Buddhist Rock Star
Posted: December 18, 2008 | Author: Doug | Filed under: Buddhism, Religion | 7 Comments »I wanted to broadcast this out to a wider audience, but fellow Buddhist blogger Yue Heng from Singapore, did a really nice rendition of an old Chinese Buddhist devotional, but with a modern guitar:
The words are “na mo guan shi yin pu sa” which means “Praise to Guan-Yin Bodhisattva” in Mandarin.* With pinyin and tone marks, it is na mo guān shì yīn pú sà (I think, someone correct me if wrong).
I wanted to mention this because 1) it’s a nice tune, and a cool way to express Buddhist devotion, but also 2) my daughter, whose 23 months old, can’t get enough of this video. She wants to watch it every morning, and then with her legos, she pretends to play the guitar. Then, she tries to sing the song, but gets lost after “na mo”. 
So, go visit Yue Heng and show him some love!
Namo Kanzeon Bosatsu
* – Or in traditional Chinese characters: 南無觀世音菩薩
Hello, this blog is about my life as a father, Buddhist and Japanophile. Any useful information I can pass along will hopefully make the 
Love it!
Nice tune, though I didn’t see the connection with rock. Does playing a guitar automatically make you a rock singer?
I hope you won’t mind my pointing this out, Gerald, but you keep writing ‘whose’ for “who’s” (who is…).
Marcus: Yeah, so do we at home.
Hi Suvro, excellent question. I thought about it after you posted your comment, and debated changing the title, as it might be misleading. However, I think why I originally called the “rock star” was because sometimes real rock stars like to do an “unplugged” concert where they don’t use any amplifiers, electric guitars and so on. THey just play a regular guitar and sing their hearts out!
I thought Yue Heng was kind of doing the same thing here, hence the title.
No, I definitely appreciate suggestions like that, so please don’t feel you are being rude. Take care!
Thank you for your encouragement, Gerald. I really appreciate it. Hope you and your baby like the video that’s coming up next. Stay tuned!
Your pinyin-isation is accurate.
Hello Bruce and welcome to the L8B! Thanks for the confirmation!