Danger at the Waterfall, Saved by "Namo Amitabha Buddha"
True Account
Danger at the Waterfall, Saved by "Namo Amitabha Buddha"
I am Ng, from Malaysia. The Name "Namo Amitabha Buddha" is one most people have heard, even those who are not Buddhists. A colleague of mine, caught between life and death, was saved by this very Name. What follows is the account he shared with me.
It was the afternoon of Sunday, 5 April 2026. On a whim, my colleague's father suggested that the whole family go swimming at the waterfall in Ulu Yam, Selangor. They set off in high spirits, and at the waterfall they found a pool on higher ground. That day, the four of them had the whole place to themselves.
His mother and younger sister sat chatting on a large rock, while he and his father went into the water. Before they went in, everyone had noticed that the water in the middle of the waterfall was darker in colour, and his mother made a point of warning father and son not to swim out to the middle.
Perhaps carried away by the fun, his father forgot his mother's warning and kept swimming out towards the middle. My colleague, more cautious, stayed close to the bank; but he could not stop worrying about his father, and kept glancing up in that direction.
He saw his father dive under once and surface again quickly. But the second time, after his father went under, he did not come up—and my colleague swam over at once.
When he reached his father and stretched out his hand to pull him, he suddenly felt a powerful force dragging him down into the depths—there were undercurrents and whirlpools hidden beneath the surface.
Father and son struggled desperately. My colleague swam towards his father again and again; but his father, panicking at the edge of death, instinctively pushed him under, used him to push himself up to the surface, and then swam with all his strength for the bank.
By now his mother and sister on the shore were in tears, screaming for help. But there was no one around—only the echo of the waterfall.
Pushed under by his father, my colleague was then dragged by the undercurrent towards deeper water. He told me afterwards that in that moment, everything in him refused to accept it: he did not want to leave this world so young, still less to die there.
At that very moment, he began reciting silently in his heart: "Namo Amitabha Buddha, Namo Amitabha Buddha…" As he recited, to his astonishment, the force pulling him down suddenly let go; seizing the chance, he broke free of the undercurrent and swam back to the bank in one breath.
The Name "Namo Amitabha Buddha" looks simple, yet it holds an inconceivable power. Caught between life and death, my colleague suddenly remembered this Name—and so came through the danger unharmed. Hearing his story, I am all the more certain: this "Namo Amitabha Buddha" is a Name anyone can recite, and anyone who recites it will be protected by the Buddha. Namo Amitabha Buddha.
With palms joined, Ng
Submitted to the Pure Land Dharma Center, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
A Note from Master Jingben
Master Shandao said: "When sentient beings take up the practice of constantly reciting the Buddha's name with their mouths, the Buddha hears them … when they wish to see the Buddha, the Buddha responds to their thought and appears before them." The moment a being recites the Buddha's name, the Buddha knows; and knowing, how could he fail to respond?
Consider the man in this account at the moment he was drowning: his own father could not save himself, let alone him; his mother and sister on the bank could only cry out; there was no one around; and the undercurrent kept dragging him down. Human strength, family ties, cries for help—not one of them could be relied upon. The only thing he could lean on was the Name "Namo Amitabha Buddha." And Amitabha Buddha's deliverance is directed precisely towards the one who is most helpless.
The undercurrent at the waterfall can drag down a person's body; the undercurrent of birth and death drags down a person's lives, one after another. This time, "Namo Amitabha Buddha" pulled him out of the water; but what Amitabha Buddha truly seeks to save is every one of us, lifted out of the ocean of birth and death. Reciting the Buddha's name can bring us safely through danger, and it can also free us from birth and death. If we do not recite it, what a loss that would be.
May readers take this from the account: "Namo Amitabha Buddha" was brought to completion by Amitabha Buddha for the sake of all sentient beings. In times of danger, recite it and he responds; in ordinary times, recite it often and the heart is at peace. Those who already recite, please keep on reciting; those who never have, why not begin today, and let the Buddha's name become part of daily life. Namo Amitabha Buddha.
This article was finalized in October 2026.
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