Mindfully Reciting the Eighty-Eight Buddhas is a Good Spiritual Practice

Editor’s Note:

The names of the Eighty-Eight Buddhas transcend time and space. Through the teachings delivered by the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas across the worlds of the ten directions, repentance liturgies transmitted over generations, chanting services, and daily recitation practices, the Eighty-Eight Buddhas continue to encounter and resonate with people of different spiritual capacities.

Drawing on Buddhist scriptures and the cultivation narratives of patriarchs and eminent monks, this article explores moments of encounter between the Buddhas and practitioners.

■Editorial Office

Paying homage to the Fifty-Three Buddhas leads to the attainment of Buddhahood for three thousand people

In the Sutra on Contemplation of the Medicine King and Supreme Medicine Bodhisattva (Bhaiṣajyarājabhaiṣajyasamudagatabodhisattvasūtra, in Sanskrit), the Supreme Medicine Bodhisattva teaches the method of repentance for committing the five heinous crimes and ten evil deeds. He explains that, in the distant past, the Saha World was once graced by the long abidance of Fifty-Three Buddhas, among them Vairocana Buddha, Dipamkara Buddha, and Universal Purity Buddha, who remained in the world until sentient beings attained accomplishment, after which they entered nirvana.

In accordance with the original vows of these Fifty-Three Buddhas, those who listen and recite their names, and pay them reverent homage with sincere faith can eradicate the karmic offenses accumulated over countless eons of birth and death, avoid falling into evil paths, and, life after life, continually encounter the Buddhas throughout the ten directions.

As the assembly praised these supremely wondrous merits, the Buddha, following the exposition of Supreme Medicine Bodhisattva, also recounted that, countless eons ago, in the Dharma-ending Age when the Sūryaraśmi Buddha was dwelling in the world, he himself had been a monastic practitioner. Upon casually hearing the names of the Fifty-Three Buddhas, he joyfully and reverently joined his palms and immediately made the vow to propagate these names, so that many others might likewise recollect the Buddhas in accordance with the Dharma.

Through successive transmission among practitioners, the teaching spread until three thousand people, with utmost sincerity, prostrated themselves and recited the names of the Fifty-Three Buddhas. Among these three thousand people, the first thousand achieved Buddhahood in the past kalpa, vyūhakalpa; the second thousand achieved Buddhahood in succession in the present kalpa, Bhadrakalpa (Wise Kalpa). The practitioner who propagated the recitation of the Buddhas’ names was the fourth Buddha, Sakyamuni Buddha; and the final thousand will attain Buddhahood in the future kalpa, Nakṣatra-kalpa. 

“Not only did the three thousand achieve Buddhahood sequentially across the three kalpas, but all Buddhas of the ten directions and the virtuous Tathagatas, upon hearing and reciting the names of the Fifty-Three Buddhas with a single-minded heart of reverence, also achieved Buddhahood throughout the worlds of the ten directions.”
Indeed, countless kalpas ago, these Buddhas had already met and formed connections on the Bodhi path, accompanying and guiding each other through practice and learning.

Je Tsongkhapa's spiritual responsiveness of the Thirty-Five Buddhas appearing in full

In The Chapter of Upali from the Sutra of the Great Jewel Heap, a disciple asked the Buddha: “If someone has committed a grave offense, how should they repent?” The Buddha replied: “Remain in solitude day and night, pay homage to the Thirty-Five Buddhas, and contemplate the merits of all the Tathagatas. In this way, with utmost sincerity, one’s repentance becomes purified.”

The practice of prostrating and repenting to the Thirty-Five Buddhas has become widely transmitted in Tibetan Buddhism. Je Tsongkhapa (1357–1419), founder of the Gelug tradition, further integrated grand prostrations with the repentance ritual. This method has been passed down through generations and remains a commonly employed repentance practice among Tibetan Buddhist practitioners for purifying negative karma today.

Je Tsongkhapa once retreated to ol-kha chos-lung, south of Lhasa. At the beginning of his retreat, he reflected: “The foundation of practice must first lie in purifying karmic obscurations and accumulating merit. The greatest obstacle in practice is when the mind’s purity is veiled by habitual defilements, making it difficult to strengthen resolve on the path. Without a vast store of merit, no matter how diligently one cultivates wisdom, one cannot attain the pure fruit of Buddhahood.”

Thus, Je Tsongkhapa began with the Thirty-Five Buddha Repentance practice. He recited the names of the Thirty-Five Buddhas orally, visualizing each one in his mind, and performed full prostrations on the rocks. For each Buddha, he completed one hundred thousand prostrations. Over time, the stone slabs were worn with deep impressions from his body and marks where his forehead touched the ground. This austere form of prostration, akin to extreme ascetic practice, caused his hands and feet to become worn, cracked, and injured.

While diligently practicing repentance, Je Tsongkhapa often felt the manifestation of the Thirty-Five Buddhas at his altar. However, he could only see the Buddha bodies without the heads appearing each time. He then turned to the Manjushri Bodhisattva for guidance with his doubts. Manjushri Bodhisattva explained: “Because the names you recite are incomplete, you cannot perceive the Buddhas in their perfect form. Before reciting the Thirty-Five Buddha names, you must first recite: ‘Tathagata, Arahant, Samyak-saṃbuddha, Vidya-caraṇa-sampanna, Sugata, Lokavidu, Anuttara-puruṣa-dama-sarathi, Sasta deva-manusyanam, Buddha, Bhagavan. ’ Recollecting the perfect qualities of the Buddhas in this way, you will be able to see their complete forms.”

