At Sixteen, I Met the Buddha's Name on My Path of Study
True Account
At Sixteen, I Met the Buddha's Name on My Path of Study
Namo Amitabha Buddha. I am Winston, from Malaysia, twenty years old this year, and now studying at university. What I would like to share with you is my affinity with this Name over the past few years.
In fact, at the beginning, I was not someone who recited the Buddha's name. When I was small, what my family taught me to recite were some sutras and mantras.
Later, when my grandfather passed away, an assisted-recitation group came to recite the Buddha's name for him—for a full eight hours. After that, our family began reciting the Kṣitigarbha Sutra. That sutra left a deep impression on me, because it really is very long.
When I recited the Kṣitigarbha Sutra myself, each recitation took two hours, and gradually I felt it becoming a heavy burden—the text was too long, and took too much time. Around that time, because there were vegetarians in my family who recited the Buddha's name, I had heard a saying: "Better than reciting sutras is reciting mantras; better still is reciting the Buddha's name." So I went on YouTube and searched for "Amitabha Buddha"—and that was how I found Master Jingben, and began watching his Dharma talks.
Of all the Master's teachings, one line struck me most deeply: "What the Buddha says, you don't listen to—yet you go and listen to what people say." Why would anyone ignore the Buddha's own teaching to recite his name, and instead believe others who say that reciting is useless? That line woke me up. From then on, I recited only "Namo Amitabha Buddha." Looking back, I believe it was Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva who handed me over to Amitabha Buddha.
I began reciting the Buddha's name at sixteen. That was the year we had to choose our streams in secondary school, and I chose the Pure Science stream. Pure Science means physics, chemistry and biology, with advanced mathematics on top—generally regarded as the heaviest path in secondary school. Many people said that, as a rule, no one gets through it without tuition. But relying on the Buddha's power, I made my way through those two years of study without difficulty; I had no tuition, yet I could understand everything in the textbooks. Whenever I came to something I could not grasp—especially in advanced mathematics—I would think it over, and somehow it would become clear. I deeply believe this was the compassionate light of Amitabha Buddha watching over me.
In the trial examination of my final year of secondary school, the papers set in our state were notoriously difficult; yet I did reasonably well, and scored A in every subject—I believe this was the blessing of the Buddha and Bodhisattvas. In the national examination that followed, I scored nine As.
Today, I am at university, studying medicine.
Over these years, I have kept up the habit of reciting the Buddha's name, and every night before sleep I still set aside five minutes for it. I would like to share this Name, "Namo Amitabha Buddha," with fellow practitioners who are also on the path of study, and with all lotus friends.
Namo Amitabha Buddha
With palms joined, Winston
A Note from Master Jingben
Some people think that reciting the Buddha's name is something for old age—children are busy with their studies, so let them wait until they are grown. In fact, it is quite the opposite: the younger one is, the more one needs this Name.
The Sutra of Immeasurable Life says that Amitabha Buddha is called the Buddha of Immeasurable Light, of Boundless Light, of Unhindered Light… and of Light Surpassing Sun and Moon—twelve kinds of light in all; and that "when beings meet this light, the three defilements are dissolved, body and mind become soft and gentle, they leap with joy, and good thoughts arise." A child who recites the Buddha's name while studying receives exactly this support: when something cannot be understood, the Light of Wisdom breaks through the darkness; when the heart is in turmoil, the Light of Joy brings peace; when one feels unable to go on, the Unhindered Light shines through. Those who recite are held in the Buddha's light—when the mind is settled, thinking is naturally clear; when there is no panic, a way through the problem naturally opens.
And to receive all this, one need not first complete any amount of practice. For those who find the sutras too long and the mantras too many, one Name—"Namo Amitabha Buddha"—is enough; and this one Name, which even the busiest of people can recite, is precisely what makes this path so precious.
So there is no need to wait. Students need not wait until they graduate, working people need not wait until they retire, and the elderly, least of all, need wait until tomorrow. Recite in the gaps between studies, recite on the way to work, and recite all the more in the quiet hours of later life; recite in good times, and recite in hard times too. A life in any occupation, at any stage, can be a life of reciting the Buddha's name—and a life of reciting the Buddha's name is a life held in the care of Amitabha Buddha. Namo Amitabha Buddha.
This article was finalized in September 2026.
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