Dharma Master Da'an's Collected Discourses: Methods for Buddha Recitation

Once we have established deep faith and earnest aspiration, we must turn to practice. How can we master this Buddha name, imbue it with strength, and remain in control even in the face of all kinds of karmic forces? The first step is to go deep into a single practice, recite the Buddha name with sincerity and steadiness, do not change your practice focus, and over time it will come naturally, and your skill will become refined and pure.

The Buddha established 84,000 Dharma gates, all of which are skillful means to deliver sentient beings. The four methods of Buddha recitation in the Pure Land tradition are also skillful means. Compared to conventional paths of practice, the Buddha recitation path is the most convenient; among the methods within the Buddha recitation tradition, holding the name (i.e., reciting the Buddha’s name) is the most convenient, known as the foremost skillful means among all skillful means.

Amitabha Buddha is the sovereign of the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. "Amitabha" is a Sanskrit term: should we pronounce it Āmítuófó or Ēmítuófó? In fact, both pronunciations are acceptable. The Tathagata sees and knows all; those who recite Āmítuófó can be reborn in the Pure Land, and those who recite Ēmítuófó can also be reborn there. That said, the standard pronunciation is Āmítuófó. In the Avatamsaka Sutra, the syllable "A" is the first of the 42 letters, and it carries the meaning of non-arising: that is, non-existence, emptiness, and the absence of birth and death. It is the primal sound of the universe.

Lay practitioners should set morning and evening practice routines according to their own capacity. In monasteries, practitioners recite the Shurangama Mantra, Great Compassion Mantra, Ten Small Mantras, and other texts. If laypeople are exclusively practicing the Buddha recitation path, their morning and evening practices can be simplified: simply recite the Amitabha Sutra, the Rebirth Mantra three times, and verses in praise of the Buddha, then begin reciting the Buddha's name. After finishing recitation, you only need to dedicate the merit and take the Three Refuges. Morning and evening practices are the same; the length of time spent can be adjusted based on how busy your daily life and work are.

When you recite the Buddha's name, you may find that all kinds of past thoughts and memories come up, along with countless random, distracting thoughts. These are all residual, unreal imprints from this life and past lives: they are empty and false, arising and ceasing the moment they appear. If you do not have the right understanding, you may think: "My mind is peaceful when I am not reciting the Buddha, so why do I have so many distracting thoughts when I start reciting?" This way of thinking is wrong. Distracting thoughts are always present even when you are not reciting the Buddha; you just cannot notice them. Being able to notice your distracting thoughts is actually a good thing – it is thanks to reciting the Buddha that you can become aware of them.

The method of Buddha recitation is: to gather in the six sense faculties, and maintain uninterrupted pure mindfulness. Hold the six faculties steady, recite for yourself and listen for yourself, keep your mind focused on the recitation, so that the mind that recites and the sound that is recited blend together and support each other. It is normal for distracting thoughts to arise. No matter how many random thoughts come up, as long as you recite each word and syllable clearly, your practice will stay on the right track.

If you cannot hold the six sense faculties steady, you may only be moving your mouth to recite, while your mind faculty – as unbridled as a monkey and as untamed as a horse – wanders off toward external things, lost in random thoughts. You may even be carried away by the torrent of these distracting thoughts, with your consciousness following every random notion until you no longer know what you are reciting, and naturally fall into a neutral, unthinking state of mind.

When you recite "Namo Amitabha Buddha", you will no longer entertain thoughts of the five desires and six sense dusts. The moment you let go of clinging to the five desires and six dusts, you are practicing cessation and contemplation. If you can recite this Buddha name with clear, unbroken awareness, that is cessation; if you can recite it clearly and hear it just as clearly, that is contemplation. With the skill of cessation, you will develop samadhi; with the skill of contemplation, you will develop wisdom. Cessation and contemplation in turn give rise to samadhi and wisdom.

