Recite Amitābha’s Name as Chinese Buddhists do

Practise nianfo — “Namo Amituofo” — as part of Buddhist practice as a whole, as it has long been practised in China, Chan monasteries included.

Warum es wirkt

The translator’s introduction to the Three Pure Land Sutras observes that the practice of repeating Amitābha’s Name, nianfo, “was and is enthusiastically performed by many Chinese Buddhists.” Robert Sharf argues that there is little evidence of an independent, self-conscious Pure Land school in medieval China: Pure Land cosmology, soteriology and ritual were part of Chinese Buddhism in general and Chan monasticism in particular, so no “synthesis” of Chan and Pure Land was needed. Charles Jones frames Chinese Pure Land as a tradition of practice rather than a sect. Reciting the Name here sits alongside other Buddhist practice rather than replacing it.

So gehst du vor

1. Learn the Chinese form, “Namo Amituofo” — the Contemplation Sutra’s “Homage to Amitāyus Buddha.”
2. Recite it steadily, aloud or silently, keeping the Name clear in mind with each repetition.
3. Combine it with the other practice you already keep — sitting meditation, sutra recitation, precepts — rather than treating it as a rival path.
4. Hold the aspiration for birth in the Pure Land as the reason for the recitation.
5. If you want to go further, practise with a Chinese Buddhist temple or teacher, since methods of nianfo vary.

Evidenz

The observation about Chinese practice and the Chinese form of the Name are in the Inagaki translation (introduction; Contemplation Sutra section 30 and glossary). Sharf’s argument is set out in the abstract of his 2002 T’oung Pao article; Jones’s 2019 book, which treats Chinese Pure Land as a tradition of practice, includes a chapter on methods of nianfo. The support is historical and textual. (anecdotal)

Not studied as an outcome. Scholars disagree about how to describe the history: the older picture of a Chinese Pure Land patriarchate and of “Chan/Pure Land syncretism” is exactly what Sharf contests, and this page follows his and Jones’s framing without settling the debate.

Quellen

• Inagaki, H. (trans.), in collaboration with Stewart, H. The Three Pure Land Sutras: The Larger Sutra on Amitāyus, The Sutra on Contemplation of Amitāyus, The Smaller Sutra on Amitāyus. Revised second edition. BDK English Tripiṭaka Series. Berkeley/Moraga: BDK America, 2003 (first edition 1995).
• Sharf, R. (2002). On Pure Land Buddhism and Ch’an/Pure Land syncretism in medieval China. T’oung Pao, 88(4–5), 282–331.
• Jones, C. B. (2019). Chinese Pure Land Buddhism: Understanding a Tradition of Practice. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press.
• Jones, C. B. (2019). Methods of nianfo in Chinese Pure Land Buddhism. In Chinese Pure Land Buddhism: Understanding a Tradition of Practice (pp. 127–147). University of Hawai‘i Press.

Häufiger Fehler

Reading Chinese Pure Land through the Japanese schools — assuming it must exclude meditation or other practice; Jones argues it should not be understood through the Japanese tradition’s lens.