Buddha-name recitation
Repeating the name of a Buddha, above all Amida, as the practice of Pure Land Buddhism.
Pure Land Buddhists across China, Korea, Vietnam, and Japan recite the name of Amitabha Buddha, a practice called nianfo, yeombul, niem Phat, or nembutsu depending on the language. The recitation expresses trust in Amitabha's vow and the hope of rebirth in his Pure Land. It can be woven through ordinary activity, counted on beads, sung in services, or continued quietly at a deathbed.
Reciting the name of Amida Buddha is the central practice of Pure Land Buddhism, the largest form of Buddhism in East Asia. The phrase is short and is repeated, sometimes counted, sometimes continuously.
In Shinran's reading it is not a technique that earns anything. The recitation is understood as an expression of entrusting, and even the saying of it is treated as given rather than achieved, which is a sharper claim than it sounds.
It is said in daily practice, at deathbeds and at funerals, and it is the most widely recited form of Buddhist prayer in Japan.
Does it have a text?
It is a phrase rather than a prayer with a beginning and an end, six syllables in Japanese. Its meaning is inseparable from the doctrine around it, which is ground this site does not walk on without a reviewer, so it is described and not printed.
When it comes up
Other forms of prayer in Buddhist
- Buddhist meditation and recollection — Trained attention as the central Buddhist discipline, and the recollections that accompany it.
- Buddhist chanting and recitation — Communal recitation of discourses and formulas, usually in a liturgical language.
- Aspiration and dedication of merit — Directing the benefit of a good act towards others, including the dead.
- Buddhist offerings and devotional acts — Bowing, incense, flowers and light before an image, at a temple or at home.
- Buddhist mantra and embodied recitation — Repeated syllables, often with the body and the mind engaged alongside the voice.
This page describes a practice. It does not tell you how to perform it, or whether you should. Practice varies by region, community and household far more than a page like this can carry, and nobody credentialed in the tradition has signed anything here. The full dossier names its sources.