Sit up straight in the presence of the Buddha. Let Namo Amida Bu be everywhere. Practise intensive Jodo Soto. Sit on a cushion, bench or chair with the spine upright, head balanced on the spine. Outwardly still, seeking the still point within. With each out breath, silently, “Namo Amida Bu”. Breath out a little further than usual. The breath moves and the heart beats, but one remains still. “Namo Amida Bu” on the out breath. After a bit, the breath shortens of its own accord. One becomes even more still. Just “Mida” is now sufficient. Body relaxed, poised; mind bright, intense. Watch for the zero point, the source. If thoughts or images appear, one has gone too far, trace back to the origin. Stay in the silent presence of Buddha. Search. Search. Do not waste a moment. Do not waste your life again. Buddha behind, vastness in front. Rest at zero with full intensity, very quiet. A hair breadth deviation is too much. If there is joy, let it come, let it be, but do not cling. If there is vast peacefulness, likewise. If there are thoughts or images, let them pass: merely clouds in the sky: let them blow away. Attainment is just this, to sit up straight in the presence of the Buddha. Namo Amida Bu.
Shunryu Suzuki wrote: “To take care of the exhalation is very important. To die is more important than trying to be alive. When we always try to be alive, we have trouble. Rather than trying to be alive or active, if we can be calm and die or fade away into emptiness, then naturally we will be alright. Buddha will take care of us. Because we have lost our mother's bosom, we do not feel like her child anymore. Yet fading away into emptiness can feel like being at our mother's bosom, and we will feel as though she will take care of us. Moment after moment, do not lose this practice of shikantaza. Various kinds of religious practice are included in this point. When people say 'Namu Amida Butsu, Namu Amida Butsu,' they want to be Amida Buddha's children. That is why they practice repeating Amida Buddha's name. The same is true with our zazen practice. If we know how to practice shikantaza, and if they know how to repeat Amida Buddha's name, it cannot be different. So we have enjoyment, we are free.”
- Suzuki S. 2002. Not Always So, Harper Collins. p.7
Repeating Buddha's name is nem. Sitting up straight is zen. When you do nem zen, you must be deadly serious, as serious as if you were dying. There is no such thing as casual zazen. Casual is not it. If you are seeking the still point, you must be completely still in body and mind. After breathing out there is a hiatus, then the natural reflex to breath in sets in. If you allow it to be totally a reflex, then it is movement without movement, if you get my meaning. The breath moves, but you do not move. Actually, the breath may become very short, but this should not be because you have chosen to shorten it. You have chosen to do nem zen and to find the zero point, and started with a slightly lon breath, but soon the breath shortens of its own accord.
The Anapanasati Sutta speaks about paying attention to the long breath and the short breath:
"Breathing in long, he discerns, 'I am breathing in long'; or breathing out long, he discerns, 'I am breathing out long.' Or breathing in short, he discerns, 'I am breathing in short'; or breathing out short, he discerns, 'I am breathing out short.'"
Then, perhaps a thought will drift into your mind. Perhaps you think, “I’m doing this quite well”, but this thought then easily hijacks your attention and probably another thought creeps in behind it and soon you are lost. Then, maybe you notice what is happening and the thoughts blow away. The sutta says:
"He trains himself, 'I will breathe in calming mental fabrication.' He trains himself, 'I will breathe out calming mental fabrication.'"
When this really happens, sometimes there comes a spontaneous joy. It wells up. You can’t help a smile spreading, not just on your face, but all through your body. This is second dhyana. At this point it is especially important to keep to stillness. Just let it happen. Here, the “Mida” can be a great help. The smile - the feeling of joy - may stay or go, nothing to worry about, but stay with the stillness in all seriousness.
It is important to see nembutsu zen - nem zen - as religion. It is not just a physical keep fit, nor a psychological exercise. It is not for making you a better person - that might happen, but it is not the point. It is connecting you to the higher realm. It is a way by which to allow the Buddha to take hold, the Dharma to take over your life. It is like a kind of prayer: “I make this space in my heart; please come and fill it. Lead me. I am ready.” Do not worry about names, the Nameless will draw you forth, will take you to the place of no birth and no death. This is more serious than dying.
NEM ZEN Q&A
QUESTION: Can you explain the terms nem and zen?
