SHINDOKU – The Sacred Sound of the Dharma

SHINDOKU – The Sacred Sound of the Dharma examines how Buddhist teachings moved from the oral recitation traditions of India into the scriptural and chanting culture of Tang Dynasty China, and how these traditions were preserved and transmitted into Japan.Together we will explore the meaning of Shindoku—the traditional Japanese reading of Buddhist scriptures—and Shōmyō, the sacred art of Buddhist chant. The lecture will also clarify the historical role of Grand Master Dengyō Daishi (Saichō), who did not introduce Shindoku itself to Japan but transmitted Tang Dynasty liturgical and recitation traditions that deeply shaped Japanese Tendai Buddhism.From there, we will examine how Nichiren Shōnin inherited this world of scripture, chant, and devotion and revealed the heart of the Lotus Sutra through the practice of Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō.This lecture invites participants to see chanting not simply as reading words, but as entering a living lineage of sacred sound—a tradition carried through generations and still embodied in practice today.