Hi fellow forumites,
I am, as indicated above, a new member and a little unsure of all the relevant protocols and so on - so please be gentle!
I guess I am not using the right search terms and so I have a question to offer here that I have been unable to find an answer for elsewhere.
When chanting sutras is there a reason behind the (often) monotone approach, and the use of original language? I have heard the Heart Sutra sung in Chinese, and of course heard many other chants in what I guess must be either a tibetan language or pali. As an English person these languages have no real resonance with me, and to recite or chant English one syllable at a time sounds quite strange and robs the language of its inherent structure, beauty and intent (in my humble opinion). So, I suppose a follow-up question would be whether it is acceptable or commonplace for practitioners to simply recite a sutra in their own native language without resorting to shoehorning it into a 'monotone chant'?
Okay, that was two questions - I clearly have issues with numbers!
Many thanks in advance for considering this request.
Welcome to the Dharmawheel, from another Kiwi with Chinese Buddhist affiliations. I'm with Fo Guang Shan. So, if you're in Auckland (out Tamaki way) or in Christchurch (Cashel St.), Fo Guang Shan has branches there if you are interested. I know there is also the Ci Ming Temple in Greenlane, Auckland. Probably several others too.
For most Chinese style chanting of sutras, the stock method is called "haichao yin", which means "sound of the tide". While the speed is set by the striking of the woodenfish, there is no set pitch. Each person follows their own natural pitch, which usually drops lower and lower as their full exhalation is completed, maybe even skips a character or two to breath in, then begins a bit higher with the new breath, again dropping as the exhalation is completed. When a group of people do this together, often natural rises and falls occur, but without any set pattern.
This is quite a bit different from chanting in Pali or Sanskrit, because the languages themselves usually have their own meter -- particularly for stock chanted material which is mostly in verse.
Other forms of Chinese chanting involve specific melodies, but that is quite a different matter. There are a number of styles and forms, but its hard to explain words in English.
Feel free to recite whatever sutras or sastras or other material in whatever language works best for you. Buddhism does not in general have the idea of a "sacred language" which is somehow more holy or superior to others. (Though such an attitude, mainly advocated by Brahmanism, did have an influence in some forms of Indian Buddhism, which was later exported outside of India.)
The main point is that recitation or reading or listening is the first of the three stages on developing insight: Insight from listening; insight from contemplation; and insight from cultivation. The first is "listening" because that was what it was back in the day, but nowadays, reading or whatever would also be equivalent in general. Once one has read and heard, then one goes to contemplate the meaning and significance of that. If one just reads or recites in a foreign language without understanding, then the rest of the process simply cannot take place.
So, find whatever language works best for you. Advice from a good teacher on which translations in English are of good quality, would of course also be very helpful.
Welcome to the Dharma Wheel!