Music and Buddhism

When being introduced to a new culture or religion, sometimes it is introduced through music.  Music is truly a universal language and is something that most individuals can relate to.  Within Buddhism, music is obviously not something to listen to for pleasure, but music is used for chants and sutras.  The Mahayana tradition, however, was the only tradition to add instrumentation such as drums or flutes to these sacred chants. 

            In more modern music throughout Asia, some popular artists are influenced by Buddhist ideas and allow this to be included within their songs.  Artists like Faye Wong; who is popular in places such as Mainland China, Taiwan, and Singapore considers herself a Buddhist and the singing group I-Gemz in Malaysia actually released an album title Cradled in Buddha’s Arms; this titular song turns out to be a praise song for the original Buddha, although some critics state that artists like this have no true grasp on traditional Buddhist music. 

            Buddhism itself is becoming more and more relevant in Western Cultures where pop music plays a large role in mainstream society.  Most musicians who are also Buddhist are a part of the Nichiren tradition of Buddhism.  A movement with 12 million members who follow the Nichiren tradition is the Soka Gakkai International.  One notable follower of this movement is Tina Turner.  She like some of the author’s we have come across in this class considers herself both a Christian and Buddhist.  Heavily Buddhist music has not made it into the mainstream of pop music, but music has become a way of teaching Buddhist ideas and culture.