The Benefits of Visualizing the Buddha's Image and Reciting the Buddha's Name

Ven. Shi Ruyuan: Regarding the practice of reciting the Buddha's name, the method my mother and I used for recollection of the Buddha (buddhānusmṛti) was just as the Master described—placing the emphasis on the principal deity (yidam), not on the Buddha's name or the sound. We did not recite for the sake of reciting the name, nor did we recite to make the sound pleasant. When I first began reciting the Buddha's name, I knew nothing of the Buddha's name or His merits; I recited while looking at a Buddha image, as if I were actually seeing the principal deity, Amitābha. I taught my mother to recite in this same way, and it was quite beneficial.

How did I achieve meditative absorption through reciting the Buddha's name (buddhānusmṛti-samādhi)? At the very beginning, my elder brother obtained for me a dignified paper Buddha image, beneath which were written six large characters: Namo Amitābha. At that time I did not know what "Namo Amitābha" meant; I thought it was just an ordinary name, not knowing it was the Buddha's honored epithets—Infinite Light, Infinite Life, the World-Honored One—and even less did I know that Amitābha is the teaching lord of the land of bliss (sukhāvatī) in the West.

When I first recited the Buddha's name, I would sit before the Buddha image in the morning, at noon, and in the evening, reciting and prostrating to the image. At that time I thought the more I recited the better, and the more I prostrated the better, so I made a vow to recite one thousand five hundred times a day. After reciting for a week, I felt weaker and weaker the more I recited, and no longer wanted to recite; I would just stare blankly at the Buddha image, thinking, not wanting to move. Later, whenever I entered the Buddha hall to prostrate and recite, I would see the Buddha image emit a distinct radiance, making my body and mind comfortable and filled with Dharma joy; I was so moved that I involuntarily recited aloud. When I recited aloud, my child's father would quarrel with me and forbid me to recite, calling it superstition. So I sincerely contemplated the Buddha and recited in my mind, not reciting for the sake of reciting the name, not knowing how to recite properly. Later, by chance I met the Master, and only then did I learn the correct method of reciting the Buddha's name. I then felt the blessings of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas and of the Master, who taught me so many supremely wonderful and subtle dharmas!

Assessment: Reciting the Buddha's name while contemplating an image has many benefits. First, using the eye faculty to contemplate the Buddha image while reciting is relatively direct and intuitive; the experience is stronger, the feeling more real, one easily merges into that state, the impression is deep, one remembers the image, and reciting can concentrate and gather the mind—without scattering and distraction, and it is not easy to have stray thoughts. Second, it is easy to generate reverence, admiration, affection, and sincerity toward the Buddha, giving rise to a mind of reliance, a mind of dependence, and deep faith, whereby one can receive the Buddha's power of blessing, automatically bring forth pure vows, and recite with deep faith and earnest vows. Moreover, one becomes willing to follow in the Buddha's footsteps with actual practice, walking the Bodhisattva path. Third, the Buddha image is concrete, so reciting can be well-directed; one can continually deepen one's recitation practice, gradually reaching the level of mindful recollection of the Buddha, and a shadow of meditative absorption through reciting the Buddha's name will appear.

Those who have not yet seen obvious results from reciting the Buddha's name may try reciting while contemplating an image. Find a very dignified Buddha image that delights your heart when you look at it, and every day contemplate the image while reciting. Once you have become familiar with contemplating the image, train yourself to close your eyes and mentally visualize and recollect it; the Buddha image will gradually appear in your mind, and even in dreams a Buddha will appear.