Nembutsu

The central element of all Pureland practice is called nien fo. Fo is the Chinese word for Buddha. Nien refers to a thought or impulse of the mind. Nien fo, therefore, means to have the Buddha in mind. Anything that brings the Buddha to mind is nien fo. Buddhists, therefore, have many reminders that help them to keep the Buddha in mind. They have statues and pictures and amulets and special clothes. They learn to do things in ways that remind them of the Buddha. Having Buddha in mind makes one happy. Buddhism is a cheerful religion.

Little rituals built into the day can generate a sense of beauty, peace and reverence in the midst of ordinary life. Thus, it is common for Buddhists to greet one another by putting the palms together in front of the chest in a gesture called anjali, or by saying “Namo Amida Bu”. Whatever brings the Buddha to mind is nien fo and so is Buddhist practice. Nien fo helps us to be faithful to the Buddha and his vision.

Pureland Buddhists say the nembutsu inwardly or outwardly on innumerable occasions. At first, it may feel strange saying these three Sanskrit words and initially they may not mean much to you. However, as you continue, you will build up a wealth of association with this simple gatha within which all the love, compassion, joy and peace of the Buddha is indicated. “Namo Amida Bu” ... “Namo Amida Bu”

Buddhist practice is about orienting the mind. The mind is always conscious of something. It responds to objects. Buddhism, therefore, sets up strong wholesome objects before the mind. We can refer to such wholesome mind-objects as icons. Icons may be real things, sacred art images, or purely imaginary forms. A Buddha statue, a nembutsu scroll, one's spiritual teacher, and Amida's Pure Land are all icons. Buddhist contemplation, or meditation, is defined as holding a wholesome object in mind. Contemplation, therefore, is sustained mindfulness of an icon. As Pureland Buddhists, the most important icon is the Pure Land in the West, with Amida at its centre.

Remember, nien fo means to bring Buddha Amida to mind and the method of Pureland practice is to have this wholesome object in mind as much as possible until it is there all the time without special effort. Sometimes nien fo is done sitting quietly as formal meditation. Sometimes it is done in the midst of ordinary activities as mindfulness in everyday life. The advantage of nien fo over many other Buddhist methods is that it takes only a moment to bring Amida to mind and you can build the habit of doing so into all your activity, so that Amida is always with you. Every time Amida enters your mind, the mind becomes better. When one acts with a good mind, happiness follows, “as the wheel follows the hoof”. Nien fo is a fool-proof method of practice.

The nembutsu is, in fact, like a key that unlocks the whole of Buddhism, or a window through which the whole of Buddhism can be understood. When we are with other Pureland Buddhists we can greet them by saying “Namo Amida Bu”. We can say “Namo Amida Bu” as a way of saying “Thank you”, or when acknowledging that something has happened. We train ourselves so that “Namo Amida Bu” is the first thing that comes to mind. If things go well, we say “Namo Amida Bu” to celebrate. If things go badly, we say “Namo Amida Bu” to say that it doesn't matter. In this way we learn that “Namo Amida Bu” will carry us through all the vicissitudes of life. No matter what happens to us, we invoke Amida. “Namo Amida Bu” becomes our constant companion through life. This is the core practice of Pureland. This is our way of taking refuge.

Namo Amida Bu

From the Amida Trust Pureland Introductory course

Sanbutsuge: Dharmakara's Song of Praise to His Teacher, Lokesvararaja Buddha

(A translation of the essential meaning of Shinran Shonin's interpretation of this gatha from the Larger Pure Land Sutra)

From the beginningless beginning
Of time itself, Dharma -- the true reality of suchness --
Has constantly been evolving
In its infinite way.

Our ancestor, Dharmakara Bodhisattva,
He who is the treasure house of Dharma,
Took this name
Upon realizing his true identity
After having heard from Lokesvararaja Buddha
The teachings that pierce all illusions.

At his first encounter
With the wisdom and reality
That is our fundamental nature
And the nature of all that exists,
Dharmakara Bodhisattva experienced such happiness,
Such joy,
That he abandoned his former way of life and thought.
With his whole body,
His total being,
All energy, complete determination --
He concentrated on the ultimate state
Of becoming a Buddha,
One fully awakened to the truth
Of the reality that is the same
Throughout the universe.

