Daily Chinese Buddhist practice (for householder?)

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KiwiNFLFan
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Daily Chinese Buddhist practice (for householder?)

Post by KiwiNFLFan »

Hi, what does daily practice look like for lay Chinese Buddhist (householders)? What sort of chanting do you do in the morning and evening?

There is a Morning Service and an Evening Service in the chanting books, but I've assumed that it's for monks or nuns and not laypeople. While I've never attended a morning service at my local temple, the evening service goes for about 30-45 minutes, which isn't practical for a lot of laypeople.
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PadmaVonSamba
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Re: Daily Chinese Buddhist practice (for householder?)

Post by PadmaVonSamba »

I recall running across either some YouTube videos or phone apps designed for people to use on a daily basis, that had someone leading a Buddhist chanting liturgy in Chinese. I can’t recall where they are. But if you look for them I think you will find them out on the internet somewhere.
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KiwiNFLFan
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Re: Daily Chinese Buddhist practice (for householder?)

Post by KiwiNFLFan »

PadmaVonSamba wrote: Sun Apr 19, 2020 6:42 pm I recall running across either some YouTube videos or phone apps designed for people to use on a daily basis, that had someone leading a Buddhist chanting liturgy in Chinese. I can’t recall where they are. But if you look for them I think you will find them out on the internet somewhere.
Do either the videos or apps have Hanyu Pinyin? While I do speak and read some Chinese, I need texts annotated with Pinyin to be able to chant. Not to mention that some characters are pronounced differently while chanting. Eg the characters in 般若 are normally pronounced 'ban' and 'ruo' , but when used in Buddhist texts they are pronounced 'bo-re' (transcription/transliteration of prajna into Old Chinese)
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PadmaVonSamba
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Re: Daily Chinese Buddhist practice (for householder?)

Post by PadmaVonSamba »

As I suggested, you might need to do some searching to find exactly what you need.

Try doing a google search and add pdf to your search terms. I did that and found this:

http://www.buddhisttexts.org/uploads/6/ ... ndbook.pdf
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SilenceMonkey
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Re: Daily Chinese Buddhist practice (for householder?)

Post by SilenceMonkey »

When I was staying at Dharma Drum, lay people would always attend morning and evening services. People would often come up to the mountain on the weekends in order to be a part of activities like this, as well as larger pujas such as shuilu fahui (water & earth puja - this was the big one each year), as well as buddha's birthday celebrations, various pujas for ghost month, etc...

People generally choose the practices that interest them. Once lay people learned a method, they would do it as daily homework and they adjust it to their needs. eg. 10 malas of a certain mantra, one mala (or 21x) of Great Compassion dharani, reciting a sutra each day (eg. medicine buddha, pure land, samantabhadra's deeds, lotus sutra (or just popular pumenpin, the 24th chapter), diamond sutra, platform sutra, heart sutra, etc...). Often the sutra in english is as effective as in chinese, all you need is faith. :smile: Lay people often use their earnings to make offerings to the three jewels at their temple or on their home altar. Morning and evening services are also something one can do at home, even if one is a lay person. (I did the morning service for half a year and found it very sustaining.) There's also sitting meditation.

These are what come to mind... though there are many more things one can do.
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Taikor.Taikun
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Re: Daily Chinese Buddhist practice (for householder?)

Post by Taikor.Taikun »

The usual practise at a local Pureland temple starts with offeting of fruits, flowers n sandalwood incense. Then praise to Amitabha and chant his 48 vows.

The senior monk may add other rituals such as circling the Buddha’s statue, chant the mantra of Bhaisajya Buddha and offer the merits for world peace
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Taikor.Taikun
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Re: Daily Chinese Buddhist practice (for householder?)

Post by Taikor.Taikun »

KiwiNFLFan wrote: Mon Apr 20, 2020 6:45 am
PadmaVonSamba wrote: Sun Apr 19, 2020 6:42 pm I recall running across either some YouTube videos or phone apps designed for people to use on a daily basis, that had someone leading a Buddhist chanting liturgy in Chinese. I can’t recall where they are. But if you look for them I think you will find them out on the internet somewhere.
Do either the videos or apps have Hanyu Pinyin? While I do speak and read some Chinese, I need texts annotated with Pinyin to be able to chant. Not to mention that some characters are pronounced differently while chanting. Eg the characters in 般若 are normally pronounced 'ban' and 'ruo' , but when used in Buddhist texts they are pronounced 'bo-re' (transcription/transliteration of prajna into Old Chinese)
These websites may help:
http://www.renhuicaotang.com/03zyfj/index.htm#
http://www.renhuicaotang.com/05ywdj/index.htm

Note that the more standard version is denoted with "民国版" on the front.

And also this website: http://fojing101.blogspot.com/

I use these to help people who requires pinyin. Maybe one or two characters are pronounced differently but generally accepted. No complain, people usually show me thumbs up.

For lay Buddhists, the daily practise 修持仪轨, can be flexible depending on your need.

The ritual steps usually begin with Repentance, Chant Buddha/Bodhisattva Name, Vows, Sutra, Mantra, Praise n Dedication. Most people don't have time in the morning; rushing to work, so no Sutra is recited. The Repentance part can be the short verse "往昔所造诸恶业" ("Of all my past created karma..."). If on the weekends, there is time, the Repentance can be the full 88 Buddhas Great Repentance Text. It's just a few minutes, memorise by heart. Those practising Guanyin methods can chant the short Sanskrit version of the Great Compassion Mantra in the morning. If really no time, the 6-syllable version. The longer Sanskrit and Chinese versions are usually for evening when back from work. If on a working trip, i visualise the Buddha/Bodhisattva and short chant of their names. Now WFH, i will dedicate at least 1 book of Sutra each day.

Buddhism is simple
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