Buddhism is called chanting. According to the Biography of Eminent Monastics written by Venerable Huijiao in the Liang dynasty (502 ~ 557 C.E.), “Monastics and lay people in India called their singing of Dharma words chanting. In China, people recite sutras in Chinese and chant the praises in transliterated Sanskrit.” From antiquity up to the present moment, daily Buddhist liturgical services, be they daily morning and evening chanting, chanting the name of Buddha, prostration, or Dharma services are all conducted to pay tribute to the Buddha on the one hand, and they also reflect the relationship between the Buddhist disciples’ cultivation and music on the other.

Chinese Buddhist Music

From the time when Buddhism first entered China, up to the Three Kingdoms (220 ~280 C.E.), the music that was popular was from India or the West of China. Because of difficulties caused by different pronunciations of Sanskrit and Chinese, Chinese Buddhists started to create their own chants to propagate the Dharma. According to historical data, there were five types of traditional Chinese chanting: Yushan chanting, whole sentence chanting, nirvana chanting, loud voice chanting and six-word chanting. Briefly explaining one of these traditional types, Yushan (Mt. Fish) chanting, it was the earliest chanting style endemic of China. It is recorded that Cao Zhi who lived during the Three Kingdoms composed this style after he heard chanting coming from a cave. He wrote down the melody and then filled in the lyrics based on a Buddhist scripture about Prince Siddhartha’s search for the truth. The piece was very popular and spread to many places. It is recorded to have originated in a place called Yushan, so Yushan chanting was the forerunner of Chinese Buddhist chanting.

Continuing with the theme of Chinese chanting, there are two important figures who deserve to be mentioned. They are Emperor Wu of the Liang dynasty (502 ~ 557 C.E.) and his second son Xiao Ziliang. To promote Buddhist music, Emperor Wu combined traditional Chinese palace music with Buddhist chanting. This subsequently became the favorite type of palace music. He also set up very important Buddhist rituals, which included the Emperor Wu Repentance Service, Ullambana Service, and extensive food offering service. He commissioned new Buddhist music and allowed it to be performed in more places. The emperor’s second son Xiao Ziliang took initiative to invite famous monastics renowned for their chanting to compare their chanting styles and to finalize what would become the correct version. He restored the traditional chanting and created more opportunities for monastics to propagate the Dharma by means of chanting.　　Buddhist music came to its zenith during the Tang dynasty (618 ~ 907 C.E.). According to a poem written by Han Yu, Dharma talks were given everywhere, and people sounded bells and blew spiral shells to make it joyous in the palace. From this, we can see how prosperous Buddhism was. There is also a written account of how, during the Zhenguan period (627 ~ 649 C.E.), a monk named Duan Benshan from Zhuanyan Temple in Chang’an won the great respect of the top palace musician Kan Kunlun. Thereafter, Buddhist music became more popular and Dharma lectures were given all over. During the time, temples became art performing centers and centers for teaching and preserving Buddhist music.

Buddhist music in the Song (960 ~ 1279 C.E.) and Yuan (1271 ~ 1368 C.E.) dynasties greatly impacted the ways in which traditional Chinese music was performed. In the Yuan dynasty, the once lost Yogacara Offering Service again became popular with the spread of the esoteric teachings. In the Ming (1368 ~ 1644 C.E.) and Qing (1644 ~ 1912 C.E.) dynasties, Buddhist music became increasingly popular. Emperor Cheng of the Ming dynasty issued an edict that all Buddhists should sing the Songs of All Buddha Tathagata Elder Names (50 fascicles). In the Qing dynasty, Chinese Buddhist music was popular in all famous temples in China. In general, vocal music was more popular south of the Yangtze River and instrumental music was popular to its north. In the south, the chanting of praise, verse, and blessing at Tianning Temple in Jiangsu province and the Land and Sea chanting at Tiantong Temple in Zhegiang province were the most influential. Since the Qing dynasty, Tianning Temple, Tiantong Temple, Zhihua Temple in Beijing, Daming Temple in Yangzhou, and Mt. Wutai in Sanxi province have played important roles of preserving and promoting traditional Buddhist music.

