Please Recite the Buddha’s Name

Essays No. 21 – No. 30

Please Recite the Buddha’s Name

(by Grand Master Lian Chi)

For those who practice the Buddha’s teachings, inward cultivation is far more valuable than outward displays of religiosity. Lay practitioners need not wear monastic robes or caps but simply recite the Buddha’s name wearing ordinary attire. There is no need to strike wooden fish or drums but simply recite silently. There is no need to gather in groups or join societies but simply recite behind one’s closed doors. There is no need to visit a temple to hear sutras expounded but simply recite in accordance with the teachings. Traveling a thousand miles to offer incense is not as good as sitting peacefully at home and reciting the Buddha’s name. Following heretical teachers is not as good as practicing filial piety and reciting the Buddha’s name. Cultivating ties with demonic companions is not as good as reciting the Buddha’s name in solitary purity. Performing rituals to “deposit merit” for the next life is not as good as enjoying the bliss in the present through reciting the Buddha’s name. Making vows to seek protection or ward off misfortune is not as good as repenting, renewing oneself, and reciting the Buddha’s name. Studying the texts of heterodox paths is not as good as reciting the Buddha’s name without knowing a single written character. Ignorantly spouting theories about Chan is not as good as honestly observing precepts and reciting the Buddha’s name. Seeking supernatural powers from spirits or demons is not as good as reciting the Buddha’s name with right faith in the law of cause and effect.

In short: to rectify the mind and eliminate evil while reciting the Buddha’s name is to be a “good person”; to gather the mind and dispel distraction while reciting the Buddha’s name is to be a “virtuous person”; to awaken the mind and sever delusions while reciting the Buddha’s name is to be a “sage”.

Furthermore: to those with abundant leisure, please recite the Buddha's name - since you have concluded family duties and are free from cares, you are ideally situated to devote yourself wholeheartedly to reciting the Buddha's name and chanting anywhere from several thousand to tens of thousands of times daily.

普勸念佛

夫學佛者，無論莊嚴形跡，止貴真實修行。在家居士，不必定要緇衣道巾，帶髮之人，自可常服念佛。不必定要敲魚擊鼓，好靜之人，自可寂默念佛。不必定要成群做會，怕事之人，自可閉門念佛。不必定要入寺聽經，識字之人，自可依教念佛。千里燒香，不如安坐家堂念佛。供奉邪師，不如孝順父母念佛。廣交魔友，不如獨身清淨念佛。寄庫來生，不如見在作福念佛。許願保禳，不如悔過自新念佛。習學外道文書，不如一字不識念佛。無知妄談禪理，不如老實持戒念佛。希求妖鬼靈通，不如正信因果念佛。以要言之：端心滅惡，如是念佛，號曰善人。攝心除散，如是念佛，號曰賢人。悟心斷惑，如是念佛，號曰聖人。

又

一勸極閑人念佛。婚嫁都畢，子孫克家，安閑無事，正好盡心盡力念佛。每日念幾千聲，乃至幾萬。

一勸半忙閑人念佛。半了不了，或忙或閑，雖不極閑，亦可忙時治事，閑時念佛。每日念幾百聲，乃至幾千。

一勸極忙人念佛。勤勞王事，奔波家業，雖無閑時，也須忙裡偷閑念佛。每日晨朝十念，乃至日間或念幾百。