Counting recitation: set a daily quota for yourself, with a minimum of 10,000 recitations. Spend two hours a day in quiet communion with Amitabha Buddha, letting his cool, peaceful energy purify your mind. The ten-day closed-door retreat focused on one million recitations of the Buddha’s name, where you let go of all worldly concerns and practice with diligent effort, is a method designed to address the tendency of sentient beings toward laziness and distraction.

The Ten Recitations Counting Method involves counting ten recitations. As you recite "Namo Amitabha Buddha", count "one" in your mind with the first recitation, "two" with the second, up to ten, then start over from one. This method of Buddha recitation is not tied to the breath; its focus is purely on counting.

We should recite the Buddha name at least 10,000 times per day. You should establish a fixed daily practice routine, with a minimum baseline of 10,000 recitations guaranteed each day. Ancient practitioners who sought rebirth in the Pure Land through recitation started with a minimum of 30,000 recitations a day: some did 30,000, some 50,000, some 70,000, and some even 100,000. Now we all carry heavy karmic obstacles and face immense survival pressures, so we can lower the standard somewhat: 10,000, 30,000, or 50,000 – that is surely achievable, right?

Why do we ask everyone to recite the Buddha name 10,000 times a day? If you do not even recite the Buddha name 10,000 times a day, then everything that overwhelms and permeates your mind each day are seeds of cyclic existence. As you grow more familiar with reciting the Buddha’s name, the power of these conditioned seeds grows very strong. At the time of death, the strongest seed will arise first: the vision of the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss will appear, and you will definitely be reborn there. All of this depends on the process of daily conditioning and practice.

"It is this mind that makes a Buddha, it is this mind that is Buddha" is the fundamental principle of Buddha recitation; "to gather in the six sense faculties and maintain uninterrupted pure mindfulness" is the method of Buddha recitation. With utmost sincerity and earnestness, draw back your six sense faculties, which usually run outward toward external distractions, to rest on this sacred name. Recite with a wholehearted mind, and the sacred name becomes pure; your own mind that recites is also utterly sincere. This is pure mindfulness, and maintaining it without interruption is the state of uninterrupted pure mindfulness.

Practice requires the right mindset: utmost sincerity and earnestness! These four characters are extremely important to bear in mind! Without this mindset when reciting the Buddha, the effectiveness of your practice will be greatly reduced. You must have a wholly sincere mind, with no trace of deceit or pretense. You must place the practice of reciting the Buddha to seek rebirth in the Pure Land above all else.

The Buddha Dharma places the utmost value on the practice of reverence and respect. Master Yinguang repeatedly admonished us in his Collected Writings: the benefits of the Buddha Dharma are sought through reverence. With one part of reverence, you eliminate one part of karmic obstacles and increase one part of blessing and wisdom; with ten parts of reverence, you eliminate ten parts of karmic obstacles and increase ten parts of blessing and wisdom. If you practice the Buddha Dharma without any reverence at all, the karmic consequences of such irreverence are too terrible to imagine.

Reciting the sacred name "Namo Amitabha Buddha" even once can eradicate heavy karmic obstacles accumulated over eighty billion kalpas of birth and death. This recitation is not a trivial or casual practice: you must recite with deep faith, earnest aspiration, and utmost sincerity. You must recite in a way that resonates with Amitabha Buddha’s vow power to activate the ability to eliminate such heavy obstacles. If you have no faith at all and recite with your mouth but not your heart, weakly and without effort, you will not be able to eliminate these obstacles.

Reciting the sacred name of Namo Amitabha Buddha is not just an empty sound, not just a mere physical vibration of air. It carries profound meaning within it. Reciting this sacred name is no trivial matter – it is weighty and full of significance. You must recite it with a deep, heartfelt mind, and a mind of gratitude.

Reciting the Buddha with utmost sincerity means both your aspiration and practice are fully established. The mind and action of reciting the Buddha fully encompass Amitabha Buddha's merits and virtues; recitation itself is the practice. Because your aspiration and practice are thus fully established, you will definitely be reborn in the Pure Land in this very life.

