What Is the State of Buddha-Recollection Samādhi?

Question: The master told us that when we sit down to meditate, we should first recite "Namo Original Teacher Śākyamuni Buddha" three times. After I recite it, whether I am sitting down or getting up from sitting, I will automatically recite this Buddha's name. It is not that I need to recite it many times—my mind automatically recites the Buddha's name. What is going on?

Answer: This is the most initial state of the samādhi of recollection of the Buddha (buddhānusmṛti-samādhi), that is, a state of meditative concentration. The recollection of the Buddha has become unified into one piece—reciting without reciting. The manas automatically recites, without the mind consciousness needing to remind it; the mind consciousness need not recite either. The manas can automatically recite the Buddha's name on its own, or it can recite together with the mind consciousness. When the manas recites the Buddha's name alone, the state of meditative concentration is deep; when it recites together with the mind consciousness, the state of meditative concentration is shallow. This may also be the result of the Buddha's power blessing. Ordinary people's minds are scattered and their power of faith is not strong, so it is not easy for them to manifest this state of the samādhi of recollection of the Buddha.

Some people call the state of seeing various appearances of Buddhas by the solitary consciousness (mano-vijñāna-eka-citta) the samādhi of recollection of the Buddha, but this is actually a response (sympathetic resonance), not the samādhi of recollection of the Buddha. Although such a response is also a manifestation of good roots, it differs from the samādhi of recollection of the Buddha. The samādhi of recollection of the Buddha lasts longer—twenty or thirty minutes, or even several days and nights. The sound of the Buddha's name arises automatically in the mind, its lingering echoes unceasing in the ears, lingering around the beams for three days; body and mind are relaxed and joyful, and one may feel the body floating in the air, tall, light, and agile, without obstruction, without any feeling of bodily heaviness.