Homage to Amitabha Buddha
Namo 'mitabha buddhaya: a short Sanskrit homage to Amitabha, the Buddha of Infinite Light, drawn from the Sukhavativyuha tradition of the Pure Land.
Verses
Salutations to the Buddha of Infinite Light.
Worship Guidelines & Chanting Benefits (Phalashruti)
Daily or auspicious lunar days (Ekadashi, Purnima, Pradosham)
Brahma Muhurta (4:00 AM – 6:00 AM) or Evening Dusk (Sandhya)
Ghee lamp (Deepa), Incense (Dhoopa), Fresh flowers & Water offering
- Peace of mind, spiritual upliftment, and harmonious energy in the home
Background
Namo 'mitabha buddhaya is a short Sanskrit homage to Amitabha, the Buddha of Infinite Light. It is a devotional formula built on the opening of the Sanskrit Larger Sukhavativyuha Sutra, which begins with homage in the words namo 'mitabhaya, homage to Amitabha, and namo 'mitayushe, homage to Amitayus, the Buddha of Immeasurable Life. That sutra tells of Amitabha's pure land, Sukhavati, the Blissful Land, and of the vows he made before becoming a Buddha. The page's formula adds the word buddhaya, to the Buddha, and is not a verbatim line of the sutra. The practice of calling Amitabha's name is central to Pure Land Buddhism. In East Asia it is said as Namo Amituofo in Chinese and Namu Amida Butsu in Japanese. It can be said by anyone as a moment of refuge and mindful respect.
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The words
Namo is homage, amita is immeasurable, abha is light, and buddhaya is to the Buddha. Joined together, they say homage to the Buddha of immeasurable light. The sutra's homage also names Amitayus, immeasurable life, so the one Buddha is honoured as both light and life.
The sutra's opening verse
The Sanskrit Sukhavativyuha opens with homage to all buddhas and then the lines namo 'mitabhaya jinaya te mune, sukhavatim yami te canukampaya. These mean homage to Amitabha the Conqueror, O Sage; I go to Sukhavati through your compassion.
The vows
The Sanskrit Larger Sutra lists 47 vows of the bodhisattva who became Amitabha, the last numbered 47. Vow no. 19 speaks of beings who hear his name and turn their thoughts to being born in his land, even with ten thoughts. The Chinese version of the sutra has 48 vows, and there the 18th is the famous one.
Calling the name
In Chinese the formula is Namo Amituofo, and in Japanese Namu Amida Butsu. In these forms it is repeated aloud and silently, as a form of mindfulness of the Buddha.
A note on grammar
In namo 'mitabha buddhaya, the word buddhaya is in the dative case, meaning to the Buddha. The apostrophe in 'mitabha stands for the vowel a of amita, which is dropped after namo.
Buddha
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