The number of Nembutsu recitation is NOT important as long as we rely on Amida’s Power

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There are some who teach that Nembutsu must be said many times in order to reach birth in the Pure Land, thus forgetting the Power behind the Name which makes the Nembutsu effective.

I would ask these people to try using their own names, John, Marc, Mary, etc, and see if they can attain birth in the Pure Land through them. Of course, they can’t and the reason why is that theirs are empty names without any power.

As the Nembutsu is the saying of Amida’s Name it belongs to Amida and is infused with His infinite merits and Power. This is why it works in bringing us to the Pure Land at the end of our physical bodies. So, it is extremely important that our saying of the Name should be an expression of faith in Amida, and NOT in our capacities to say it often or seldom. 

Each of us has his/her own personal relation with Amida Buddha who saves us one by one, having us always in front of His compassionate eyes. We do not need to be heroes, have the same visions or recitation capacities like Masters of the past, but simply say the Nembutsu according to our personal conditions while keeping in mind that Amida did NOT impose a fixed number of recitations in order to be born in His Pure Land: “say my Name perhaps even ten times”. This expression “perhaps even ten times” means ANY NUMBER from one to ten or to hundreds, thousands and as many as we can.

Honen Shonin explained: 

"Master Shan-tao earnestly practiced the vocal Nembutsu without stopping until he was completely spent. He repeated Nembutsu to the extent that he perspired in the freezing cold. [...] We may think that only those who have a dauntless and bold heart, such as Master Shan-tao, whose authenticity is supreme, could achieve birth in the Pure Land and that the rest of us could not. [...]  The rest of all sentient beings, like us, need not compare ourselves with him in order to achieve birth in the Pure Land."[1] 

So, be yourself in your relation with Amida Buddha, relax and say His Name according to your situation. As Amida himself does not compare you with others, why would you do it? 

Here is a very important passage from Honen’s Essential Discourse on Birth in the Pure Land through Nembutsu: 

" Question: Which is superior in merit: a mere single utterance of Nembutsu or ten repetitions of Nembutsu?

Answer: They have the same merit with regard to birth in the Pure Land”[2]. 

Why do they have the same merit? Because the merit is in Amida himself and only Amida owns the merits of His own Name. This is also why ten thousand repetitions have the merit as one or ten – because, I repeat, the merit belongs to Amida! Thus, Honen said: 

“The number of recitations is not the issue”."[3] 

His disciple Shinran, also said: 

"In the Primal Vow are the words:
'Saying my Name perhaps even ten times'.

Know from the words 'ten times' that appear from the beginning in the Vow itself that saying the Name is not limited to one utterance. And the word 'perhaps even' makes it clearer still that there is no set number of times one should say the Name."[4] 

It saddens me to see how people often forget that in the Primal Vow, Amida mentioned the saying of His Name in relation with faith: “sincerely entrust themselves to me, desire to be born in my land, and say my Name perhaps even ten times”. Thus, it is ONLY if one has faith in Amida that the saying of His Name is effective in fulfilling one’s desire to be born in the Pure Land.  Unfortunately, many nowadays have faith in themselves when they say Amida’s Name, so they think that their mental or verbal capacities are essential for birth in the Pure Land. This is similar with changing the wording of the Primal Vow into something like: “sincerely entrust to yourself and say my Name perhaps even ten times”. 

You might be surprised to find that not only those who think the Name must be said many times are attached to their self-power but even those who think the Name must be said once or a few times only. Any “must” in relation with the number of Nembutsu is a heresy from the point of view of Honen, Shinran and the Primal Vow itself.  Both those who advocate the doctrine of many-callings of the Name or the doctrine of once-calling are attached to their own power, thinking that somehow Amida’s work of salvation can be improved or obstructed by saying His Name many times. Both categories are focused on themselves and not on Amida who is the only real Power behind His Name. 

Honen said: 

"There seem to be many who say that reciting Nembutsu sixty thousand times a day and repeating Nembutsu as many times as possible will be to doubt the compassionate power of Amida Buddha. Don't lend an ear to such misguided notions. [...] 

It is a grave misconception to call someone who recites Nembutsu many times as a 'practitioner of nembutsu with self-power.' Someone who recites Nembutsu merely once or twice, relying on his own efforts, is referred to as a devotee of nembutsu with self-power. Conversely, if one recites Nembutsu continually one thousand or ten thousand times each day and night for one hundred or one thousand days, with complete reliance on the power of the Primal Vow and with respect for the compassionate power of Amida Buddha, this Nembutsu, with each mindful utterance, is considered to be Nembutsu with Other Power."[5] 

The only aspect that makes the difference between false nembutsu and true Nembutsu is not to be found in the number but in having or not having faith - “complete reliance on the power of the Primal Vow”. “Mindful utterance” means that one is mindful of Amida’s Power which means he knows that his Nembutsu recitation is effective because of Amida, not his personal capacities. 

I myself have days when I say Nembutsu many times and when I say it a few times, but in both situations I do not forget that it is Amida Buddha himself who makes my one or ten or a thousand recitations effective in bringing me to the Pure Land, not the movement of my lips, my focus, or any so-called spiritual capacities and fake goodness that can be found within myself. 

Please also read here my detailed explanations on this topic of once-calling and many-callings 

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[1] Honen Shonin, An Outline of the Doctrine for Birth in the Pure Land. The Promise of Amida Buddha - Honen's Path to Bliss; English translation of the Genko edition of the works of Honen Shonin - Collected Teachings of Kurodani Shonin: The Japanese Anthology (Wago Toroku), translated by Joji Atone and Yoko Hayashi, Wisdom Publications, Boston, 2011, p.101

[2] Honen Shonin, Essential Discourse on Birth in the Pure Land through Nembutsu. The Promise of Amida Buddha - Honen's Path to Bliss; English translation of the Genko edition of the works of Honen Shonin - Collected Teachings of Kurodani Shonin: The Japanese Anthology (Wago Toroku), translated by Joji Atone and Yoko Hayashi, Wisdom Publications, Boston, 2011, p.124

[3] Honen Shonin, Essential Discourse on Birth in the Pure Land through Nembutsu. The Promise of Amida Buddha - Honen's Path to Bliss; English translation of the Genko edition of the works of Honen Shonin - Collected Teachings of Kurodani Shonin: The Japanese Anthology (Wago Toroku), translated by Joji Atone and Yoko Hayashi, Wisdom Publications, Boston, 2011, p.124-125

[4] Shinran Shonin, Notes on Once-Calling and Many-Calling, The Collected Works of Shinran, Shin Buddhism Translation Series, Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji-ha, Kyoto, 1997, p.482 

[5] Honen Shonin, Instruction in the Seven Articles. The Promise of Amida Buddha - Honen's Path to Bliss; English translation of the Genko edition of the works of Honen Shonin - Collected Teachings of Kurodani Shonin: The Japanese Anthology (Wago Toroku), translated by Joji Atone and Yoko Hayashi, Wisdom Publications, Boston, 2011, p.137