Primal Vow

The Primal Vow (pūrva-praṇidhāna in Sanskrit, 本願 in Japanese, hongan), also known as the 18th Vow is part of a series of 48 vows that Amitabha Buddha made in the Larger Sutra of Immeasurable Life. The text of the Primal Vow according to Larger Sutra reads:

If, when I attain Buddhahood, sentient beings in the lands of the ten quarters who sincerely and joyfully entrust themselves to me, desire to be born in my land, and call my Name, even ten times, should not be born there, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment. Excluded, however, are those who commit the five gravest offences and abuse the right Dharma.

Amitabha Buddha is often associated with devotional practices in Buddhism, as he strives to save those beings who are incapable of reaching Enlightenment through their negative karma, by leading them to Enlightenment. The founder of Jodo Shu Buddhism, Hōnen, emphasized the importance of the Primal Vow over the efficacy of practices espoused by his contemporaries in Tendai Buddhism. These same teachings became central to the later Jodo Shinshu Buddhist sect as well.

This vow forms the basis of Pure Land Buddhism as well as the practice known as nianfo (Ch.), or nembutsu (Jp.) in Asia.