The character for nian (recite) in "Buddha recitation" has jin (present) on top and xin (heart) at the bottom: it refers to the present thought, dependent on where you place your mind. So recitation is not done with the mouth, but with the heart.

When you keep your mind fixed on "Namo Amitabha Buddha" and do not entertain thoughts of the five desires and six sense dusts, if you can recite this Buddha name with clear, unbroken awareness, clearly and distinctly, and hear it just as clearly, you will enter the serene samadhi of infinite life, and manifest the illuminating function of infinite light. This method is extremely simple, yet it condenses the most profound of all practices into a single method, fully encompassing cessation and contemplation, samadhi and wisdom, serene illumination, and the infinite light and life of Amitabha. That is why the practice of Buddha recitation is a direct, unhindered path, applying effort straight to the very core of our mind and nature.

If you find that distracting thoughts arise the moment you start reciting the Buddha, do not fix your attention on those thoughts: do not think to yourself, "Why do I have distracting thoughts again?" If you do, those distracting thoughts will only grow stronger. How do distracting thoughts become stronger? You give them power by paying too much attention to them. The more you focus on distracting thoughts, the more power they have; if you ignore them, they have no power. Just keep your attention fixed on the Buddha name.

All ordinary beings bound by karma have distracting thoughts, which come and go constantly, more numerous than even celestial beings can keep track of. Distracting thoughts are false and unreal, like floating clouds. When distracting thoughts arise, if you care about them, try to control them, or try to get rid of them, they will only become more intense: this is you giving them power. If you ignore them and do not engage with them, they will have no strength. Put all your attention on the Buddha name; do not worry about the dark clouds in the sky – they will drift away on their own. Distracting thoughts are like floating clouds: let them come if they come, let them go if they go. No matter what the clouds do, just focus on holding the sacred name. Concentrate your full attention on this Buddha name, like a cat stalking a mouse. Keep your mind fixed on the name, recite for yourself and listen for yourself, and your distracted mind will gradually grow calm and steady.

If you recite the Buddha name in large quantities, and gradually your recitation becomes more and more pure, the mind that recites and the name that is recited will gradually merge into one. Then you will understand many things, and many afflictions will dissolve in this process. This is called "subtly aligning with the wondrous Way, skillfully entering non-arising." Recite the Buddha name with a simple, humble, unassuming mind, with sincerity and steadiness, abandon all thoughts of cunning and deceit, and do not change your practice. On the level of everyday conduct, just do this; do not get caught up in discussions of lofty, profound principles first.

The Pratyutpanna Samadhi Sutra requires practitioners to walk continuously without sitting or lying down for either seven or ninety days, with the goal of seeing the Buddha face to face in the present. "Pratyutpanna" means "all Buddhas stand before one." Through this practice, one can attain great spiritual powers and great wisdom, among other attainments. This sutra is intended for bodhisattvas with superior root capacities, not ordinary beings.

In this current age, it is better to be sincere and steady, focus deeply on a single practice, generate bodhicitta, and exclusively recite Amitabha Buddha’s name at all times. The very act of reciting the Buddha is itself Chan: Chan is the Buddha’s mind, and Amitabha Buddha’s sacred name is none other than Amitabha Buddha’s mind. Since you are already resting on the Buddha’s mind, what need is there to talk about Chan separately?

The Chan practiced within the Pure Land tradition is the Chan of the Pure Land, and the Pure Land is the Pure Land of Chan. Chan and Pure Land were never two separate things to begin with; they are inherently one and the same. That is why it is said: "If a person simply recites Amitabha Buddha, this is called the supreme, profound, and wonderful Chan."

If you recite the Buddha with sincerity and steadiness, Amitabha Buddha’s light shines on you in the very moment of recitation, and your faith will only grow stronger and never weaken. If you recite the Buddha without faith and aspiration, your root of faith is very fragile, and its power cannot be manifested. If your root of faith has not taken hold, and its power has not arisen, then doubt will inevitably dominate your mind. But once you have a firm root of faith and the power of faith, doubt has no place to stand. Therefore, to make your faith grow stronger and purer, you must simply recite the Buddha with sincerity and steadiness.

