Do you need to be taught the nembutsu? Are some personalities better suited to it?
Upvote:2
Nembutsu - repeating a name of a Buddha - is a practice which might help us to
- let go of worries,
- abandon self-centeredness,
- develop exalted qualities,
- and develop concentration.
If you understand and do this practice sincerely, it might bring you benefits even if nobody particularly taught you.
The first effect, helping to drop worries, comes from the fact that people usually live in a lot of insecurity. Practising nembutsu, they don't need to rely on their weak skills anymore, they rely on Buddha. So they find a ground to feel well and secure.
The second effect, abandoning self-centeredness, results from the same change of perspective. Rather than relying to ourselves, worrying about ourselves etc., we might wish to become selfless. Nembutsu practice can constantly remind us about that, so we change our mental habits from being self-centered to a selfless view.
The third effect, developing exalted qualities, comes from concentration on qualities of Buddha, such as the wisdom of clear seeing, calmness, compassion etc. Concentration on such qualities helps them to grow in our mind and around us.
The fourth effect, developing concentration, actually reinforces our mastery of the mind, feelings of strength and security. I didn't practice nembutsu very much, just a couple of months, but I noticed that through that practice my personality became more direct and self-confident. That was an effect of chanting "námó dìzàng wáng púsà" or reciting "Kshitigarbha" (I tried both approaches) 1000 times a day. When you are walking down the street or riding a bus, regardless of other people looking at you etc., you naturally develop perseverance, confidence, and drop imaginary barriers between yourself and others.
Thus this practice can work well, and might help you to come closer to awakening.
Different people have different situations and affinities, so it's hardly possible to say in advance, how well the practice will work for you. To see the effects of practices, we should try them and directly observe our experience.
Chinese Chan (Zen) teachers might say that they use mantras and nembutsu in a different way, not like in Pure Land school. Not for reliance on Buddhas but just for developing concentration. As Buddhas are projections of the mind, why not work with the mind directly? So in Zen it's rather a supplementary practice than the main one.
Nembutsu practitioners might be criticized, because in place of attachment to self they might develop attachment to nembutsu, or to their fantasies about Buddhas, to images of Buddhas, to pleasant feelings of deep concentration etc.
Therefore, it might be recommended to keep wide awareness of your experience as a whole, rather than just immersing in chanting and forgetting everything around. The purpose of Buddhist practice is not to escape from this world but to transform our experience remaining in the midst of life.
If we overdo developing concentration-tranquility, and neglect awareness, that might develop dullness, "lazy mind", not conductive to good practice. And the opposite, developing awareness without tranquility might lead to exhaustion, because as our concentration grows, vexation also might become stronger.
So if you explore the practice of nembutsu, it's best if you keep the balance of tranquility and inquisitiveness, and keep wide awareness in order to avoid developing attachments. To let go of attachments, it's advisable to practise active helping others, Six paramitas.
More post
- 📝 Why is it hard to breathe naturally when meditating?
- 📝 How to do metta for a long time (before sleep)?
- 📝 why the disciples of the buddha introduced the buddism?
- 📝 Depersonalization phenomenon as described in the Pali Canon
- 📝 What's the role of "conceit" in the Dhamma?
- 📝 Are there other things like life?
- 📝 How to practice ignoring identification with the body?
- 📝 What is the purpose of the Mahayana 'emptiness' doctrine?
- 📝 Is there a story or a mentioning about masturbation in the Buddhist teachings?
- 📝 Source: direct literary origin of "three things a Buddha can not do"?
- 📝 Attention to itching makes me unable to focus on anything else
- 📝 Is there an Dzogchen monastery in Canada with a accomplished lineage?
- 📝 Does Paritta/Sutta really have magical power?
- 📝 Are there anything to care about in this universe?
- 📝 Downfall of the Buddhist religion?
- 📝 Experience of meditation
- 📝 Should one literally think "I am breathing in long, I am breathing out long."
- 📝 What is the difference between learning the Buddhist way and simply learning from life?
- 📝 What happened to Siddhārtha Gautama wife Yashodhara?
- 📝 What are some ways to improve my practice?
- 📝 Can (an) Urban-Dhamma lead to path, fruits and liberation?
- 📝 Can I attain to Satori in Walking Meditation?
- 📝 Relation to Jainism
- 📝 How can one Vijnana condition its subsequent Vijnana?
- 📝 Does this kind of meditation have grounding or an equivalent in Buddhism?
- 📝 error in pali source, AN 9.41 fourth jhana impurity is sukha, not upekkha: who do we report to? How to fix?
- 📝 What are the six types of equanimity based on the household life?
- 📝 what is difference between Mansikāro and Vitakā
- 📝 Enlightenment finding me
- 📝 Predetermined future vs. Free will in Buddhism
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 Do you need to be taught the nembutsu? Are some personalities better suited to it?
- 📝 Are the bodhisattva vows better suited to the lay side of Buddhism?
- 📝 What are the Ānāpānasati Kammaṭṭhāna as Taught By Ven. Kiribathgoda Gnanananda Thero
- 📝 Need some pointers about the current phase
- 📝 How are Buddhist Sacred Texts used in practice and historically, given the questioned authenticity of some of them
- 📝 Where does the Dalai Lama say '... be a better whatever you already are'?
- 📝 Can you break the five precepts (except for lying) if the need arises?
- 📝 Are some of the supernormal powers a direct contradiction to old age, sickness, and death being unavoidable?
- 📝 Why are some bodily fluids missing from the "Thirty Two Parts of the Body" teaching?
- 📝 What are some of the ways to practice confidence/ self-confidence?
- 📝 What are some techniques to practice Anatta with the five aggregates?
- 📝 What are some of the sutra's related to the Twelve Links (Nidanas)?
- 📝 Are the Jhanas related to some of the 31 realms of existence
- 📝 If you are reborn into a different realm, does that mean you just live in that realm, or you are reborn as the inhabitants?
- 📝 Where is the Buddha quoted as saying do not believe anything I say until you can prove it by yourself?
- 📝 What are the differences between vipassana and mindfulness meditation?
- 📝 How do you tell a 4-year-old who the Buddha was?
- 📝 Are Vajrayana and Tibetan Buddhism the same thing?
- 📝 What are the common buddhist practices to eliminate sleepiness?
- 📝 How are 'conceit' and 'identity-view' not the same?
- 📝 How compatible are the beliefs of atheists and Buddhism?
- 📝 What are the differences/similarities in the concept of faith as used in Buddhism and Christianity?
- 📝 What are the texts that contain words which can be attributed directly to the Buddha?
- 📝 Did the Buddha speak Pali? Are the suttas his word verbatim?
- 📝 Meditation, compassion: How to handle people who dominate you in the office?
- 📝 What are the scientifically proven benefits of mindfulness meditation?
- 📝 How much is the minimal time for practicing Vipassana in daily life for achieving better mindfulness?
- 📝 What are the other Theravada Councils held between the 4th and 6th
- 📝 Who said 'if you are too busy meditate for two hours'?
- 📝 Are there any alternative formulations of the five skandas?