Buddhist liturgy

Buddhist liturgy is a formalized service of veneration and worship performed within a Buddhist Sangha community in nearly every traditional denomination and tradition in the Buddhist world. It is often done one or more times a day and can vary amongst the Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana sects.

Liturgies typically consist of chanting or recitation of sūtra(s) or passages from a sūtra, mantras and dhāraṇīs (especially in Mahayana and Vajrayana), gāthās and verses of praises to Buddhist deities and figures as well as other types of rituals like dedications of offerings to the Buddhas, repentance rites as well as food bestowal rites. Depending on what practice the practitioner wishes to undertake, it can be done at a temple or at home. The liturgy is almost always performed in front of an object or objects of veneration and accompanied by offerings of light, incense, water and/or food.

Chinese Buddhist liturgy (chaomu kesong)

Overview

The traditional Chinese Buddhist liturgy that is performed during daily service is typically referred to as the zhāo mù kè sòng (朝幕課誦, lit: "Morning and Evening Chants") and is usually ordered into the morning session, called the zaoke (早課), and the evening session, called the wanke (晚課).

Vocal performances of the liturgy can be classified into several different categories, namely: nian (念, lit: "recitation"), song (誦, lit: "chanting") and chang (唱, lit: "singing"). During performances, sūtras are usually read on a single note with a regular beat that may progressively speed up, mantras and dhāraṇīs are chanted, and gāthās of praises are sung on a regular metric form with the use of melodies composed from precise pitches. In particular, Chinese Buddhist ritual chanting performed in a distinctively clear, melodious, and resonate voice is specially termed fanbai (梵唄, lit: "the speech of Brahmā"). Traditional Chinese musical instruments are also frequently employed, such as the gong, the muyu (木魚, wooden fish), the qing (磬, sounding stones), the gu (鼓, drums), the zhong (鐘, bells), the chazi (镲仔, cymbals), the yinqing (引磬, a type of hand bell) and the dangzi (鐺子, a small handheld gong).