This kind of person is called a “sincere, steady practitioner” (lǎo shǒu tóu). A sincere, steady practitioner has a keen awareness of the urgency of birth and death, upholds the precepts, and focuses single-mindedly on Buddha recitation. If such a person’s practice grows very deep, they can know the time of their death in advance, and pass away in full awareness, reborn freely in the Land of Ultimate Bliss.

The two characters for “sincere and steady” are very easy to talk about, but very hard to practice! Every thought we have is insincere and unsteady; every thought we have wants to be different from others, to stand out. It is human nature to grow tired of the old and fond of the new, to look at the next mountain and think it is taller, to straddle two or three boats at once. These are all the negative habitual tendencies of sentient beings, and it is very hard to make oneself sincere and steady. To be truly sincere and steady requires great wisdom and deep roots of goodness to achieve; most people only come to this state after they have suffered enough painful setbacks to learn their lesson.

A cunning, deceitful mind may help you navigate worldly affairs successfully, like a fish in water, even gaining worldly benefits. But when applied to spiritual practice, such a mind becomes an obstacle, and you will gain no benefit at all. Especially in the Pure Land path, in Buddha recitation: a deceitful mind cannot resonate with Amitabha Buddha’s great compassionate vow power, and you will not be able to be reborn in the Pure Land.

Do not seek out special meditative states or visions when you recite the Buddha. When you recite, if you can find a sense of peace and joy in the sacred name, you will enter into responsive communion with Amitabha Buddha, and his light of joy will manifest in you.

If you can recite this sacred name continuously, without a break, in a steady, unbroken flow, this is the unceasing light of Amitabha Buddha’s name blessing and supporting you, and you are already in responsive communion with Amitabha Buddha.

As long as every thought is fixed on Amitabha Buddha, this skill will arise naturally, without you seeking it. It is like the proverb: “A willow planted without intent casts a full shade” – it happens naturally, as a matter of course. If you actively seek a particular meditative state or skill, you will never attain it. Only if you recite with a mind free of grasping, with the urgency of a man with his head on fire, with a keen awareness of the urgency of birth and death, and do not seek for “unbroken recitation skill”, will you naturally attain that unbroken skill.

When establishing a fixed practice routine, you should plan both the time you will devote to practice and the number of recitations you will complete.

If you are doing household chores, you can also weave the Buddha name into your tasks: chant “Amitabha Buddha” while washing vegetables; chant “Amitabha Buddha, Amitabha Buddha” with every cut of the knife when chopping vegetables; chant “Amitabha Buddha, Amitabha Buddha, Amitabha Buddha” when you pour oil into the pan. The entire dish is “cooked” with Amitabha Buddha, and it will taste all the better for it.

When reciting the Buddha name in a group practice, the first voice you should hear is your own, followed by the collective voice of the group. If you can only hear the collective voice and not your own, this is not correct. You recite the Buddha name to listen to yourself, not to perform for others. That is why reciting for yourself and listening for yourself is extremely important.

Reciting mantras can serve as a supportive practice if you have the opportunity and conditions to do so. But you must maintain a clear primary-secondary hierarchy: if you are practicing the Buddha recitation path, reciting Amitabha Buddha’s name must be the primary practice, and mantra recitation is only secondary. You must always keep this priority clear.

When practicing the Buddha recitation path in terms of outward conduct, do not add too many other practices or elaborate visualizations. Just recite the Buddha name with sincerity and steadiness. Recite for yourself, listen for yourself, keep your mind focused on the recitation, recite clearly and listen clearly – it is just that simple. If you add one visualization after another, you will only cause problems for yourself.

