However, I have heard teachers saying stuff like, "Amida works on us through the Name and brings us to entrust". So the Name is working on us before shinjin is realized, and that means that the Name and the Nembutsu are distinct. I think I haven't appreciated this distinction, and hence I have been confused. Then I came upon this passage in Immeasurable Life by John Paraskevopoulos :
So if I understand it correctly, the Name is the essence of the teaching, or the saving dharma itself, in which Amida and his Vow-power are embodied and conveyed to us. We read and listen and reflect and ask questions from teachers in order to realize the meaning of the Name. When we "hear the Name" (i.e. hear the origin and fulfillment of the Vow), this is the dawning of shinjin. And after we have entrusted in the Vow, our saying of the Name in gratitude for Amida's benevolence is Nembutsu.In Shin Buddhism, the Dharma-Body reveals itself to us not only in the forms of Amida Buddha and the Pure Land that we find in the sutras but also—more dynamically—as the Name (pronounced in Japanese as Namo Amida Butsu). [...] Indeed, Amida vowed that this Name would be the means through which we could come to know the Buddha and attain release from our spiritual fetters. [...] When we encounter the Name and slowly begin to unravel its significance (through study, self-reflection, meeting a good teacher and listening to the teachings), the truth of Amida’s Primal Vow becomes real to us for the first time. This is called ‘hearing the Name’ which is, itself, the experience of shinjin where we awaken to true reality. [...] The invocation of Amida’s Name as the direct expression of our shinjin is known as the nembutsu. [...] The nembutsu, therefore, is the embodiment—the evident and discernible sign—of our shinjin. It is not a mantra to be used as a means for procuring spiritual benefits.
So the sequence is Encountering the Name > Listening > Hearing the Name > Entrusting in the Vow > saying the Nembutsu in gratitude. Is that right?
When teachers say that Amida works on us "through the Name", does that simply mean that, having encountered the Name, we are thereby brought to investigate its meaning and encounter the significance of the Vow? Or is the effect more mystical? I don't want to fall into the error of regarding the Name as a magic spell or incantation, but I also don't want to underrate the significance of the Name and simply see it as a beacon or pointer.
In particular, I'm unsure about the act of reciting the Name while aspiring to shinjin. On the one hand, it seems like a premature imitation of a person of shinjin. And because I desire the coming of shinjin, it seems like my recitation is always pervaded by a spirit of entreaty, like the nembutsu taught by Jodo-shu. On the other hand, Shinran writes:
With a resolve to be equal to people of shinjin,
Practitioners of self-power, while entertaining doubt,
Should realize the Tathagata's benevolence
And strive hard in reciting the Nembutsu.
(Hymns on the Three Dharma Ages, 66)
