texts for Soto chants and rituals

[Luke]

Some people may get the impression from books that Zen is only about zazen and mysterious poems, but even Soto Zen Buddhism has many chants and rituals.

http://global.sotozen-net.or.jp/eng/pra ... tures.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

This document on that page provides an overview of the texts used in Soto rituals:
http://global.sotozen-net.or.jp/eng/pra ... ptures.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Meido]

Hi Luke,

Thanks very much for posting those links. Soto-shu has been doing a great job with translation work. Many of the same texts are used in Rinzai ceremony, so their work has actually been really helpful to non-Soto folks as well.

Best,
Meido

[Jamyang_Tsering]

Yes in monastary it is not just about zazen the whole format is important. Zazen is only on part of the strucutre where bowing and refuge is also important.

[Sara H]

One of the best books on Soto Zen chants and rituals that is out there, is The Liturgy of the Order of Buddhist Contemplatives for the Laity.

It includes all the traditional Soto ceremonies and chants translated into English, as well as detailed diagrams about the movements and positions of the ceremonies themselves, and who does what, and when and why.

It's a very nice detailed book on the subject, and you can find it used on Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Liturgy-Order-Bud ... 093006612X

Shasta Abbey which publishes it hopes to have a digital version out at some time in the future in pdf form also.

Additionally, there's a wonderful article about why we do ceremonial in Buddhism, by Rev. Master Meian Elbert, Abbess of Shasta Abbey on this subject:

http://shastaabbey.org/pdf/WhyCeremony.pdf

And another article that talks about the purpose of ceremony in Zen training, by Rev. Chushin Passmore.

http://columbiazen.org/wp-content/nl/passmore.pdf

All of those are really great resources for anyone who wishes to find out more about Soto Zen ceremonial. They can also contact the Sacristy department at Shasta Abbey, by calling them at 530-926-4208 ext. 357 or at [email protected]

The Sacristy is the department that handles all the ceremony at Shasta, and they do tons of ceremony each year, so they are experts in Soto ceremonial.

All of those are really great resources for anyone wanting to find out more about Soto ceremonial, which I highly recommend, as it's a very important part of Soto Zen practice!

-In Gassho,

-Sara