Beyond Silence: Music & Ritual in Zen Buddhism

{The above video is a snippet of the "Song of the Priest Staff" (Shakujo no ge) and was filmed by Michaela while at Sōji-ji Temple in Japan.}

In this episode, I have the great pleasure of conversing with Michaela Mross, an assistant professor at Stanford University, about her extensive and fascinating research on the sonic elements of Zen Buddhist rituals. Our conversation highlights

• the historical and cultural significance of Japanese Buddhist kōshiki rituals, incorporating melodies and sermons, and emphasizes the role of rituals in spiritual practice.

• Zen rituals like morning services, purification rites, and commemorative events, showcasing their impact on creating sacred spaces and collective identity.

• the transformative nature of integrating music and Zen, illustrating how these practices embody Buddhahood and contribute to a deeper understanding of compassion in daily life.

Here are two links to videos where you can hear and see the beautifully orchestrated ceremonies at Sōji-ji Temple in Japan that Michaela discusses:

• Kōshiki on the Transmission of the Light in the Sōto Zen School

• In Praise of the Thus Come One

• Here’s a link to the Stanford library page with the video recording of the kōshiki.

Michaela Mross specializes in Japanese Buddhism, with a particular emphasis on Sōtō Zen, Buddhist rituals, sacred music, as well as manuscript and print culture in premodern Japan. She has written numerous articles on kōshiki 講式 (Buddhist ceremonials) and co-edited a special issue of the Japanese Journal of Religious Studies on kōshiki. Her first book, Memory, Music, Manuscripts: The Ritual Dynamics of Kōshiki in Japanese Sōtō Zen, was published in 2022 in the Kuroda Series of the University of Hawai’i Press. You might also enjoy reading her article “Singing and Zen Are One' The Sōtō School's Baikaryū.”

She is currently working on a monograph on Buddhist hymns (eisanka 詠讃歌) and lay Buddhist choirs in contemporary Zen Buddhism. This project will showcase how music played a vital role in the modernization of Japanese Sōtō Zen Buddhism in the last seventy years.

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