Secular music aims to create beauty and entertain people, while religious music, in addition to being beautiful, focuses on communicating with deities, entertaining them, and praising the sacred. For this reason, the all-encompassing and deeply profound Buddhist chanting has developed the characteristics of being harmonious, clear, complete, universal, and far-reaching. Used to propagate the Dharma and praise the Buddha, Buddhist chanting can help purify both people’s minds and society in general.

Modernization of Buddhist Chanting

Buddhists used chanting to praise the Buddha during liturgical services, so people could only hear the chanting at temples. Venerable Master Hsing Yun, however, realized the wonder of music and how big an asset it was for propagating the Dharma, so he promoted it to its fullest. He established the Fo Guang Shan Buddhist Choir, composed of monastics, and integrated traditional chanting, Dunhuang dance, with modern technology. This innovation enabled Buddhist chanting music move beyond the temple and be performed at the international performing centers, and has played a large role in its modernization. He turned chanting Buddhist music into singing Buddhist music, and made religious music artistic. Buddhist culture now has an additional avenue for its performance. The direction of Fo Guang Shan in the 21^st century is to disseminate the Dharma by means of art and culture. In support of the aim, many composed modern songs are selected from our Sounds of the Human World competitions each year to help people better understand the Buddha’s teachings in the hope that they will nurture their minds and establish a pure land on earth.

1. To Propagate the Dharma by Music – Fo Guang Shan Buddhist Choir

Venerable Master Hsing Yun brought traditional chants with him from Chinese Mainland to Taiwan. Both the content and style of chanting at Fo Guang Shan can be traced back to the Ming and Qing dynasties. It is considered orthodox Chan chanting which originated in Tianning Temple and also Vinaya chanting which came from Baohua Shan. However, based on Venerable Master Hsing Yun’s ideal of modernization, Fo Guang Shan chanting performances have skillfully added the elements of modern technology and art to show the artistic beauty of Buddhist chanting while continuing to serve the function of practice and cultivation. Regardless of presentation style, this is still Dharma propagation, which offers purification of people’s minds, appreciation, and education. Differing from the secular Buddhist style of singing, however, Fo Guang Shan music retains the traditional pristine and natural chanting of the Buddhist temple and faithfully shows the traditional characteristics of Buddhist music. By honoring these traditional characteristics of Buddhist music, we believe we will reach even more people and provide them with greater opportunities to connect with Buddhism and realize the essence of the Dharma.

Ever since 1979, Venerable Master Hsing Yun has had the goal of combining traditional with modern, Western with Eastern music. He has combined Buddhist chanting with Dunhuang dance, Chinese symphony, and even Western symphony, and he has established the Fo Guang Shan Buddhist Choir, which has toured more than twenty countries in Asia, North America, Europe, and Oceania. His efforts have brought Buddhist music onto the international stage. Thus, a new page of Dharma propagation by means of music has been written down in history.

The Fo Guang Shan Buddhist Choir was composed of monastics who were educated at the Tsung Lin University. The choir performed chanting to help disseminate the Buddha’s teachings and benefit sentient beings. Promoted by Venerable Master Hsing Yun, everyone worked together with concerted effort day and night. After its establishment, the choir has been to over twenty countries for participating in over one hundred Buddhist concert to propagate the Dharma with chanting accompanied by dance. This enabled Buddhist music to be performed on the international stage. This combination of traditional Buddhist chanting together with modern Buddhist songs, Chinese symphony, Western symphony, and dance enables the Buddhist community and the public to realize the artistic beauty of Buddhist chanting and pioneer the way of Dharma propagation.

The debut performance of the Fo Guang Shan Buddhist Choir was made in Sydney, Australia in 1995. Subsequently, the choir has had a series of performances worldwide in such places as the Hong Kong Coliseum in Hong Kong, the Grand Theatre in Shanghai, the Lincoln Center in New York, the Los Angeles Music Center and the Kodak Theatre, the Imperial Family Theatre in London, the Opera House in Sydney, the Cologne Cathedral in Germany, the Suntory Hall in Tokyo, and so on. Wherever they went, they attracted the attention of journalists and won great recognition. After one performance at Kurhalle Oberlaa in Austria, Venerable Master Hsing Yun was interviewed, and he told the reporter, “Austria has been famous worldwide because of its music, but the oriental chanting is tantamount to the celestial voice. A series of overseas chanting performances aims to propagate the Dharma and facilitate religious and cultural exchange between the East and the West, establishes friendship, and promotes world peace.”

