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Entry: Buddha-recitation
Chinese char: ©À¦ò
Explanation:
"The Buddha Amita is the great Dharma King.
May his Bodhisattvas guide you to the Western Land.
Morning and night hold his name; with sincerity recite it.
At all times, in contemplation, think upon it well.
With one mind unconfused, you'll realize samadhi;
When all creation's emptied, you'll enter the Lotus Land.
Suddenly awakened to the uncreated, the Buddha appears
in person.
Then wonderful enlightenment is naturally attained."
(LY II 113)
Buddha-recitation refers to mindful recitation, whether aloud or silently, of the name of a particular Buddha, usually the Buddha Amita: "Namo Amita Buddha".
"When the water-clearing pearl
Is tossed in muddy water,
The muddy water becomes clear.
When the Buddha's name
Enters a confused mind,
The confused mind attains the Buddha.
"Why should we be mindful of the Buddha? It is because we have strong affinities with Amita Buddha. Amita Buddha became a Buddha ten kalpas ago. Before that he was called Bhikshu Dharma Treasury. At that time he made forty-eight great vows. In making his thirteenth and fourteenth vows he said, 'If the living beings throughout the ten directions say my name and do not become Buddhas, I will not attain the right enlightenment.' In other words, if people who recite his name did not become Buddhas, he would not have become a Buddha. And because of the power of Amita Buddha's vows, everyone who recites his name can be reborn in the Land of Ultimate Bliss." (SS V 128)
". . . whether one is intelligent, average, or stupid, if one recites the Buddha's name, one will definitely be born transformationally from a lotus in the Land of Ultimate Bliss. One will not pass through a womb but will enter a lotus flower, live in it for a while, and then realize Buddhahood." (AS 21)
"With the Dharma-door of mindfulness of the Buddha,
One transcends the Three Realms through the side door
And carries one's karma into that rebirth.
What does it mean to transcend the Three Realms through the side door? It's like an insect in a piece of bamboo. If the insect were to gnaw its way out through the length of the bamboo, it would have to go through all the sections; it would take a long time. If the insect were to gnaw a hole in the side of the bamboo instead, it would get out very easily. People who are mindful of the Buddha are like the insect who goes out the side of the bamboo; they escape the Three Realms on a horizontal plane-right at the level they are. 'And carries one's karma into that rebirth.' The karma one carries is former karma, not current karma-it is old karma, not new karma. This means that before you understood the method of being mindful of the Buddha, you created offenses. You can take that karma with you when you go to rebirth in the Pure Land. But don't continue to create bad karma once you know about reciting the Buddha's name, because you can't go there if you are taking that karma along. (SS V 127-128)
"Our recitation is like sending a telegram to Amita in the West. At the end of our lives, the Bodhisattvas will guide us to rebirth in the Western Pure Land.
"Morning and night, in motion and stillness, at all times, you can recite. While moving you can recite and change motion into stillness; when still you can recite and turn the stillness into motion. When there is neither motion nor stillness, your telegram to Amita has gotten through and you've received his response.
"If you maintain your recitation with undivided attention morning and night without stopping, you may recite to the point that you don't know that you are walking when you walk, you don't feel thirsty when you are thirsty, and you don't experience hunger when you are hungry; you don't know cold in freezing weather, and you don't feel the warmth when you are warm. People and dharmas are empty, and you and Amita Buddha become one. "Amita Buddha is me, and I am Amita Buddha." The two cannot be separated. Recite singlemindedly and sincerely, without polluted thoughts. Pay no attention to worldly concerns. When you don't know the time and don't know the day, you may arrive at a miraculous state." (LY II 114)
"The flower opens and one sees the Buddha."
Pinyin: nian fo
Sanskrit: buddhanusmrti
Pali:
Alternative: recitation of the Buddha's name, mindfulness of the Buddha.
See Also: mindfulness, Amita(bha) Buddha, Five Types of Buddhist Study and Practice-Pure Land School, pure land.
BTTS Ref: LY I, LY II; AS; FAS Ch22 56; EDR IV 152-153; SS V 126-129; PDS May, 1985, "Reciting the Name of Guanshiyin Bodhisattva"; Ven. Master Hua, "Nianfo famen", unpublished lecture, 12-16-85.
Last Updated: 12/26/2001 11:27:41 AM EST
Updated by: 12.232.178.51
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