Recently I was told about a woman who chanted "Amituofo" for hours every day. All her friends were impressed with her dedication. Her family was very proud of her, and she felt that she was doing very well in her practice.
Then one day, she suddenly became ill and died. When she opened her eyes in another realm, she expected to see the Western Pure Land. But to her great consternation, she looked around and realized she was in a very different place! Panicking, she began to try to figure out what was happening. Then she saw the king of the underworld approaching her.
Not understanding any of this, she asked "Where am I? What is happening?" The king of the underworld confirmed her worst fears. She was indeed in the hell realms. Not knowing how this could have happened to her, she told him about the thousands of hours she had chanted "Amituofo." She asked why wasn't she in the Pure Land.
To be just, the king told an attendant to bring out a large sieve as well as the bag containing all the chants the woman had done. Feeling more confident the woman felt that now everything would be straightened out. As the attendant began to pour the bag of chants into the sieve, the only sounds were of the chants pouring into the sieve. And then came the sound of them falling through the sieve's holes.
The woman leaned over and peered into the sieve. She saw one lone chant that was large enough to have not fallen through the holes. She looked up at the king questioningly. He returned her gaze and asked, "Do you remember the day you were under a tree when a terrible thunderstorm suddenly blew over? You were terrified and curled up next to the tree trunk. Suddenly a large flash of lightning lit the sky all around you and at the same instant there was a tremendous crash of thunder right above you. You called out in fear "Amituofo!"
"That is the one lone chant that was large enough to have not fallen through the holes in the sieve. That was your one chant of true concentration and sincerity."