2. Voice of Mental Purification –Sounds of the Human World

As a way to celebrate Venerable Master Hsing Yun’s fifty years of propagating the Dharma through music and in order to make Buddhist music universal and popular, Fo Guang Shan in 2003 organized an annual Sounds of the Human World—Master Hsing Yun’s Buddhist Hymn Competition and invited musicians worldwide to compose songs based on Venerable Master’s scripts. So far, musicians from more than thirty main cities across the world have participated in the Competition and benefited from the cultural exchange. Fifty years ago, Venerable Master was invited to propagate the Dharma in Yilan, a conservative and reserved county in north of Taiwan. He made use of Buddhist songs as a bridge to connect youth to Buddhism and established the Buddhist Youth Choir, which helped create enthusiasm among the youth for Dharma propagation. In 1957, Venerable Master was the first monk who propagated the Dharma on radio, and he also produced the first Buddhist record in Taiwan. His creative way of Dharma propagation won great recognition. Right from the beginning, Buddhist songs have been performed frequently when Fo Guang Shan organized activities to enhance the faith of devotees.

The objectives of the Sounds of the Human World are: 1. To give people confidence in singing songs about the Dharma, 2. to give people happiness by singing songs from Buddhist verses, 3. to give people hope by conveying the message of Buddhist achievements, and 4. to give people comfort, in showing the compassionate spirit of Buddhism. Each year, the number of participants in the Competition is increasing. So far, participants have composed several thousand songs that are getting more and more diverse and distinct. Venerable Master said, “Both music and religion transcend boundaries. Performing Buddhist music helps promote harmony among races and world peace.”

Shen Chien-hung, a young singer and representative of the Sounds of the Human World Competition, said that rapping a song entitled Where There Is Dharma, There Is a Way was a great inspiration to him. He hoped that young people at his age could understand the meaning of this song. As a spin-off from this competition, the Sounds of the Human World Karaoke Competition was organized to effectively enable more people to realize the meaning of the Buddha’s teachings. This endeavor has even found its way into the prisons in an attempt to help prisoners connect with Buddhism and realize the meaning of life.

Since 2003, the Sounds of the Human World – Master Hsing Yun’s Buddhist Hymn Competition has been organized annually. So far, musicians from the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Brazil, Argentina, South Africa, Australia, Austria, Germany, France, Japan, Korea, the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, India, and Chinese Mainland and Taiwan have composed over three thousand songs in more than twenty languages. These songs have been sung in local languages and become a new trend in Buddhist music. This aspect of integrating local culture and creative elements in the Buddhist music caters to the needs of our time, the Sounds of the Human World will continue to create new Buddhist songs to carry on the Buddhist music in their innovative and all-encompassing way.

Conclusion

Compared with video image, paintings, and words, voice is a unique medium with regard to expressing people’s thoughts and feelings, for music is the best way to touch people’s hearts. For the past five decades, Fo Guang Shan has integrated Dharma propagation through music into many activities. Our traditional chanting as performed by the monastics has become much more delicate and artistic, thereby increasing its ability to help cultivate and benefit sentient beings. The performance of Buddhist music is beneficial to Dharma propagation and helps the public to realize the beauty of oriental Buddhist music. Non-Buddhists can also appreciate the elegant and artistic expression of this musical genre. The Sounds of the Human World and relevant activities were designed to help people to understand the meaning of Buddhist songs. Our ultimate goal is to purify human minds with Buddhist music, and facilitate practice and cultivation so as to build a pure land on earth. With the same intentions, in 2006, Fo Guang Shan established the F.G.S. Sounds of the Human World Buddhist Chinese Orchestra. By organizing all of these different endeavors and performances, we hope to encourage musicians to create Buddhist songs and chants. The latest addition of Chinese Orchestra is just another helpful way to propagate the Dharma through music, making it more accessible to the public and people’s lives.