What Is the Realm of Meditative Concentration of Recollection of the Buddha (Buddhānusmṛti-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 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 preliminary state of the recollection of the Buddha (buddhānusmṛti) samādhi, which is a state of meditative concentration (samādhi). 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 even recite. The manas can recite the Buddha's name automatically on its own, or recite together with the mind consciousness. When the manas recites the Buddha's name alone, the state of meditative concentration is deep; when reciting together with the mind consciousness, the state of meditative concentration is shallow. This may also be the result of the Buddha's blessing and加持. Ordinary people's minds are scattered and their power of faith is not strong, so it is not easy for such a state of recollection-of-the-Buddha samādhi to appear.

Some people call the state of seeing various appearances of Buddhas by the solitary mental consciousness the recollection-of-the-Buddha samādhi, but this is actually a spiritual response (ganying), not the recollection-of-the-Buddha samādhi. Although such a response is also a manifestation of good roots, it differs from the recollection-of-the-Buddha samādhi. The recollection-of-the-Buddha samādhi 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 trailing on, unceasing in the ears, lingering around the beams for three days. Body and mind feel relaxed and joyful; one may feel the body floating in the air, tall, light, and ethereal, without obstruction, without any sense of bodily heaviness.