Meditation in Ōbaku Zen stands at the heart of practice, yet it is never isolated from the school’s Pure Land orientation. Seated meditation, or zazen, functions as the primary contemplative discipline for calming the mind, realizing Buddha-nature, and opening to enlightenment. This traditional Zen dimension emphasizes direct awareness and present-moment clarity, treating meditation as a way to see one’s true nature. In this respect, Ōbaku remains fully within the mainstream of Zen, valuing meditation as the ground from which insight arises and spiritual life is stabilized. Zazen provides the inner stillness and attentiveness that shape the entire rhythm of monastic and lay practice.

At the same time, Ōbaku is distinctive in the way it integrates meditation with Pure Land elements, especially the recitation of Amitābha Buddha’s name. Nembutsu or nianfo is not treated merely as a devotional chant, but as a meditative focus: attention is gathered around the sound, rhythm, and awareness of recitation itself. In this mode, calling “Namo Amitābha Buddha” becomes a vehicle for mindfulness and concentration, supporting both self-cultivation and trust in other-power. Meditation thus stabilizes the mind so that recitation is less scattered and more wholehearted, while the recitation, in turn, gives meditation a devotional warmth and direction.

Within this blended framework, meditation serves to illuminate the unity of what might otherwise appear as two paths. Practice is oriented toward realizing that the Zen language of self-nature and the Pure Land language of Amitābha and rebirth are expressions of a single fundamental mind. Sitting in silence and reciting the Buddha’s name are woven together in daily schedules, with zazen providing the contemplative depth and nembutsu supplying an accessible, faith-infused focus. In this way, meditation in Ōbaku Zen functions both as a means of immediate awakening and as a support for Pure Land aspiration, allowing insight and devotion to mutually reinforce one another.