Nembutsu of faith and gratitude

We often speak in our tradition about Nembutsu as being the expression of gratitude for the assurance of birth in the Pure Land by Amida Buddha. It’s a correct understanding, and Master Rennyo especially emphasized this aspect in his letters in order to help people not to fall into the wrong view of considering Nembutsu as a self power practice – such as, for example, to think that the better or longer you recite the Name, the more chances  you have to be born in the Pure Land.  

 

In the same time as being the expression of gratitude, the Nembutsu is also the expression of faith, and one can find the same Master Rennyo using for example, words like “recitation of the Nembutsu arising from True Faith” in his Goichidaiki Kikigaki (Thus I Have Heard from Rennyo Shonin) or saying that „our realization of Other Power faith is itself expresses by the six characters ‚Namo Amida Butsu’”[1]. Both aspects, Nembutsu as the expression of faith and Nembutsu as the expression of gratitude (of saying „thank you, Amida Buddha”) appear in Master Rennyo and Master Shinran’s texts. 

 
“Namo” from “Namo Amida Butsu”, means “homage to”, which expresses gratitude („thank you”) and also “to take refuge” which expresses faith (shinjin). It is logical that one cannot have gratitude to Amida if he has not received faith in Him.  Only because I entrust in Amida, being convinced that His Primal Vow is true and reliable, I am able to trully say thank you. This is why I always explain the Nembutsu as the natural expression of faith and gratitude. It is natural because it is not forced by my will and not created by my own power.  It is natural because in its ultimate sense both faith (shinjin) and the saying of the Name (Nembutsu) come from Amida.  

 

Nembutsu is the calling of our mother, Amida Buddha, to whom we, as her children lost in the dangerous streets of samsara, answer immediately. It is due to the power of the Mother’s call and her love that the child is able to answer and say Namo Amida Bu, Namo Amida Bu, thus taking refuge and expressing gratitude. The child’s answer is the mother’s call that manifests like an echo in his heart and also on his lips when he answers, Namo Amida Bu[2], Namo Amida Bu.

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Now there is another matter that troubles some people in relation with the Nembutsu.  

One day we say Nembutsu often, while the next day we might say it a few times. But there is no problem with this. Don’t worry. The number is not important. Faith does not increase or decrease because we say the Name often or seldom. Also, gratitude to our physical mother does not increase or decrease because we say „I love you/thank you” often or seldom. The gratitude and faith in your mother is there in your heart, no matter how often you express it verbally.

I also like to use another comparison – we don’t always feel our breathing, but this doesn’t mean that our breathing doesn’t exist. Sometimes we feel it better when, for example, we are fascinated by the clear air of the mountains or of a beautiful morning and we take long and deep breaths, while some other time we are too hurried and busy in our daily life to focus on it. However, the breath has always been there with us since we were born, being a part of ourselves, even though we don’t experience it consciously every minute. The same applies to faith and Nembutsu. The faith is there, inside you, since the first time you entrusted in Amida Buddha and you were born as a person of faith. No matter what you do in your every day life, eating, sleeping, going to toilet, spending time with your girlfriend or boyfriend, being sad or happy, sober or drunk, the faith is there and cannot be destroyed (once fully settled) by anything, not even by the worst of your blind passions. From time to time you express this faith and your gratitude to Amida Buddha by saying vocally or in your mind, Namo Amida Bu, Namo Amida Bu.

So, don’t worry about anything, relax and enjoy saying the Nembutsu of faith and gratitude whenever you like it. Amida doesn’t keep a record of how many times you say His Name.

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[1] Letters of Rennyo – “On All the Holy Texts”, fascicle V.

[2] Bu is the shortened form of Butsu, used sometimes in reciting the Nembutsu. There is no difference between Bu and Butsu. Sometimes in reciting the Nembutsu Namu is used instead of Namo, but they mean the same thing.