Download BuddhaSasana Home Page Chanting Book

BuddhaSasana Home Page
A Buddhist Home Page by Binh Anson
Website: http://www.budsas.org/index.htm
Email: [email protected]
Chanting Book
The Buddhist Society of Western Australia
Dhammaloka Buddhist Centre
18-20 Nanson Way
Nollamara. WA 6061. Australia
Chanting files (MP3 format) associated with this book, are available for download:
•
01_dedication_of_offerings.mp3, file size: 2.4 Mb
•
02_preliminary_homage.mp3, file size: 600 Kb
•
03_recollection_of_the_buddha.mp3, file size: 750 Kb
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04_recollection_of_the_dhamma.mp3, file size: 620 Kb
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05_recollection_of_the_sangha.mp3, file size: 1.4 Mb
•
06_metta_sutta.mp3, file size: 3.5 Mb
•
07_three_refuges_and_five_precepts.mp3 , file size: 5.1 Mb
1. DEDICATION OF OFFERINGS
Yo so bhagavaa araha"m sammaasambuddho
Svaakkhaato yena bhagavataa dhammo
Supa.tipanno yassa bhagavato saavakasa"ngho
Tammaya"m bhagavanta"m sadhamma"m
sasa"ngha"m
Imehi sakkaarehi yathaaraha"m aaropitehi
abhipuujayaama
Saadhu no bhante bhagavaa suciraparinibbutopi
Pacchimaa-janataa-nukampamaanasaa
Ime sakkaare duggata-pannaakaara-bhuute
pa.tigga.nhaatu
Amhaaka"m diigharatta"m hitaaya sukhaaya
To the Blessed One, the Lord who fully attained
perfect enlightenment,
To the Teaching which he expounded so well,
And to the Blessed One's disciples, who have
practised well,
To these - the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha
We render with offerings our rightful homage.
It is well for us, Blessed One, that having attained
liberation,
You still had compassion for later generations.
Deign to accept these simple offerings
For our long-lasting benefit and for the happiness it
gives us.
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Araha"m sammaasambuddho bhagavaa
Buddha"m bhagavanta"m abhivaademi
-(bow)Svaakkhaato bhagavataa dhammo
Dhamma"m namassaami
-(bow)Supatipanno bhagavato saavakasa"ngho
Sa"ngha"m namaami
-(bow)-
The Lord, the Perfectly Enlightened and Blessed One
I render homage to the Buddha, the Blessed One.
-(bow)The Teaching so completely explained by him I bow to the Dhamma.
-(bow)The Blessed One's disciples who have practised well
- I bow to to the Sangha.
-(bow)-
2. PRELIMINARY HOMAGE
Namo tassa bhagavato arahato
sammaasambuddhassa -(three times)-
Homage to the Blessed, Noble and Perfectly
Enlightened One.
a. RECOLLECTION OF THE BUDDHA
Itipi so bhagavaa araha"m sammaa-sambuddho
Vijjaa-cara.na-sampanno sugato lokaviduu
Anuttaro purisa-damma-saarathi satthaa
deva-manussaana"m buddho bhagavaa
Tamaha"m bhagavanta"m abhipuujayaami
Tamaha"m bhagavanta"m sirasaa namaami
He, the Blessed One, is indeed the Noble Lord, the
Perfectly Enlightened One;
He is impeccable in conduct and understanding, the
Serene One, the Knower of the Worlds;
He trains perfectly those who wish to be trained; he
is Teacher of gods and men; he is Awake and Holy.
-(bow)-
I chant my praise to the Blessed One, I bow my
head to the Blessed One.
-(bow)-
b. RECOLLECTION OF THE DHAMMA
Svaakkhaato bhagavataa dhammo
Sandi.t.thiko akaaliko ehipassiko
Opanayiko paccatta"m veditabbo vi~n~nuuhii
Tamaha"m dhamma"m abhipuujayaami
Tamaha"m dhamma"m sirasaa namaami
-(bow)-
The Dhamma is well-expounded by the Blessed
One,
Apparent here and now, timeless, encouraging
investigation,
Leading to liberation, to be experienced individually
by the wise.
I chant my praise to this Teaching,
I bow my head to this Truth.
