Nianfo

Nianfo (Chinese: 念佛; pinyin: niànfó 念仏 (ねんぶつ, nenbutsu) Hangul: 염불; RR: yeombul Vietnamese: niệm Phật, is a term commonly seen in Pure Land Buddhism. In the context of Pure Land practice, it generally refers to the repetition of the name of Amitābha. It is a translation of Sanskrit buddhānusmṛti (or, "recollection of the Buddha").

Indian Sanskrit Nianfo

Although the Sanskrit phrase used in India is not mentioned originally in the bodies of the two main Pure Land sutras, it appears in the opening of the extant Sanskrit Infinite Life Sutra as the following:

The apostrophe and omission of the first "A" in "Amitābha" comes from normal Sanskrit sandhi transformation, and implies that the first "A" is implied and spoken more quickly. A more accessible rendering might be:

The phrase literally means "Homage to Infinite Light". The Sanskrit pronunciation is the following:

Nianfo in Various forms

As the practice of nianfo spread from India to various other regions, the original pronunciation changed to fit various native languages.

Jōdo Shinshū

Jōdo Shinshū (浄土真宗, "True Pure Land School"), also known as Shin Buddhism, is a school of Pure Land Buddhism. It was founded by the former Tendai Japanese monk Shinran. Shin Buddhism is considered the most widely practiced branch of Buddhism in Japan, with 20% of the population of Japan identifying as members of the sect.

History

Shinran (founder)

Shinran (1173–1263) lived during the late-Heian early-Kamakura period (1185–1333), a time of turmoil for Japan when the emperor was stripped of political power by the shoguns. Shinran's family had a high rank at the Imperial court in Kyoto, but given the times, many aristocratic families were sending sons off to be Buddhist monks instead of having them participate in the Imperial government. When Shinran was nine (1181), he was sent by his uncle to Mount Hiei, where he was ordained as a śrāmaṇera in the Tendai sect. Over time, Shinran became disillusioned with how Buddhism was practiced, foreseeing a decline in the potency and practicality of the teachings espoused.

Amitābha

Amitābha (Sanskrit pronunciation: [əmiˈt̪aːbʱə]), also Amida or Amitāyus, is a celestial buddha described in the scriptures of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Amitābha is the principal buddha in Pure Land Buddhism, a branch of East Asian Buddhism. In Vajrayana Buddhism, Amitābha is known for his longevity attribute, magnetising red fire element, the aggregate of discernment, pure perception and the deep awareness of emptiness of phenomena. According to these scriptures, Amitābha possesses infinite merits resulting from good deeds over countless past lives as a bodhisattva named Dharmakāra. "Amitābha" is translatable as "Infinite Light," hence Amitābha is also called "The Buddha of Immeasurable Life and Light".

Doctrine

According to the Larger Sūtra of Immeasurable Life, Amitābha was, in very ancient times and possibly in another system of worlds, a monk named Dharmakāra. In some versions of the sūtra, Dharmakāra is described as a former king who, having come into contact with Buddhist teachings through the buddha Lokeśvararāja, renounced his throne. He then resolved to become a buddha and so to come into possession of a buddhakṣetra ("buddha-field", a realm existing in the primordial universe outside of ordinary reality, produced by a buddha's merit) possessed of many perfections. These resolutions were expressed in his forty-eight vows, which set out the type of buddha-field Dharmakāra aspired to create, the conditions under which beings might be born into that world, and what kind of beings they would be when reborn there.