The Americanization of Zen Chanting

Zen Buddhist practice has its own indigenous music: the ritual chanting which, along with bells and percussion instruments, form a part of virtually every Zen ceremony and formal event, both monastic and lay. And, like the other aspects of Zen teaching and practice, the chanting of sutras, dharanis, gathas, dedications, and readings has undergone a widely varied range of adaptations as part of its migration to and continuing development in the North American context. These adaptations have been