This ceremony centres on the recitation—usually by Buddhist monks—of extracts fron the Pali Canon, collected in a text called the Gatubhāṇavārapāli, Paritta or in Siahala Piruvānāpotvahanse. Its objective is to ward off danger, ensure protection and bless the sponsors. It is prevalent in other Theravada Buddhist countries such as Burma and Thailand as well, but this work is confined to a study of the tradition preserved in Sri Lanka.

Translators of short Buddhist chants in Southeast Asia, including Hộ Tông and his Siamese and Khmer predecessors, tend to follow three unstated principles:

1. the translation may be longer than its source, but rarely vice versa
2. even when translated into the vernacular, the Pali source ought to be retained, and
3. the resulting bilingual Pali-vernacular chant should bring its performance practices—gestures, melodies, and rhythms—into harmony.

These principles are crucial for understanding the historical processes that made the transmission of Theravada Buddhism across Southeast Asia possible.

To give a precise account of how the living complexity of Pali unfolds, the findings in this article are based on the phonetic transcription and analysis of fifteen multimedia recordings of Pali liturgical chants in twentieth- and twenty-first-century Cambodia. The range of major and minor variations in Pali pronunciation witnessed during this period, and the contentious debates behind these divergencies, open new paths for understanding the past and present of Pali as a Buddhist language.

deathbed practices in nineteenth-century Siam were structured to flow seamlessly from chanting for the dying to chanting for the dead, a sequence reflected in the physical layout of the manuscripts themselves.

What happens to the meaning of Buddhist rituals in military spaces? Do the military confines and the political context alter the meaning of “non-violent” rituals? Can they become “violent” rituals?

During the Sri Lankan civil war, some extremist Buddhist monks espoused an explicitly violent “just war” ideology. While the majority of Sinhala monks did not go that far, they still demonstrated their support indirectly, through e.g. the chanting of pirits before major battles.

The translation includes the Pāli word commentary.

Lacking understanding, merely hearing the Dhamma may only grant a better rebirth, but even a better rebirth provides the condition for future enlightenment.

This article delves into the question of whether animals can benefit from hearing the Dharma. The author examines how animals might be influenced by the Dharma and explores broader questions related to the practice and impact of “hearing the Dharma.”

have a good morning

Note: The PDF linked above is from Bhikkhu Bodhi’s translation, courtesy of SuttaCentral.

The Faculty of Faith, the Faculty of Energy, the Faculty of Mindfulness, the Faculty of Concentration, the Faculty of Wisdom.

A sutta good to contemplate or chant, the analysis of the five spiritual faculties provides a fascinating alternative perspective on the path to awakening.

Its selection of chants is still influential in Theravāda liturgies today.

… having heard these ten perceptions, venerable Girimānanda’s afliction immediately abated

A profound discourse on Vipassana meditation in an apotropaic frame.

With my head I pay homage to the 512,028 Sambuddhas

How did the Theravadins come up with this figure?

… the evidence found in early printed liturgical booklets that promote Buddha-vandanā points to a different kind of modernization. This article reveals how Buddhist activists in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries made use of the capabilities presented in the colonial context, including print technology, to promote this devotional ritual practice as a principal marker of a newly constructed Buddhist identity.

With the exception of the Heart Sutra (and certain Pāli phrases in their feminine variants) this book represents a fairly typical Theravāda chanting manual.