The focus of Nembutsu involves mindfulness of Amida Buddha, and the recitation of the sacred name, Namu Amida Butsu, which means "I follow/return back to Amida Buddha.” Through the practice of Nembutsu, people share and derive spiritual benefit for themselves and others.

What is the Purpose of Nembutsu?

1) To let all beings and spirits go to Pure Land, which is to live in a peaceful and happy state in this world. Enlightenment right here, right now.

2) For all to receive the merit, wisdom, compassion, majestic power and great love of Amida Buddha.

Why Should one practice Nembutsu?

In our daily lives it is easy to feel separated and cut off from the Source of what is, from other people, and even from ourselves. We are all looking for ways to overcome the suffering in our lives, and to unify with ourselves and all other beings. Through the practice of Nembutsu we realize that there is no separation between our own happiness and that of others. By genuinely wishing for others to overcome and reach peace and happiness, we contribute to our own well being and inner harmony. This is the core teaching of Mahayana Pure Land Buddhism.

Pure Land Buddhism encourages us to heed the bidding of Shakyamuni in the Larger Amida Sutra, and to relinquish all of our spiritual needs to Amida Buddha. In so doing, we accept the Vow (will, mind or intention) and the Name of Amida ("Namu Amida Butsu") and, therefore, our ultimate destiny - Buddhahood, Nirvana. When this happens, our life becomes a joyful adventure, characterised by a sense of indebtedness & gratitude.

The difficulty many of us have is in accepting that Amida's Great Love accepts us exactly as we are, with wisdom and compassion, and no need or judgement for us to become "good or better" people. All of us have an unendurably painful dark side: deep and terrible greed, anger, sadness and a host of other feelings. Worse, we are profoundly ignorant of and constantly shocked at our own insensitivity. Within ourselves, we discover the existential pain that afflicts us all in this "Last Dharma Age."

Yet Nembutsu can be with us in all situations, joyful or painful, without exception. This is why Amida has given us his Name. This is why his Primal Vow is also called "The Universal Vow". The Primal Vow as the "Great Ocean" because it takes in and accepts all people, no matter who they are, just as countless life-forms live in, and depend upon, the ocean.

What is Pure Land?

Pure Land is, in fact, Nirvana or Buddhahhood - ultimate realisation of transcendence; in Buddhist terms "extinction of birth and death".

A Buddha is free of all attachment and aversion and has realised the true nature of things: wisdom and compassion. So it is that our goal does not end in self-absorbed bliss but in reaching out to others to help them as well. In the way that Shakyamuni returned to ordinary human society after his Enlightenment, Amida Buddha initiated - in his Twenty-second Vow - our "return"to this world, so that we may become active in leading others to enlightenment "so that the boundless ocean of birth-and-death be exhausted".

What Attitude is Important When Practicing Nembutsu?

People who assiduously absorb themselves in meditation everyday and faithfully keep the precepts in order to 'earn' deliverance, can often be motivated by an obsessive self-concern that may sometimes border on spiritual hypocrisy, whereas the same practices observed in a spirit of selfless gratitude and joy with no thought to any gain are doubtlessly closer to the real spirit of Buddhism.

To fail in one's efforts to live up to the high standards of the Buddhist way of life is not so much a cause for despair as it is an occasion for remorse and deep self-reflection on one's shortcomings and limitations coupled with a profound gratitude to Amida Buddha for a) helping one to realize the distress of our human condition and b) assuring us of his salvation and enlightenment despite our imperfections which we cannot hope to eradicate of our own accord. To be deeply imbued, in this way, by Amida's mind of compassionate wisdom is to live the life of a true person.