Chanting Ho

[Hoyu]

Sorry to disappoint if you were expecting a post on chanting hookers(though that would be a great fit for our recent precepts study!) ops:

Hi All,

Seriously though, this was inspired by a Dharma talk which was given by Edward Brown. At the end of the talk he mentions that the Japanese word for Dharma is Ho. And that there is a practice of chanting Ho. With sustain on the O. So it would look like this if I had to use a written example:
Hooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo(I think you get the idea)
Has anyone heard of this practice? I tried to search it online but failed to retrieve any information. I'm really curious to know more about it.

Gassho,
John

[Jundo]

Re: Chanting Ho

Sorry to disappoint if you were expecting a post on chanting hookers(though that would be a great fit for our recent precepts study!) ops:

Hi All,

Seriously though, this was inspired by a Dharma talk which was given by Edward Brown. At the end of the talk he mentions that the Japanese word for Dharma is Ho. And that there is a practice of chanting Ho. With sustain on the O. So it would look like this if I had to use a written example:
Hooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo(I think you get the idea)
Has anyone heard of this practice? I tried to search it online but failed to retrieve any information. I'm really curious to know more about it.

Gassho,
John

Hi John,

This is the traditional chant during Takuhatsu (Ritual Mendicancy), when the monks in Japan from time to time come down from the mountain to receive coins in their bowls.

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Yes, "Ho" is Law or Dharma, as in the Laws of the Universe and Buddha's Teachings on such.

Gassho, Jundo

[Hoyu]

Re: Chanting Ho

Got it. Thank you for the answer Jundo Sensei.

Gassho,
John

[Shokai]

Re: Chanting Ho

Thanks John and Jundo;
That is awesome, sorry we missed that. My wife and I did a fair bit of travel through rural Japan and saw a lot of bizarre things but not this ritual. One day close by Chichibu (western Saitama), we turned in to a small lane to see about 25 monkeys running up the road with their daikons(large white radishes) that they had looted from someone's garden. Another time, at an herb garden by Uchi Mado (Okayama), a little old lady asked us to follow her on her bicycle up a hill to get some mame(sweet green beans) which her 92 yr old husband was picking. She went so fast on that bike that our Daihatsu Mira(car model) could hardly keep up. many times we witnessed lone monks standing at street corners but nebver(sic./typo :lol: ) such a group.

[Undo]

Re: Chanting Ho

It reminds me of a similar scene in another film.. :wink:

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[tedmac]

Re: Chanting Ho

I was thinking of this one:
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[Taigu]

Re: Chanting Ho

Yes, that's what I chant when walking doing takuhatsu. When i stand, I tend to chant the Hannya Shingyo.
In Kyoto it is frequent to see a flock of brisk monks chanting HOOOOOOOOOOOOOO like hoping crazy blackbirds , running up streets and standing in front of shops. They generally belong to a great training monastery (Mostly Rinzai in Kyoto) and have the name of the temple they belong to written on the large bamboo hat( Kaza). You also have a bunch of fake monks standing in tourist spots. I often bump into Antaiji priests begging in Sannomiya Kobe during the winter.

gassho

Taigu

[Seishin the Elder]

Re: Chanting Ho

Ah,..so then Santa Claus is really practicing Zen.... "Ho, Ho Ho"


Gassho,

Seishin Kyrill

[Shugen]

Re: Chanting Ho

Ah,..so then Santa Claus is really practicing Zen.... "Ho, Ho Ho"


Gassho,

Seishin Kyrill