nembutsu

…of invoking the name Amitabha—called nembutsu in Japanese and nianfo in Chinese—became popular in China and Japan, where it was believed that the world had reached the decadent age, the so-called “latter days of the law” in which Buddhist doctrines were unclear and humans lacked the purity of heart or…

…thing needed for salvation is nembutsu.

…his teaching of the “exclusive nembutsu” (senju nembutsu): invoking the name of Amida Buddha is the sole practice assuring enlightenment in the Pure Land. Hōnen’s religious movement provoked controversy and was censured by several powerful temples, including the Tendai monastery on Mt. Hiei and the Kōfuku Temple in Nara. In…

…the permeating effect (yūzū) of nembutsu, the invocation of the name of the Buddha Amida (Amitabha). Thus, the belief was that not only the person who chants the name but all humanity benefits from the practice of nembutsu. The sect was founded in the early 12th century by an evangelistic…