Nenbutsu
Practices念仏 ・ Reading: nenbutsu
Definition
The prayer Namu Amida Butsu, calling on Amida Buddha in trust of rebirth in his Pure Land. Spread by wandering holy men in the Heian period and made the heart of the Jōdo schools in the Kamakura period, it is Japan's most widely spoken Buddhist prayer.
What the words mean
Namu Amida Butsu means roughly "I take refuge in Amida Buddha". Amida is the Buddha of Infinite Light who vowed to save all beings who call on him, welcoming them after death into his Western Pure Land, a realm where enlightenment is easy to reach. Saying the nenbutsu is therefore an act of trust: salvation is carried by Amida's vow, not by the speaker's own effort or learning.
From elite practice to everyone's prayer
In the Heian period, holy men like Kūya danced through the streets chanting the nenbutsu, and scholars taught it as a deathbed practice. The great turn came in the Kamakura period: Hōnen taught that the nenbutsu alone was enough for anyone, founding the Jōdo school, and his student Shinran carried the idea further in what became Jōdo Shinshū, today Japan's largest Buddhist tradition. You will hear the nenbutsu chanted at temple services and funerals, and see its six characters carved on stone monuments along old pilgrim roads.
Common questions
- What does Namu Amida Butsu mean?
It means "I take refuge in Amida Buddha". Reciting it expresses trust that Amida's vow will carry the speaker to rebirth in his Pure Land, regardless of their own learning or merit.
- Which schools center on the nenbutsu?
The Pure Land schools founded in the Kamakura period: Jōdo-shū (Hōnen), Jōdo Shinshū (Shinran), and Ji-shū (Ippen). Jōdo Shinshū is the largest Buddhist tradition in Japan today.
- Where might I hear the nenbutsu?
At services and funerals of Pure Land temples, at memorial rites, and in folk performances such as nenbutsu odori dancing. Stone monuments carved with the six characters line many old roads.