[ARTS] Zen monks, modern sound (on repeat)

[Tenryu]

Hey, do you guys know these two?

Kanho Yakushiji - He’s a Rinzai monk who makes modern, very stripped-down music with mantras and chanting mixed in. Simple, contemporary, and quietly powerful.

On the Sōtō side, there’s Yogetsu Akasaka. Shakuhachi, beatboxing, loop stations — very modern, sometimes a bit unexpected, but it holds together.

Different approaches, different moods. I end up listening to both of them almost every day.

Gasshō,
Tenryū
satt and lah

[Seido-nigo]

Tenryu, thank you for sharing these. Unusual yet really enjoyable! Subversive in a progressive way!

Gassho
Seido
Sat today/ Lah

[Tensei]

While the tempo is different from when we chant the Heart Sutra, I find his renditions enjoyable to (try) to chant along with during our non-monthly Zazenkai weeks. My personal favourite is the Mantra of Light from his -satori- album (https://kanhoyakushiji.bandcamp.com/...ight-album-mix). It's so jaunty!

Gassho,
Tensei
satlah

[Tenryu]

While the tempo is different from when we chant the Heart Sutra, I find his renditions enjoyable to (try) to chant along with during our non-monthly Zazenkai weeks. My personal favourite is the Mantra of Light from his -satori- album (https://kanhoyakushiji.bandcamp.com/...ight-album-mix). It's so jaunty!

I know what you mean! And yes, Mantra of Light is really wonderful. But speaking of jaunty… have you seen his Namu Amida Butsu rendition from two weeks ago, including a „dance routine“? Nothing short of amazing

[Jundo]

From time to time we have danced the Heart Sutra for our Friday Zazenkai (as ritual is already a dance!) I must confess that this I find most charming.

The priest behind the video is a Shingon priest, Genju, who is also a dance teacher. She wrote, when I shared our ceremony video with her:

Thank you for your inviting and share our song��　Your zazen session is awesome, I respect your activities.

image.png

The group is called the Okyo Girls (Sutra Girls), and I believe that they are just teenagers from temple families and her dance classes.

I think we will dance to it or another this Friday! Please come!

Also, not to be outdone, a boy band version ... by the group, Terrace Panpans ...

Gassho, Jundo
stlah

[Jundo]

Some other wonderful versions of the Hannya Shingyo (Heart Sutra) we've stumbled on over the years, and some other music ...

Spanish guitar version by Japanese singer Shohei Muto ...

Rave Shingyo ... featuring AI vocaloid Hatsune Miku ...

The lounge music-ish "Organ Franny" (オルガンフラニー) Hannya Shingyo remix featuring Sato Moka

Heart Sutra set to the melody of "Imagine" ...（the singer is so sincere) ...

Tap ...

to be continued ...

[Jundo]

sorry, a few more ...

Speed Hannya ... (we should do this) ...

Hard Core ...

Our old favorite for Zazenkai ... Eminem meets Hannya ...

The "Extreme Slap Bass Japanese Heart Sutra" ...

And, not the Heart Sutra, but the wonderful Vowz Band ... the priest band of the Vowz Bar (yes, a bar run by Japanese Buddhist priests of several denominations) ...

The name of the song is "Somosan Seppa" ... In a Zen Mondo or Hossenshiki "Dharma Combat," "Somosan" is used to refer to the person asking the question, and it means something like "what's up!?" In response to "Somosan," it is common for the person being asked to respond with "Seppa" (meaning something like, "disruption.") The lyrics of the rest of the song say things like "The Super Super Question, Life, this World, is ALL a Zen Mondo" "Saving All Sentient Beings, Ya know" and "If you meet the Buddha, Kill the Buddha; If you meet Death, Kill Death," "If your finger points at the moon, cut it off and let it fall," "Put your hands together, What's the Sound of One Hand Clapping?" At points, they pick up a fortune telling box (pulling out the fortune sticks), and a cocktail mixer (see below: Vowz Bar, this is the house band). The guy in white is a lay pilgrim, and the woman is (I think, subject to further research) a Dakini in a Diadem Crown (a Hindu Goddess incorporated into Buddhism):
.

Here is a bit more Vowz Band (They are not all Zen priests, by the way, and the one fellow in the Wagesa, round Kesa, is a Pure Land priest) ... set sometime in the future, in a dystopian world, this one says "Everything is Empty, Just a Temporary Form ... there is nothing that does not change ... Give voice to the Perfection of Wisdom, you'll probably get it ... The only important things is NAMU! ... So, AWAKEN! OPEN YOUR EYES! Let's get liberated (GEDATSU) from this world by this rhythm, GET GEDATSU!" The rap continues the theme that all is empty, so lets not get sucked into the Bonnos (Mental Obstructions, Desires, Illusions) ...

As I said, they are part of a bar run by Japanese Buddhist monks/priests. It is called Vowz Bar in Tokyo ... (Which also sounds, in Japanese, like "Bozu Bar," which means "Monks Bar." How can priests manage a bar, given our Precepts and all? The basic idea, when I have gone there a couple of times and spoken with them, is that one goes to where the suffering people are to reach the suffering people, and that the Mahayana Precepts can thus be kept in spirit (and spirits) if to save Sentient Beings. Japanese Buddhism is rather, shall we say, open minded ... )

Japanese Buddhism is weird.

Gassho, J
stlah

[Tensei]

Tenryu, I haven't seen the music video for the Amitabha Rebirth mantra, but I had the song stuck in my head for weeks after it came out last year.

Jundo, thank you for the wealth of suggestions! Hotoke Kikaku's Heart Sutra reminds me a bit of DDR with the special effects in the video. I look forward to watching them (and reading a bit more about Vowz).

Gassho,
Tensei
satlah

[Jundo]

Tenryu, I haven't seen the music video for the Amitabha Rebirth mantra, but I had the song stuck in my head for weeks after it came out last year.

Jundo, thank you for the wealth of suggestions! Hotoke Kikaku's Heart Sutra reminds me a bit of DDR with the special effects in the video. I look forward to watching them (and reading a bit more about Vowz).

Gassho,
Tensei
satlah

We will be dancing to one of them tomorrow at our Friday Zazenkai! Come dance!

Gassho, Jundo
stlah

[Maro]

Could I please add the taiko version to the collection?

https://youtu.be/9Gilg7OstyA?si=W1bmwd5Qq6D50oXY

Gassho
Maro
satlah