How Should a Timid Person Recite the Buddha's Name? | Master Jingben
【Q&A Series】
How Should a Timid Person Recite the Buddha's Name?
Besides this, I often think: I brought my child into this world to suffer, and I truly blame myself for it. My child will one day have to face birth, ageing, sickness and death, and so will I. I am a very timid person, easily frightened; no matter how I recite the Buddha's name, I am still afraid. I am also afraid that my son will grow up as fearful as I am. What should I do? I have truly tried every way I can, and still I cannot stop being afraid.
Master Jingben Answers: Namo Amitabha. Let me first say this to you: to feel afraid is the normal state of us ordinary beings. It is not your fault, and still less is it because you have not recited well enough. Precisely because we feel fear, because we suffer, because we cannot save ourselves — for this very reason Amitabha Buddha made his great vow for us. So please be at ease: recite the Name with your fear and all, and Amitabha Buddha will just as gladly catch you and hold you.
1. Reciting the Name Never Brings Suffering
Let me first clarify the most important point for you: suffering is inherent in samsara itself — it is not brought on by reciting the Name. Reciting the Name is precisely the way out of all this suffering. One who recites the Name is, in this life, protected and embraced by the Buddha's light, with heavy karma received lightly; and at life's end is reborn in the Land of Ultimate Bliss, where all suffering is ended. Reciting the Name brings only benefit, never loss. The thought that "reciting the Name will make things worse" — please set it down; there is no such thing.
2. Do Not Measure Recitation by a Single Case
First of all, with accounts circulating online, we have no way of verifying whether they are true, nor do we know the causes and circumstances behind what happened to the person concerned; on the strength of a one-sided account, a report that shows us nothing of the whole picture, we are truly in no position to judge. Furthermore, accidents and karmic conditions are simply beyond what we ordinary beings can reckon. What a person meets with in this life involves karmic conditions from countless kalpas past — far too deep and too complex for us to infer. But one thing is certain: whatever the case, it was never a misfortune brought on by reciting the Name. Those who recite the Name in this world are indeed constantly protected by the Buddha's light: great troubles are reduced to small ones, and small ones to nothing at all — it is simply that things are resolved unseen, beyond what our fleshly eyes can perceive. So the more we witness the impermanence of this world, the more we should recite the Name — not fear it.
3. There Is No Need to Blame Yourself
A child comes into this world drawn by his own karmic conditions; the mother has not "done him harm." And consider this: the most precious gift you can give your child right now is this one phrase, "Namo Amitabha." Because your child has a mother who recites the Name, he has something to rely on in this life and a place to return to in the next — the suffering of this Saha world is something none of us can avoid, but with this Name, he has a way out of suffering. So please turn your "self-blame" into "gladness": precisely because you cherish your child and fear that he may suffer, all the more reason to bring him along and recite the Name together.
4. Recite Even While Afraid
Timidity is a habitual tendency carried over many lifetimes; there is no need to fight against it — the harder you try to "not be afraid," the more tense you become.
Try another way instead: when you are afraid, simply recite the Name. It is not that "only when you recite until the fear is gone does it count as success"; rather, it is "afraid and still afraid, reciting and still reciting" — like a small child who, afraid of the dark, snuggles into her mother's arms: nestling there, little by little, the heart settles. The fear is still there — that is all right. Amitabha Buddha's embrace is never diminished because we are afraid. Recite on like this, and as the days go by, that fear will fade of its own accord.
What is more, once your own heart is at peace, your son will naturally learn from his mother: "When I am afraid, I have Amitabha Buddha to rely on." — and that is the finest courage you could ever give him.
So please be at ease: Amitabha Buddha watches over us always. Reciting the Name with your fear and all, you are embraced by the Buddha just the same. With Amitabha Buddha here, you and your child are not facing this world alone. Namo Amitabha
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