Zen
Nianfo chan

Nianfo (Jp. nembutsu, from Skt. buddhānusmṛti "recollection of the Buddha") refers to the recitation of the Buddha's name, in most cases the Buddha Amitabha. In Chinese Chan, the Pure Land practice of nianfo based on the phrase Nāmó Āmítuófó (Homage to Amitabha) is a widely practiced form of Zen meditation which came to be known as "Nianfo Chan" (念佛禪). Nianfo was practiced and taught by early Chan masters, like Daoxin (580-651), who taught that one should "bind the mind to one buddha and exclusively invoke his name". The practice is also taught in Shenxiu's Kuan-hsin lun (觀心論). Likewise, the Ch’uan fa-pao chi (傳法寶紀, Taisho # 2838, ca. 713), one of the earliest Chan histories, shows this practice was widespread in the early Chan generation of Hung-jen, Fa-ju and Ta-tung who are said to have "invoked the name of the Buddha so as to purify the mind."

Evidence for the practice of nianfo chan can also be found in Changlu Zongze 's (died c. 1107) Chanyuan qinggui (The Rules of Purity in the Chan Monastery), perhaps the most influential Ch’an monastic code in East Asia. Nianfo continued to be taught as a form of Chan meditation by later Chinese figures such as Yongming Yanshou, Zhongfen Mingben, and Tianru Weize. During the late Ming, the tradition of Nianfo Chan meditation was continued by figures such as Yunqi Zhuhong and Hanshan Deqing. Chan figures like Yongming Yanshou generally advocated a view called "mind-only Pure Land" (wei-hsin ching-t’u), which held that the Buddha and the Pure Land are just mind.

The practice of nianfo, as well as its adaptation into the " nembutsu kōan " is a major practice in the Japanese Ōbaku school of Zen. The recitation of a Buddha's name was also practiced in the Soto school at different times throughout its history. During the Meiji period for example, both Shaka nembutsu (reciting the name of Shakyamuni Buddha: namu Shakamuni Butsu) and Amida nembutsu were promoted by Soto school priests as easy practices for laypersons.

Nianfo chan is also widely practiced in Vietnamese Thien.
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