-(bow)-
c.RECOLLECTION OF THE SANGHA
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Supa.tipanno bhagavato saavaka-sa"ngho
Uju-pa.tipanno bhagavato saavaka-sa"ngho
~Naaya-pa.tipanno bhagavato saavaka-sa"ngho
Saamiici-pa.tipanno bhagavato saavaka-sa"ngho
Yadida"m cattaari purisa-yugaani a.t.tha
purisa-puggalaa
Esa bhagavato saavaka-sa"ngho
Aahuneyyo paahuneyyo dakkhi.neyyo añ
jali-kara.niiyo
Anuttara"m puññakkhetta"m lokassa
Tamaha"m sa"ngha"m abhipuujayaami
Tamaha"m sa"ngha"m sirasaa namaami
-(bow)-
They are the Blessed One's disciples who have
practised well,
Who have practised directly,
Who have practised insightfully,
Those who are accomplished in the practice;
That is the four pairs, the eight kinds of noble beings,
These are the Blessed One's disciples.
Such ones are worthy of gifts, worthy of hospitality,
worthy of offerings, worthy of respect;
They give occasion for incomparable goodness to
arise in the world
I chant my praise to this Sangha,
I bow my head to this Sangha
-(bow)-
3. METTA SUTTA - The Buddha's Words on Loving-Kindness
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Thi
s
is
wh
at
sh
oul
d
be
do
ne
By
on
e
wh
o
is
skil
led
in
go
od
nes
s,
An
d
wh
o
kn
ow
s
the
pat
h
of
pe
ac
e:
Let
the
m
be
abl
e
an
d
upr
igh
t,
Str
aig
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4. THE REFUGES AND PRECEPTS
The "Going for Refuge" and taking the Precepts define a person as a practising Buddhist.
Going for Refuge gives a continual perspective on life by referring one's conduct and understanding to the
qualities of Buddha (wisdom), Dhamma (truth) and Sangha (virtue). The Precepts are also for reflection and to
define one's actions as a responsible human being.
There is a formal means of requesting the Refuges and Precepts from a bhikkhu, which is as follows:
After bowing three times, with hands joined in A~njali, recite the following:
Maya"m bhante, ti-sara.nena saha pa~nca
siilaani yaacaama
We, Venerable Sir, request the three Refuges and
the Five Precepts.
Dutiyampi maya"m bhante, ti-sara.nena saha
pa~nca siilaani yaacaama
For the second time, we, Venerable Sir, request the
three Refuges and the Five Precepts.
Tatiyampi maya"m bhante, ti-sara.nena saha
pa~nca siilaani yaacaama
For the third time, we, Venerable Sir, request the
three Refuges and the Five Precepts.
(Note: When requesting individually, change Maya"m to Aha"m, and Yaacaama to Yaacaami)
4.1 GOING TO THE THREE REFUGES
Repeat after the leader:
Namo tassa bhagavato arahato
sammaasambuddhassa
Namo tassa bhagavato arahato
sammaasambuddhassa
Namo tassa bhagavato arahato
sammaasambuddhassa
Homage to the Blessed One, the Noble One, the
Perfectly Enlightened One.
Homage to the Blessed One, the Noble One, the
Perfectly Enlightened One.
Homage to the Blessed One, the Noble One, the
Perfectly Enlightened One.
Buddha"m sara.na"m gacchaami
Dhamma"m sara.na"m gacchaami
Sa"ngha"m sara.na"m gacchaami
To the Buddha I go for refuge.
To the Dhamma I go for refuge.
To the Sangha I go for refuge.
Dutiyampi buddha"m sara.na"m gacchaami
Dutiyampi dhamma"m sara.na"m gacchaami
Dutiyampi sa"ngha"m sara.na"m gacchaami
For the second time, to the Buddha I go for refuge.
For the second time, to the Dhamma I go for refuge.
For the second time, to the Sangha I go for refuge.
Tatiyampi buddha"m sara.na"m gacchaami
Tatiyampi dhamma"m sara.na"m gacchaami
Tatiyampi sa"ngha"m sara.na"m gacchaami
For the third time, to the Buddha I go for refuge.
For the third time, to the Dhamma 1 go for refuge.
For the third time, to the Sangha I go for refuge.
Leader:
Tisara.na-gamana"m ni.t.thita"m
Leader:
This completes the going to the Three Refuges.
Response:
-- Aama bhante
Response:
-- Yes, Venerable Sir.
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4.2 THE FIVE PRECEPTS
To undertake the precepts, repeat each precept after the leader:
1. Paa.naatipaataa verama.nii sikkhaa-pada"m
samaadiyaami
1. I undertake the precept to refrain from destroying
living creatures.