Again seeking out his great teacher
Lokesvararaja Buddha,
The Buddha who is always
Emancipating the world,
Dharmakara first respectfully bowed,
Placed his forehead on the Buddha's feet
And then,
Rising to walk around the Buddha three times
While he gazed in awe from all directions
At this Buddha whom he wished to become,
Feeling the Buddha's inconceivable power,
Dharmakara put his palms together in gassho
And sang in praise.

"You, like whom I wish to become,
Have a countenance radiant with a light
Of utter sincerity, a light of boundless wisdom
Which shines on all beings
Transforming vices into virtues!
Your light is the light of compassion,
The ever-burning light-source
Of peace and happiness,
Penetrating me with its warmth.

When compared to your never-failing light
That of the most precious jewels,
That of the fiercest flames,
That of the sun and brightest stars
Are like the black holes of the universe.

Your shiny countenance,
Your most excellent features,
Your color -- which embraces all colors --
Are beyond compare.
Your voice, emerging from the depths
Of your boundless compassion,
Resounds like a lion's roar throughout the universe
Proclaiming that Buddha-ness
Is my true self,
The true self of each and every being everywhere!

That sublime, most rare compassion
Arising from the wisdom-flow
Of your ceaseless activity in perfecting
Mindfulness and awareness:
Your ceaseless activity in perfecting patience,
Strength,
And reflection;
Take you beyond this world of birth-and-death
To the stage of joy and bliss
At having become the dharma.

How inconceivable that this last stage,
The fulfillment of Buddha-hood,
You, a perfected Buddha, made the choice --
Out of Great Compassion --
To return to this world as a bodhisattva
Whose dedication and yearning
Is to awaken and free each and every one of us.

In your samadhi,
So deep, so total and yet so subtle,
Having become one
With the dharma-ocean of all the Buddhas,
You fathomed its fathomless depths,
You measured its inmeasurability,
You perceived its most profound truths.

In you Abhijna, the wisdom of a Buddha
Has for all time replaced the darkness of ignorance.
In you, Mahakaruna, the compassion of a Buddha,
Has for all time replaced the darkness of lust.
In you, through selflessness, Maha-atman, the Great Self of a Buddha
Has for all time replaced the darkness
Of Self-centeredness.

Indeed, you are Bhagavat!
The Tathagata!
The world-honored one whose cosmic virtues,
Whose profound and subtle wisdom radiates
Throughout the immeasurable reaches
Of all the galaxies,
Touching the inconceivable depths of all that exists.

The impact of your enlightenment, like lightning
Striking throughout the universe,
With neither exception nor distinction transforms
All that exists in every world with Bodhi,
The innate nature of Buddha-ness,
The potential to realize what is true and real.

I, Dharmakara, yearn to experience the samadhi
Which you are experiencing.
In it, I shall open the gate of the six perfections,
The gate which includes all dharmas"
Dana-Awareness,
And the resolve to open this awareness to all:

Sila-Restraint practiced with
Ksanti, patience,
Virya, strongest effort,
Dhyana, contemplation that opens the eye of samadhi
To Prajna, the wisdom that frees and emancipates,
The wisdom of things-as-they-are.
Endlessly, without ceasing,
I shall yearn to attain
Anuttara samyak sambodhi --
The unparalleled Great Awakening
That transforms the universe
With immeasurable light and life.

This I shall carry out through my practice.
I will endure whatever must be endured
To attain this for everyone everywhere.

To all who are in need of help and guidance,
For all who are lost and confused,
Hopelessly wandering in these worlds of illusion,
I vow
They will become enabled to restore their confidence,
To awaken to their true identity,
Their great and total Buddha-ness,
Their oneness
With the Dharma that includes all dharmas,
Their oneness with me.

In every land,
Offerings to gods and buddhas are assumed
To insure the highest benefit to a devotee,
But I now establish this superior way
Of becoming a Buddha,
Which I shall follow firmly and forthrightly,
Though it is the most difficult of all difficulties.
It is a way which cannot be rivaled
Even by making offerings to gods and Buddhas
More numerous than the sand grains
In the River Ganges.

