Home Institution
Siena College
Publication Date
Spring 2011
Abstract
Tibetan Buddhism has numerous detailed and diverse traditions of ritual music that play an integral part in religious practices. Despite the prominence of such performances in Tibetan Buddhist life, spectators and researchers alike have frequently misunderstood them based purely on physical observation. As a religion that focuses on the cultivation and development of the mind, any analysis focusing only on physical description is significantly flawed. Music in Buddhist practice is at a base level a sound offering. On a higher level, however, it is much more. If done with the proper motivation, musical performance during ritual is a method to wipe away one’s own negative Karma and attachment to the realms of desire. Additionally, the traditional field of ritual music and structure is constantly undergoing change and revision in the contemporary context. This paper will examine the structure and role of ritual music in Buddhist performance as well as briefly overview the various instruments and orchestration used during ritual. Finally, it will examine the ongoing variations and changes to Buddhist ritual practice through the different instrumentations, alterations and new compositions that demonstrate how ritual music remains both a traditional and a fluid entity in a constantly changing world.
Disciplines
Asian Studies | Ethnomusicology | History of Religions of Eastern Origins | Other Languages, Societies, and Cultures
Recommended Citation
Yonnetti, Eben, "Like the Roar of a Thousand Thunders: Instrumental Music and Creativity in Tibetan Buddhist Ritual" (2011). Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection. 1065.
https://digitalcollections.sit.edu/isp_collection/1065
Included in
Asian Studies Commons, Ethnomusicology Commons, History of Religions of Eastern Origins Commons, Other Languages, Societies, and Cultures Commons
Program Name
Nepal: Tibetan and Himalayan Peoples