After properly reciting the ten titles of the Buddhas, the Thirty-Five Buddhas appeared in their complete forms at the altar. Each Buddha radiated perfect features and unparalleled majesty. Je Tsongkhapa painted their divine forms, thereby establishing the practice and visualization ritual of the Thirty-Five Buddhas. It is generally acknowledged that, following Je Tsongkhapa’s development of this visualization method, the Thirty-Five Buddha Repentance practice reached its fullest perfection.

Buddhist Chanting That Led to Master Zibo’s Ordination

Master Zibo Zhenke (紫柏真可) (1543–1603), one of the Four Great Masters of the late Ming Dynasty, was renowned in his youth for his extraordinary courage and fearless, chivalrous spirit. After entering monastic life, his resolute and uncompromising character found expression in the rigor of his personal cultivation as well as in his ardent commitment to protecting the nation and upholding the Dharma. The circumstances surrounding Master Zibo’s ordination were, notably, closely connected with the practice of the Eighty-Eight Buddhas.

From an early age, Master Zibo admired the life of a knight’s adventure. At seventeen, he bade farewell to his parents and traveled alone with his sword, intending to travel to seek achievement and renown on the frontier. When he arrived at Fengqiao in Wumen, Suzhou, he was suddenly caught in a torrential rainstorm. Amid the downpour, he was noticed by Venerable Jue Ming (覺明和尚) of Yunyan Temple Pagoda, who invited him into the Temple to take shelter.

Master Zibo shared light evening sustenance with Venerable Jue Ming, and the two enjoyed the conversation. That evening, he stayed overnight at the temple. Late at night, in the stillness of the Temple, the resident monks began reciting the names of the Eighty-Eight Buddhas. The resonant tones of the Buddhist chanting filled the temple and reached Master Zibo’s ears, stirring a deep awakening in his heart. He reflected, “I have long pursued excitement and satisfaction in worldly life, yet I have never known such profound joy and inner ease.”

Early the next morning, Master Zibo went to Venerable Jue Ming’s quarters and expressed his desire to become a monk. He offered all of his travel funds to the Three Jewels-- the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha-- and immediately requested Venerable Jue Ming to accept him as a disciple and confer ordination by shaving his head. That very night, Master Zibo sat in meditation until dawn. From that time onward, he never again lay down to sleep. At the end of his life, he likewise manifested his passing in seated meditation.

Mater Daopei’s Establishment of the Eighty-Eight Buddhas Repentance

Venerable Daopei (道霈法師) (1615–1702), a Dharma heir of the Gushan lineage of the Shouchang branch of the Caodong School in the late Ming and early Qing periods, entered monastic life at the age of fifteen at Baiyun Temple in Jianan. Endowed from birth with innate wisdom, he found no difficulty in memorizing the Buddhist Sutras and Commentaries; without instruction, he could recite them fluently. When he first recited The Eighty-Eight Buddhas General Repentance, he experienced an immeasurable joy of the Dharma and a profound sense of clarity and coolness in his heart. From that time onward, every recitation continued to bring him the same joy and delight.

In his middle years, Venerable Daopei assumed the abbacy of Yongquan Temple on Mount Gushan and began to devote himself to writing recorded sayings and commentaries on sutras. He observed that although the Great Repentance of the Eighty-Eight Buddhas was included among the five daily communal liturgies of monastic life, few people understood the scriptural origins of its contents. Concerned that it might be regarded as something ordinary or superficial, Venerable Daopei undertook an in-depth study of the canonical sources, consulting the Buddhist Tripitaka extensively.

He supplemented the original Great Repentance of the Eighty-Eight Buddhas by adding, at the beginning and end, accounts of the scriptural origins and causal conditions of the first Fifty-Three Buddhas and the latter Thirty-Five Buddhas, together with explanations of the merits of prostration and repentance. He further expanded the liturgy to include the Incense Offering Verse, the Verse for Opening the Sutra, the Medicine Buddha Mantra, verses of praise, dedication of merit, and the Three Refuges, composing the hymns and Gathas himself. In this way, he completed a single-volume ritual manual entitled the Precious Repentance Liturgy of the Eighty-Eight Buddhas of Great Names, with the aspiration of encouraging future practitioners to establish right faith, generate great vows, and engage in sincere and reverent prostration and recitation.



Related articles:

Welcoming the New Year with the Eighty-Eight Buddhas

Encountering the Eighty-Eight Buddhas - Illuminating Our Lives Every Day

Majestic Virtues – The Ten Epithets of the Buddha

Mindfully Reciting the Eighty-Eight Buddhas is a Good Spiritual Practice

Q&As on the Great Repentance Text

How to Practice the Great Repentance Text at Home?



Resource: Issue 378 of Humanity Magazine, Dharma Drum Publishing Corporation
Photo: 江思賢
Translation: Brenda 
Editing: Keith Brown, Patricia Yang