ANSWER: Yes. Zen is meditation, or contemplative prayer. Adepts (yogis) have been doing it since time immemorial. Nem means mindfulness and, in a Buddhist context, mindfulness of Buddha and his Dharma, hence nembutsu. So Nemzen is the practice of Buddhism: contemplation permeated by or saturated with Buddha and his Dharma.
QUESTION: So all Buddhist practice is nemzen?
ANSWER: As with many terms, there is a broad meaning and a narrow meaning. In the broad sense, yes. This is what we call extensive practice: having Buddha & Dharma in mind in every activity of life. We live in this alarming world of impermanence and affliction and Buddhists have this refuge in Dharma - that is extensive nemzen: the Buddha's calm presence with you in everything you do. But then there is also intensive practice when one sits on the cushion (za-zen) and focusses the mind. For this Buddhism offers many methods. By nemzen in this narrow sense, is meant the use of nembutsu in zazen.
QUESTION: Can you say some more about nembutsu?
ANSWER: Nembutsu means bringing Buddha & Dharma to mind. In East Asian Buddhism this is generally by using some variant upon the phrase "Namo Amida Bu" (Namu Amida Butsu in Japanese, Namo Adida Phat in Vietnamese, Omito Fo in Chinese, etc). In Tibet the commonest is Om Mani Padme Hum. In South Asia Namo Tassa Bhagavato, Arahato, Samasmabuddho, or just Buddho. The actual form of words varies, but the sentiment is the same: it is an anchor for the mind accessing the whole Buddha Dharma.
QUESTION: So, in a few words, how do you use nembutsu in zen?
ANSWER: By mounting nembutsu on the breath.
QUESTION: I notice that in your description you teach long breath and short breath rather than natural breath as we hear in many other meditation instructions. Why is this?
ANSWER: There are several reasons. Firstly, many people practising according to the "choiceless awareness" type of instruction tend just to drift. They are not really meditating, simply relaxing while the mind wanders. Relaxation has value, but it is not the highest form of practice. Real meditation requires intensity - a kind of waiting with bated breath. Secondly, the Anapanasati Sutta only talks about long breath and short breath. It does not talk about medium, average or ordinary breath. Thirdly, Starting the session with slightly lengthened breath creates a distinction between practice and the rest of one's time. One has to make a little effort at the beginning: a longer exhalation with "Namo Amida Bu" - in fact "Namo Amida Buuuuuuu". One is settling into the practice. As Dogen says in Fukanzazengi, "Once you have found your posture, breathe in and out deeply, sway left and right and then settle firmly and steadily." So, after a few long breaths, maintaining sharp attention, what generally happens is that the breath becomes short. One is barely breathing at all. The breath is bated by one's poise. One becomes very still. This is intense practice. If the mind is still prone to wander, one can say "'Mida" with each tiny exhalation, bring the sense of the Buddha presence enfolding. One is entering into the great spacious silence of big sky mind, which is complete willingness in the midst of other power. By this way of long and short breath it is easier to arrive at intensity and the experience of emptiness. Of course, if one is an experienced practitioner, sometimes the initial stage is unnecessary - big sky mind appears as soon as one sits on the cushion, but this is not always the case and having these steps enables one to enter the practice fully even when it does not just take care of itself.
QUESTION: Can you sum up the relation between Pureland and Zen in a few words?
ANSWER: There could be many answers to this question. Pureland gives one an intensely religious or mystical sense of faith and gratitude. In that gratitude one feels the desire to make the best one can of this life, for all its failures and limitations. Zen, by training the heart-mind, does just that.
QUESTION: Why Nem-Zen rather than just Nem or just Zen?
ANSWER: All three options are good. However, Pureland alone carries a danger of laxness and complacency, whereas Zen carries a danger of spiritual pride and ambition. If Zen is grounded in faith and gratitude, the pitfall may be avoided. If Pureland is invigorated by Zen, likewise. Kennett Roshi used to say, "It's like two ends of a tunnel: if you go in Zen you come out Pureland and if you go in Pureland you come out Zen." Buddhism that, on the one hand, lacks devotion, or, on the other, lacks rigour, will not last.
~ Dharmavidya, April 22, 2025
Notes
Nem means nembutsu, the one thought moment of allowing Buddha into one’s heart, filling one’s life.
Zen means silent illumination, the silence before words and illumination by the presence of Buddha.
Zazen is sitting zen.
Jodo is the practice of Nem. Pure Land.
Soto is the practice of Zen.
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