Starting Spiritual Practice
Why does Master Shengyuan say reciting one sacred name can connect us with a Bodhisattva?
English translation draft · Based on the Chinese article. This is not a word-for-word translation approved by Master Shengyuan.
In my understanding of faith, a sacred name is more than a name. It represents the Buddha's or Bodhisattva's virtues, great aspirations, and merit. Reciting it repeatedly returns our heart to the one we trust.
Through scriptures and ordinary engagement with faith, we gradually learn how Guanyin hears suffering and how Kṣitigarbha vows to help living beings. Reciting afterward involves more than several words; it carries knowledge and trust. What I call energetic correspondence explains this connection.
So sustained recitation requires attention. It is not a mouth endlessly reciting while the mind is entirely elsewhere. When attention wanders, bring it back to the sacred name. Practice also needs personal action so we experience changes in our hearts, rather than only hear that recitation is good without truly exploring it.