A Perfect Practice of the Buddhadharma

The guiding principles in Buddhism are awakening, correct understanding, and purity of mind. In other words, we are to:

1. be awakened, not deluded
2. have correct view, not deviant ones, and
   
3. maintain a pure mind, not a contaminated one.

To achieve these goals, we practice the Threefold Learning of discipline, meditative concentration, and wisdom. Buddhists will recognize these as the underlying principles in many of the Buddha's teachings, for example, the Noble Eightfold Path and the Six Paramitas.

Master Lianchi, also known as Master Zhuhong, the Eighth Patriarch of the Pure Land school explained how the Threefold Learning can be perfectly practiced through nianfo—mindfully chanting "Amituofo."

“We must also recognize that this discipline, concentration, and wisdom are equivalent to the Dharma-gate of buddha-remembrance. How so?

• Discipline [precept keeping] means preventing wrongdoing. If you can wholeheartedly practice buddha-remembrance, evil will not dare to enter: this is discipline.
• Concentration means eliminating the scattering characteristic of ordinary mind. If you wholeheartedly practice buddha-remembrance, mind does not have any other object: this is concentration.
• Wisdom means clear perception. If you contemplate the sound of the buddha’s name with each syllable distinct, and also contemplate that the one who is mindful and the object of this mindfulness are both unattainable, this is wisdom.”

~ Pure Land, Pure Mind, Trans. J.C. Cleary

The practice of nianfo, elegant in its simplicity, can help us to perfectly practice the Buddhadharma.