. When you chant the name of the Buddha, you must continue to chant without pause. Whether you are dressing, eating, walking, standing, sitting, or lying down, you must never be apart from the Buddha.
The Essence of Constant Practice
How can you maintain this practice 24/7, ensuring that your chanting remains continuous and uninterrupted? When you are working, use the focused heart of a practitioner to complete your tasks perfectly. When you perform your duties with the intention of benefiting all beings, just as the Buddha does, that is the practice of chanting Namo Amituofo. When you serve the public with a compassionate heart like the Buddha’s, bringing to others, this heart is one with the Buddha; this is also the practice of chanting Namo Amituofo.
When you listen to sutras and hear the , let every word enter your heart and ears. Do not attempt to analyse the meaning or let the words enter your . By doing this, you will naturally wash away the dust of your mind and attain purity. When you can understand the meaning of every word and phrase without intellectualising, you are truly listening to the Dharma, and this is also the practice of chanting Namo Amituofo.
Purification Through Devotion
When you perform prostrations, let the Buddha-name enter your heart and ears. Follow the Buddha-name with a respectful heart as you bow. By washing away the dust and filth of your body, you attain purity; this is the practice of chanting Namo Amituofo. When you engage in walking meditation, simultaneously perform . Do this without attachment, without discrimination, and with a heart of equality. Simply observe the beings you are helping as they enter the light. Do not overthink, for thinking introduces distractions that cloud your purity. Simply follow the sacred name of Namo Amituofo and observe; this is the practice of chanting Namo Amituofo.
Resolving and Returning to Purity
When students of Hsiang Kuang Buddhist Centre resolve conflicts and invite spirits to hear the Dharma, many are able to perceive , Speech, and Mind karma created in their past lives. At that moment, you must immediately raise a heart of repentance and quickly repent, change their ways, and resolve never to repeat those mistakes. Change your personality, and keep changing it until your egoic traits are entirely gone. Do not dwell on the karma created in the past. If you think about it repeatedly, each thought enters your consciousness and becomes a karmic seed—this is pollution, and it may even attract karma to manifest before you. Why not simply chant Namo Amituofo instead? This is the true practice of chanting.
Chanting Namo Amituofo is the cultivation of pure karma. Dwelling on the past and the deeds of your many lives is the cultivation of polluted karma. Why make yourself suffer by adding more pollution to your mind? However, when the manifestation of karma occurs, you must repent and change your ways to resolve the grievances. By reconciling with these beings, you resolve your karmic debts one by one and enter into purity. Saving yourself and saving others to leave suffering behind, acting in accordance with the Buddha—this is the practice of chanting Namo Amituofo.
The Path to Buddhahood
When you recite the sutras, chant each word and phrase directly. This is the equal cultivation of meditative concentration and wisdom. Let the words enter your heart and ears without letting them enter your consciousness or attempting to break down the meaning. Once your heart is pure, you will naturally understand the meaning of the sutras. This is how one truly recites the sutras, and it is also the practice of chanting Namo Amituofo.
Those who practise in this way truly believe in the Buddha. Throughout the 24 hours of the day, in every action, they never depart from the Buddha-heart, the Buddha-vow, and the Buddha-actions. This is what it means to chant Namo Amituofo 24/7, with continuous chanting without interruption. When you chant until you reach the state where you chant without conscious effort, where your heart, vows, and actions never depart from the Buddha, and where the Buddha-name arises naturally, you will attain meditative concentration and the will manifest. Without needing other methods, your heart will naturally open. This is the moment of —the moment you realise one's true nature and attain Buddhahood!