- Rev. Shoji Matsumoto and Ruth Tabrah Honolulu, 1984

In that sense, it is possible for us to say that Amida Buddha is a symbolic expression of both Shakyamuni Buddha’s life and enlightenment, as clarified by Shakyamuni’s teaching.

The word “symbol” contains a number of problems. However, I am now using it simply to refer to the use of analogy and other expressions in the worldly dimension that use secular concepts to point to an ultimate, world-transcending truth. Ultimate truth or world-transcending existence is a reference to the content of the enlightenment realized by Shakyamuni and to the ultimate reality that he expounded. In Shin Buddhist terminology, it could also be said to refer to Amida Buddha’s Primal Vow. This is the basic concept of the word “symbol.”

A symbol represents a means or method of pointing to a world-transcending, ultimate truth. Accordingly, since a symbol must always be expressed in an analogical and worldly manner, at some point also it must necessarily be negated. This, then, is the fundamental meaning of the word “symbol.” By negating worldly ideas even as it utilizes them, a symbol guides us to ultimacy, which transcends this world. Both “life” and “light” are worldly concepts. However, when both are expressed as “immeasurable,” they then point to that which transcends this world. The word “life” basically refers to a life spanning from birth to death. However, when expressed as “immeasurable life,” it could be said to transcend all worldly concepts. The phrase “immeasurable light” acts in the same way. Since the existence of “light” would illuminate the darkness, “unlimited light” would mean that no darkness could exist. That, however, would not be possible in this world. Here then is an attempt to talk about a world-transcending ultimacy by negating the worldly concept of “light,” even while utilizing it.

In Nagarjuna’s Mahaprajñaparamitopadesa (Commentary on the Mahaprajñaparamita Sutra) we find the phrase, “Rely on the meaning, not on the words.” Shinran cites this passage in the Chapter on Transformed Buddha-bodies and Lands of his Kyogyosho monrui (True Teaching, Practice and Realization). Here Nagarjuna provides an easily understandable illustration involving the moon and a finger. Since we human beings always look downward when we walk, he says, we do not see the beautiful, brilliant moon in the heavens. Someone then taps us on the shoulder and, with his finger, indicates that we should look up at the beautiful moon in the sky. This is the so-called illustration of the “finger pointing to the moon.”

Nagarjuna explains that the finger represents “words,” while the moon represents “meaning.” “Meaning” here refers to true meaning, first principle, or true essence. As we have seen above, it corresponds to the life of Shakyamuni and the content of his enlightenment. In this illustration, ultimate truth is represented by the moon. Since we are not able to grasp this first principle directly, we are directed toward it by words and language—by the finger, or, symbol that points us toward the moon.

Nagarjuna urges us not to mistake the finger for the moon. He tells us not to confound words and meaning, that is, not to mistake the secular words that are used to point to ultimate truth for that truth itself. We are able to see the moon because of the finger. However, we should not look at the finger and think that it is the moon. This is the meaning of the phrase, “Rely on the meaning, not on the words.” Here, the topic of our discussion is the significance of symbols. The Buddha-body called “Amida,” that Buddha’s Name, and all of the other words in the Sutra are all nothing more than “fingers.” None of them constitute the “moon” itself. The entire content of the Sutra and the teaching of Amida Buddha’s Primal Vow are expressed symbolically so that we can know the moon itself.

This idea can be more precisely explained by referring to the late Paul Tillich’s understanding of symbols. Born in Germany, Tillich was a well-known Protestant theologian who spent the latter part of his life in America. I would like to offer a summary of my own understanding of his splendid explanation of symbols.

For Tillich, first of all, a symbol is something that points to ultimate truth, which transcends the secular world. Thus, Amida Buddha, Amida’s Name, all of the words in the sutras, as well as hell and the Pure Land are all symbolic expressions that point to an ultimate, world-transcending truth. Secondly, however, at the same time that a symbol points toward something, it also exists in a profound relationship with the thing itself. This is an important point, I believe. The finger points to the moon, and because of the finger we are able to look up to the moon for the first time. However, the finger is not simply a finger. It is because the finger is bathed in the light of the moon that, for the first time, the finger can engage in finger-activity, which is to point to the moon. The activity of the finger itself would not be able to exist in complete darkness. It is because the moon gives off light that the finger can exhibit finger-activity for the first time. In this sense, a symbol participates profoundly within ultimacy. It is none other than the self-expression of the ultimate.