When you hold the Buddha name in practice, do not add visualizations to your recitation. Keep your mind focused on the recitation, recite for yourself and listen for yourself, so that the mind that recites and the sound of the Buddha name form an interdependent, mutually supportive relationship. The Buddha name arises from the mind, is spoken aloud from the mouth, and is heard through the ears, forming a complete cycle. Recite in this way. Do not divide your attention: do not recite the Buddha name while also visualizing Amitabha Buddha’s physical marks and sublime characteristics.

The most serious fault to avoid in practicing the Pure Land path is mixing in other practices. What constitutes mixing in other practices? The Bodhisattva Jue Ming Miao Xing discusses this in his Guidance to the Western Pure Land: it includes reciting other Buddhist scriptures, holding other mantras, participating in all kinds of Dharma assemblies, enjoying discussing trivial Chan stories and cryptic Chan koans and dialogues, and speaking of matters of luck and misfortune, seeing gods and ghosts. All of these count as mixing in other practices.

Practicing mixed practices and dedicating the merit can also lead to rebirth in the Pure Land, but the probability of rebirth is greatly reduced. If you practice exclusively, no other distractions will arise to cause you to lose your right mindfulness; you will be in accord with the Buddha’s fundamental vows, will not violate the Pure Land teachings, and will follow the Buddha’s words. That is why exclusive practice is taught: ten people who practice exclusively will all be reborn, a hundred will all be reborn, ten thousand will all be reborn.

When you recite the Buddha, do not think: “I am reciting alone, I am lonely, no one cares about me, I can only rely on myself…” Instead, think in the present moment: “All Buddhas of the ten directions pity me just as a kind mother pities her only child. I am reciting the Buddha, but the Buddha cares for me even more: it is like a son thinking of his mother, and the mother thinking of her son.” If you recite with this mindset, you will feel closer to the Buddha, more secure, and have a greater sense of safety.

The World-Honored Ones of the two lands – Shakyamuni Buddha of our world and Amitabha Buddha of the Western Pure Land – constantly exhort us to uphold right mindfulness and recite the sacred name. Only by reciting the Buddha’s name with faith and aspiration can we achieve rebirth in the Land of Ultimate Bliss quickly and directly, without taking any detours. Compared to scattered, mixed practices and disorganized good deeds, this path is beyond all comparison.

With the mind of a sentient being, recollect the Buddha and recite the Buddha. “Recollect” means to call to mind or keep fixed in your mind Amitabha Buddha’s light, physical marks, majesty, fundamental vows, skillful means, wisdom, and all the splendors of the Western Pure Land that manifest through his vow power. All of this falls within the scope of “recollection”. As for “recite”: the character nian (recite) is made up of jin (present) on top and xin (heart) at the bottom. It means using the present thought, the thought of this very moment, to recite the sacred name.

Bowing to the Buddha is one of the five practices taught by the Bodhisattva Vasubandhu, namely the bodily act of worshipping Amitabha Buddha. The significance of bowing to the Buddha is immense. The Buddha’s 32 major marks and 80 secondary marks contain the full merits and virtues of the Buddha’s Dharma body. By bowing to the Buddha, Amitabha Buddha’s 32 major marks and 80 secondary marks are imprinted on our minds and in our hearts.

When we bow to the Buddha, our body worships Amitabha Buddha, our mouth recites Amitabha Buddha’s name, and our mind contemplates Amitabha Buddha. Our three karmic actions of body, speech, and mind thus form a close connection with Amitabha Buddha. The mental disposition and inner image in our hearts will then be the Pure Land, and this image forms a deep association with us. Naturally, when the person who bows to the Buddha reaches the end of life, the mental disposition they have formed will resonate with Amitabha Buddha’s Pure Land.

Because Amitabha Buddha is the embodiment of the entire Dharma realm, able to represent all Buddhas of the ten directions and three time periods (past, present, and future), bowing to Amitabha Buddha is the same as bowing to all Buddhas of the ten directions and three time periods. The merits and virtues cultivated are identical, with no difference at all.