Master Shandao once spoke these words, simple, earnest, and thoroughly penetrating. He said:

The Name Amitabha is the sword that clears all our karmas when invoked.

       We are tied by the eighty-four thousand^[1] ropes of greed, anger, and ignorance. It is not possible to untie these knots by our own efforts, instead, we only cause the situation to become more chaotic and tangled.

       Of course, the fully enlightened ones may exercise their swords of wisdom to cut off those ropes one by one, thus achieving liberation from samsara.

        We, mortals, do not possess such wisdom swords. But, if we utter “Namo Amitabha Buddha,” without any of our effort, the Buddha, with his Sword of the Six-Character-Name,^[2] the Sword of Infinite Wisdom and Infinite Light, will cut off all our karmic roots. Every sound of Namo Amituofo severs the eighty-four thousand ropes of affliction. None will bind us again. How wonderful a feeling of being free we shall experience at last. 

       If we rely on our own efforts to achieve liberation, how long do you think it will take?

       Instead, let us constantly recite Namo Amitabha Buddha and the Sword of the Buddha-name will eradicate all our vexations and afflictions. He always stands on guard, next to us. As long as we call his Name, the Buddha’s infinite light will embrace us and protect us.  

(Translated by the Pure Land School Translation Team; edited by Kevin Orro (Fozhu))

^[1] In ancient India, “eighty-four thousand” means a number uncountable.
^[2] The six-character-name in Chinese pinyin are Na-mo A-mi-tuo Fo. Fo is Buddha.