Tillich’s third point is that we can encounter ultimate truth or world-transcending reality for the first time through symbols. Needless to say, were it not for symbols we would not be able to encounter ultimate truth or Amida Buddha. Fourth, Tillich says that a symbol reveals the deepest levels our own, individual spirit. A familiar example might be that, if we continuously worship before a Buddha image everyday of our life, eventually our eyes will be opened to the transcendent, ultimate reality behind the image. Yet, at the same time, our spirit (or, spirituality) gradually becomes cultivated through this process. These four points, I believe, reflect the fundamental meaning of symbols in Tillich’s thought.

Further, when discussing the transmission of symbols, Tillich states that a symbol must constantly be re-interpreted within every era and society. According to him, a symbol necessarily arises within a certain historical or societal context. The formation of the notion of Amida Buddha is a case in point. We do not know who produced the Larger Sutra. Although the Sutra indicates that it was expounded by Shakyamuni, he had in fact died five hundred years prior to its development. However, even though we do not know who expounded the notion of Amida Buddha in the Larger Sutra, the Sutra had to have arisen within certain necessary historical and societal circumstances. I mentioned earlier that Amida worship probably arose out of circumstances involved in stupa worship. Tillich might say that, because it arose within a particular situation, Amida Buddha as a symbol could become extinct when those conditions greatly change. Thus, the length of a symbol’s life could be extended and the symbol thus transmitted, depending on how it is re-interpreted in various era and societies. I am in complete agreement with this idea.

Takamaro Shigaraki

“The notion of Amida Buddha can be identified with a stream of Mahayana Buddhist thought that arose around the first century of the Common Era—some five hundred years after the death of Shakyamuni Buddha. On this question there remain many unresolved issues from an academic standpoint, although scholarly research has made numerous recent advances in this area. Speaking only from my own understanding, it appears that after his death Shakyamuni’s body was cremated by his followers, who then divided the bones and ashes into eight parts and passed them on to other Buddhist followers. Stupas were then constructed to house the relics, which became the objects of Buddhist worship. With the passing of time, these stupas multiplied, and groups of Buddhist followers were formed, centering on such stupa worship. Undoubtedly, such groups must have included renunciant monks. In large part, however, the groups were made up of lay devotees, whose role it was to worship and maintain the stupas. Before long people began making pilgrimages to the stupas, and a belief system centered on stupa worship was born. Gradually, within this current of beliefs and practices, a form of Shakyamuni worship came to be promoted. It was based on the notion that, although Shakyamuni Buddha left this world at the age of eighty, his life and the enlightened content of his life eternally continue to guide beings. As a result of this, the concrete human image of Shakyamuni eventually disappeared, and the idea of his new Buddha-body—Amida Buddha—was born. This then developed into the worship of Amida Buddha.

Amida Buddha is said to be the Buddha of immeasurable light (Amitabha) and immeasurable life (Amitayus). The basis for this idea rests in ideas and expressions in praise of Shakyamuni Buddha’s virtues found in stories about the Buddha’s life. According to them, Shakyamuni might have passed on from this world, but his true life is immeasurable, and his teaching—his light—has unlimited reach. Hence, he continues to guide beings even now. The concepts extolling the eternal nature of Shakyamuni’s life (his vertical axis) and the unlimited breadth of his light (his horizontal axis) eventually developed into the idea of a new and independent Buddha-body. We can see, for instance, that Shakyamuni’s beginnings as a prince overlaps with the narrative of the Larger Sutra, in which the Bodhisattva Dharmakara is said to have originally been a king. Or, as another example, the Larger Sutra tells of fifty-three Buddhas that existed prior to Amida, starting with a Tathagata named “Dipamkara,” which is identical to the name of the Buddha said to have been Shakyamuni’s teacher in the distant past. In this way, we can see that on many points the Amida narrative must have been based on the life story of Shakyamuni. It is quite evident that the idea of Amida Buddha arose as an extension and sublimation of Shakyamuni worship."

Takamaro Shigaraki