“When Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara”
“Was practicing the profound Prajna Paramita, ”
“He illuminated the Five Skandhas and saw that they are all empty”
“And he crossed beyond all suffering and difficulty”
“Shariputra”
“Form does not differ from emptiness”
“Emptiness does not differ from form”
“Form itself is emptiness”
“Emptiness itself is form”
“So too are feeling, cognition, formation”
“And consciousness”
“Shariputra”
“All Dharmas are empty of characteristics”
“They are not produced, not destroyed”
“Not defiled, not pure”
“And they neither increase nor diminish”
It was about last year when I heard a lot of Chinese were listening to the Heart Sutra that I sing
I was quite surprised
After all the songs were in Japanese
Which is different from Chinese in terms of pronunciation
But people are still willing to listen to it, and I’m really glad about that
I don’t consider myself as a monk and a musician
I’m a monk who gives teachings through music
Isn’t it nice
My name is Kanho Yakushiji
I live in the Imabari city, Ehime Prefecture
I’m the vice abbot of 海禅 Temple
At the same time I also give musical performances
Actually I was always trying to sing the Heart Sutra
But meanwhile I was kind of unwilling to do
Such adaptation to the scriptures
In 2016 our band did a concert in Matsuyama, Ehime
We thought why not just give it a try
I sang the Heart Sutra with music
Unexpectedly, the audience all clapped
And some of them even chant the sutra with us
We were all surprised that they accepted it so well
My father is the abbot of the temple
Under his instruction
When I was a child, I took it for granted that I would inherit the temple one day
But into adolescence
I thought it’s just an arranged life
I couldn’t take it
Then I became interested in music
So I put off the inheritance
And played music in college
I had a band named Kassaquo before graduation
In our gigs, we often heard such comments from audience like
“It reminds me of my grandfather”
“Thank you. I think of my grandfather”
Then it suddenly occurred to me
“Ah, is there no a big difference”
“Between the my musical shows and my father’s Buddhist events?”
Then I thought maybe I should become a monk and start practicing
So 7 years ago, I went to the Tenryuji Temple in Kyoto
I practiced according to Buddhist doctrines in the temple for 2 years
Every day I just meditated and did cleaning
I wanted to continue music production as a monk
And I became more determined about that during the practice
Basically our songs are about hometown, family and friends
They are all treasures around us
There’s one song named Hands
Ah, do I need to sing it now?
Can I prepare a little bit with the guitar
“In order to hold your hands”
“In order to make your hands hold mine”
“The hands are always beside me”
“So I will not let the hands”
“Get hurt”
“And I won’t harm them either”
“Let us hold each other’s hands”
We released the album Heart Sutra this May
The arrangements are finished by several musicians
And I also arrange some
There are 11 songs of heart sutra in the album
Surely there is criticism
People who are traditional would say “it’s not chanting at all”
Then I just take it positively
I just do the best I can
About this album, fans always tell me “I listen to it while I’m running”
Or “I listen to it before going to bed”
The songs become part of people’s daily life
This is what I pursue
I want to continue doing it all through my life