The relation between hearing the Name, faith and saying the Name of Amida Buddha

Amida Buddha promised in His Primal Vow that those who entrust to Him, say His Name and wish to be born in His Pure Land (“sincerely entrust themselves to me, desire to be born in my land, and say my Name perhaps even ten times[1]”) will be born there.
 
The reason faith (“entrust to me”), desire to be born in the Pure Land, as well as the saying of the Name (Nembutsu) are mentioned in the same Vow is because they cannot be treated separately. One who has faith in Amida Buddha will naturally say His Name and wish to be with Him in the Pure Land. Thus, there can be no faith separated from Nembutsu, and no Nembutsu separated from faith. Also, there can be no faith and no Nembutsu of faith without the desire to be born in the Pure Land.
 
Recently, a reader expressed the opinion that to say the Name of Amida Buddha is secondary to “hearing the Name”. This is a grave misunderstanding of the Jodo Shinshu teaching which cannot arise if we properly understand the term “hearing the Name”. So, to hear the Name means to have faith (shinjin), as Shinran clearly explained, 
"'Hear the Name': is to hear the Name that embodies the Primal Vow. ‘Hear’ means to hear the Primal Vow and be free of doubt. Further, it indicates shinjin (faith)”[2]
 
"Hearing the inconceivable selected Primal Vow and the Holy Name of supreme wisdom without a single doubt is called true and real shinjin (faith).”[3]
 
Also, to have faith (hear the Name) means to say the Name (Nembutsu),
 
"There is no Nembutsu separate from shinjin (faith), nor is the one moment of shinjin separate from the one moment of Nembutsu".[4]
 
Master T’an-luan was of the same opinion,
 
“All beings, having heard Amida’s virtuous Name,
Attain joyful faith, rejoice in what they hear,
And call His Name even once.'”[5]
 
There can be no faith (shinjin) without the saying of the Name and no genuine saying of the Name without faith, as Shinran said,
 
"Amida vowed to take into the land of bliss those who say the Name, and thus, to entrust oneself deeply and say the Name is to be in perfect accord with the Primal Vow. Though a person may have shinjin (faith), if he or she does not say the Name it is of no avail. And conversely, even though a person fervently says the Name, if that person's shinjin is shallow he cannot attain Birth. Thus, it is the person who both deeply entrusts himself to Birth through the Nembutsu and undertakes to say the Name who is certain to be born in the true fulfilled land."[6]
 
Rennyo Shonin had the same understanding of the Nembutsu (Namo Amida Butsu) being the same with faith,
 
"'Namo' means 'to take refuge in'; it means to entrust yourself to Amida with the assurance of your salvation."[7]
 
Logical conclusion: Hearing the Name is faith (shinjin) and faith is to say the Name. None is secondary to another because they cannot be separated.
 
Question: In relation with the above, what is the meaning of the following sentence,
 
"Neither those who say the Name more than ten times nor those who only hear the Name are omitted or excluded from birth in the Pure Land”.[8]
 
My answer: The passage above may refer to people of faith who either live long and can enjoy vocal Nembutsu many times, or die before saying at least one Nembutsu with their lips. In the latter case, hearing means to hear the Primal Vow in faith and turn one’s thought automatically towards Amida Buddha. To think or turn one’s thoughts towards Amida is the same as saying/reciting His Name. Thinking to Amida Buddha with thoughts of faith equals the vocal saying of the Name in faith. Thinking is the same with saying, as one who says the Nembutsu actually thinks to Amida, and the one who thinks to Amida will move his lips to say the Name if he does not die before being able to do that or if he is not mute.
Please do not complicate your mind unnecessarily.

 

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[1] What is the meaning of “say my Name perhaps even ten times” from the Primal Vow? Shinran Shonin explained:
"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."  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
[2] 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.474
[3] Shinran Shonin, Notes on the Essentials of Faith Alone, The Collected Works of Shinran, Shin Buddhism Translation Series, Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji-ha, Kyoto, 1997, p.454
[4] Shinran Shonin, Lamp for the Latter-Ages, letter 11, The Collected Works of Shinran, Shin Buddhism Translation Series, Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji-ha, Kyoto, 1997, p.538
[5] Hymns in Praise of Amida Buddha (Tsan ami t’o fo chieh) [composed by Master T’an-luan], as quoted by Shinran in his Kyogyoshinsho – On Teaching, Practice, Faith, and Enlightenment III, translated by Hisao Inagaki, Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research, Kyoto, 2003, p. 88
[6] Shinran Shonin, Lamp for the Latter-Ages, letter 12, The Collected Works of Shinran, Shin Buddhism Translation Series, Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji-ha, Kyoto, 1997, p.539
[7] Thus I Have Heard from Rennyo Shonin (Rennyo Shonin ‘s Goichidaiki Kikigaki), translated by Hisao Inagaki, Dharma Lion Publications, Craiova, 2008, p.18
[8] Shinran Shonin, Notes on the Inscriptions on Sacred Scrolls, The Collected Works of Shinran, Shin Buddhism Translation Series, Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji-ha, Kyoto, 1997, p.506