The Nembutsu
Also called Namu Amida Butsu.
The recitation of Amida Buddha's name in Pure Land Buddhism.
The Nembutsu is the recitation of Amida Buddha's name. In Pure Land teaching it is not a technique for earning anything; it is understood as an expression of entrusting, and Shinran's reading treats even the saying of it as given rather than achieved.
It is said in daily practice, at deathbeds, and at funerals, and it is the most widely recited form of Buddhist prayer in Japan.
Why the words are not here
It is six syllables in Japanese, and what would matter to publish is not the phrase but its setting, which is doctrinal ground the site does not walk on without a reviewer.
Every text on this site names the edition it came from and was checked against it twice. A prayer nobody can cite an edition for does not get printed here, however well known it is. The verification record lists what was held back and why, and how rights are established explains the test.
When people look for this
The moments this prayer is associated with. Each page carries cited guidance on how different traditions meet that moment.
Where it belongs
This page describes a prayer and, where we hold one, prints a named edition of it. It does not tell you whether to say it, or when. That judgment belongs to someone credentialed in the tradition, and nobody has signed anything here.