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Mark edited this page Sep 17, 2017 · 21 revisions

Welcome to the Dhammapuja wiki!

Dhammapuja is a tool to help learn Theravadin chants. The official website is located at https://dhammapuja.com/

What does Dhammapuja mean?

Dhamma : lit. the 'bearer', constitution (or nature of a thing), norm,
 law (jus), doctrine; justice, righteousness;
 quality; thing, object of mind (s. āyatana) 'phenomenon'.

  The Dhamma, as the liberating law discovered and proclaimed by the Buddha,
is summed up in the 4 Noble Truths (s. sacca). It forms one of the 3 Gems
(ti-ratana, q.v.) and one of the 10 recollections (anussati q.v.).

  Dhamma, as object of the mind (dhammāyatana, s. āyatana) may be
anything past, present or future, corporeal or mental,
conditioned or not (cf. sankhāra, 4), real or imaginary.

Pūjā : (1) honour, respect, homage, (2) worship,
devotional observances, devotional offerings; also
offerings to monks.

(1) The Mahā-mangala Sutta (Sn. 259) says that
“Honour and respect towards those worthy of it, is
conducive to great blessing” ( pūjā ca pūjaniyesu etaṃ mangalam uttamaṃ ). See Dhp. 195f.

(2) The Buddha did not think much of mere outer
worship. “Not thus, Ananda, is the Tathāgata respected,
venerated, esteemed, worshipped and honoured in the
highest degree. But, Ananda, whatsoever bhikkhu or
bhikkhuni, lay man or lay woman, abides by the
Teaching, lives uprightly in the Teaching, walks in the
way of the Teaching, it is by him that the Tathāgata is
respected, venerated, esteemed, worshipped and
honoured in the highest degree” (D. 16). – “There are
two kinds of worship: in a material way ( āmisa-pūjā )
and through ( practice of ) the Dhamma ( dhamma-pūjā ).
The worship through ( practice of ) the Dhamma is the
better of the two” ( A. II ).

Why chant?

From Lion's Roar - Why do people chant at Buddhist centers?

Buddhists chant to deepen their understanding of and sense of connection to dharma concepts. Chanting is also an act of togetherness and selflessness: you’re not chanting to be heard as an individual, but to contribute to a collective voice.

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