The Ten Virtues of Loudly Invoking the Name of Amitābha Stein Tibetan 724 and an Aspect of Chinese Nianfo Practice in Tibetan Dunhuang

Abstract

Stein Tibetan 724 was earlier identified as a list of virtues of the Buddha Amitābha. A new reading of the document and identification of its Chinese source allow its re-identification instead as a list of the virtues of invoking the Buddha Amitābha in a loud voice. The article offers a corrected transcription of the manuscript, presents and examines possible sources, and suggests the most plausible proximate original for the Tibetan translation, briefly exploring the practice of loud invocation as a Buddhist practice in medieval Dunhuang.