2. Adinnaadaanaa verama.nii sikkhaa-pada"m
samaadiyaami
2. I undertake the precept to refrain from taking that
which is not given.
3. Kaamesu micchaacaaraa verama.nii
sikkhaa-pada"m samaadiyaami
3. I undertake the precept to refrain from sexual
misconduct.
4. Musaavaadaa verama.nii sikkhaa-pada"m
samaadiyaami
4. I undertake the precept to refrain from incorrect
speech.
5. Suraa-meraya-majja-pamaada.t.thaanaa
verama.nii sikkhaa-pada"m samaadiyaami
5. I undertake the precept to refrain from intoxicating
liquors and drugs which lead to carelessness.
Leader:
Imaani pañca sikkhaa-padaani
Siilena sugati"m yanti
Siilena bhoga-sampadaa
Siilena nibbuti"m yanti
Leader:
These Five Precepts
Have morality as a vehicle for happiness,
Have morality as a vehicle for good fortune,
Have morality as a vehicle for liberation.
Tasmaa siila"m visodhaye
Let morality therefore be purified.
Response:
-- Saadhu, saadhu, saadhu
Response:
-- Well said, well said, well said!
-(bow three times)-
-(bow three times)-
About Pali text and pronunciation:
(adopted from Access-to-Insight, http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/misc/chanting/index.html )
In this transcription, Pali diacritical marks are represented using plain ASCII characters according to a
convention widely used on the Internet by Pali students and scholars. Long vowels (those usually typeset with a
bar above them) are doubled: aa ii uu . For consonants, the diacritic mark precedes the letter it affects. Thus,
the retroflex (cerebral) consonants (usually typeset with a dot underneath) are: .r .t .th .d .dh .n .m .s .l . The
guttural nasals (m or n with a dot above) are represented by "m and "n The palatal nasal is represented here
as ~n .
Pronunciation
Paali is the original language of the Theravadin Buddhist scriptures, the closest we have to the dialect spoken
by the Buddha himself. It has no written script of its own, and so every country that has adopted Theravada
Buddhism has used its own script to transcribe it. In Thailand this has meant that Paali has picked up some of
the tones of the Thai language, as each consonant and consonant cluster in the Thai alphabet has a built-in tone
-- high, medium, low, rising, or falling. This accounts for the characteristic melody of Thai Paali chanting.
Vowels
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Paali has two sorts of vowels, long -- aa, e, ii, o, uu, and ay; and short -- a, i, and u. Unlike long and shorts
vowels in English, the length here refers to the actual amount of time used to pronounce the vowel, and not to
its quality. Thus aa and a are both pronounced like the a in father, simply that the sound aa is held for
approximately twice as long as the sound a. The same principle holds for ii and i, and for uu and u. Thus,
when chanting Paali, the vowels are pronounced as follows:
a as in father
o as in go
e as in they
u as in glue
i as in machine
ay as in Aye!
Consonants
Consonants are generally pronounced as they are in English, with a few unexpected twists:
c as in ancient
p unaspirated, as in spot
k unaspirated, as in skin
ph as in upholstery
kh as in backhand
t unaspirated, as in stop
"m and "n as ng
th as in Thomas
~n as in canyon
v as w
Certain two-lettered notations -- bh, dh, .dh, gh, jh -- denote an aspirated sound, somewhat in the throat, that
we do not have in English and that the Thais do not have in their language, either. The Thai solution to this
problem is to pronounce bh as a throaty ph, dh as a throaty th, and gh as a throaty kh.
Paali also contains retroflex consonants, indicated with a dot under the letter: .d, .dh, .l, .n, .t, .th. These have
no English equivalent. They are sounded by curling the tip of the tongue back against the palate, producing a
distinct nasal tone.
The meters of Paali poetry consists of various patterns of full-length syllables alternating with half-length
syllables.
Full-length syllables:
contain a long vowel (aa, e, ii, o, uu, ay); or
end with "m; or
end with a consonant followed by a syllable beginning with a consonant (e.g., Bud-dho,
Dham-mo, Sa"n-gho).
In this last case, the consonant clusters mentioned above -- bh, dh, .dh, gh, jh, kh, ph, th, .th -- count as single
consonants, while other combinations containing h -- such as lh and mh -- count as double.)
Half-length syllables end in a short vowel.
Acknowledgement: Sincere thanks to Dr. James Pinakis who has kindly helped in the conversion of the
audio files.
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