Chanting

Just as the short poems of the gathas can help us return to the present moment, the music and words in a song help us share the present moment with other singers. They might be sharing the music in the same place or at a distance. They may be singing with you, right now, in the past or in the future.

The list of chants are those heard in Plum Village retreats and ceremonies, and the bottom section includes songs we use to bring our hearts together during our Sangha meetings and in our Dharma Sharing circle.

Where possible, we include links to resources on line, where you can hear one or more versions of the music as performed and recorded by members of the fourfold Sangha. These are indicated with a sunshine character: ❂. If your favorite version isn’t listed, please send us a link!

Contemplations before chanting

The Sangha is invited to come back to our breathing, so that our collective energy of mindfulness will bring us together as an organism, going as a river, with no more separation. Let the whole Sangha breathe as one body, chant as one body, listen as one body and transcend the boundaries of a delusive self, liberating from the superiority complex, the inferiority complex, and the equality complex.