Story and Song: Learning and Living with Buddhist Chant

Instructor(s): Chenxing Han, Trent Walker

Course Description:

What stories and songs stir our hearts, reminding us of the brevity of all we cherish? And what texts and melodies still our minds, opening us to light, clarity, and compassion? This program explores the recitation of Buddhist poetry from Cambodia and beyond that speaks to themes of love, loss, devotion, and letting go. We’ll explore these poems from two perspectives: as sounds, shaped by traditional Khmer practices of singing and chanting, and as stories, crafted by Buddhist authors for the sake of unsettling our attachments and deepening our aspirations. 

We’ll begin with the basics of chant in Theravāda and other Buddhist traditions. We’ll then focus on the Cambodian tradition of melodic and highly expressive “Dharma songs” (thoa bot or smot). Our practice and inquiry together will include sessions for learning chanting techniques as well as discussions of these Buddhist poems in the context of our lives. Along the way, we’ll reflect together on questions of music, culture, language, and heritage.

In order to create a diverse student body, 50% of the spaces will be held for BIPOC participants until two months before the program opening. At that time, held spaces will be opened to all participants including anyone on the waiting list.

Listen to Chenxing and Trent's invitation on YouTube.

Noble Silence:

Noble silence will be observed following each evening session through breakfast the following morning.

Experience Level:

Suitable for beginning and experienced practitioners.

About the Instructor(s):
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  Chenxing Han

  Chenxing Han is the author of the widely reviewed Be the Refuge: Raising theVoices of Asian American Buddhists (2021) and one long listening: a memoir of grief, friendship, and spiritual care (2023), both with North Atlantic Books. She is a regular contributor to Lion’s Roar, Tricycle, Buddhadharma, and other publications, and a frequent speaker and workshop leader at schools, universities, and Buddhist communities around the nation. Chenxing holds a BA from Stanford University, an MA in Buddhist Studies from the Graduate Theological Union, and a certificate in Buddhist chaplaincy from the Institute of Buddhist Studies in Berkeley, California. She is a co-teacher of Listening to the Buddhists in our Backyard at Phillips Academy Andover and a co-organizer of May We Gather: A National Buddhist Memorial for Asian American Ancestors.

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  Trent Walker

  Trent Walker is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Ho Center for Buddhist Studies and a Lecturer in Religious Studies at Stanford University. He holds a Ph.D. in Buddhist Studies from the University of California, Berkeley, and has published widely on Khmer, Lao, Pali, Thai, and Vietnamese Buddhist texts and recitation practices. Trent began his training in Cambodian Buddhist chant in 2005, under the guidance of Koet Ran, Prum Ut, Yan Borin, and Preah Maha Vimaladhamma Pin Sem. His online multimedia book, Stirring and Stilling: A Liturgy of Cambodian Dharma Songs, aims to fulfill his teachers’ aspirations of making Khmer Buddhist chants accessible to a global audience.