Ōbaku: Who is Reciting?

Perhaps most obvious to the Japanese was Ōbaku followers' use of nembutsu.

Also their use of the "nembutsu kōan" entails the practice of reciting the name of Amitabha while holding in one's mind the kōan, "Who is reciting?"

While foreign to the Japanese (despite this "dual practice" being introduced in Japan as early as the late 13th century), this was very common in Ming period Ch'an, for there was no sectarian divide between Pure Land Buddhists and Ch'an practitioners.

Ōbaku monasteries and temples came to be governed by a doctrine known as Ōbaku shingi, which both imported Chinese practices such as the recitation (dharani) of nembutsu and "sought to preserve the Chinese character of the group."

The Ōbaku also chanted sutras derived from the Pure Land Buddhism sect set to Chinese music.

"The followers of Hakuin Ekaku (1687—1769) tried to purge the elements of Ōbaku Zen they found objectionable. They suppressed the Pure Land practice of reciting Amida Buddha's name, deemphasized the Vinaya, and replaced sutra study with a more narrow focus on traditional koan collections." — T. Griffith Foulk in Kenneth Kraft's book "Zen: Tradition and Transition".

Thus today the sect follows the practice promoted by the Ōtōkan lineage now in charge.

Therefore nobody at the Ōbaku School is reciting the Nembutsu.

Sentient Beings Are No Substitute for the Buddha

If all sentient beings are potential Buddhas, then why can't a sentient being replace the Buddha during Buddha Remembrance chanting and visualization?

Because the Buddha is usually an idealized form of Amida, recitation to Amida while visualizing Amida Buddha will help promote Buddhist Remembrance Samadhi.

However, a picture of the Buddha like the Daishi Buddha will sufice during Buuddha Remembrance practice.

Replacing the Buddha's image with that of a sentient being would introduce distraction to the recitation of Amida's name. For the purpose of visualization is to become one with the Buddha, not with a sentient being.

As well, it is a picture of a celebrity, desire could distract the practitioner from having the right mind to visualize correctly.

Therefore, substituting the image of a sentient being for Amida Buddha will hinder spiritual progress towards samadhi.

It would be like using paper cups and plate to eat dinner when you have regular dinnerware available.

For it is not respect to the Buddha nor is it respectful to sentient beings to visualize a sentient being instead of Amida Buddha, even though all sentient beings are potential Buddhas.