"There was a woman who practiced reciting Buddha Amitabha's name.
She would recite: "NAMO AMITABHA BUDDHA"... over and over, three times daily.
Although she had made this practice for over 10 years,
she was still quite mean.
She was quick tempered and shouted at people all the time.
A friend, who practiced Zen, wanted to teach her a lesson.
One day she started her practice with the usual lighting of incense and hitting a little bell... Just as she began her recitation, the friend came to her front gate and called out:
"Miss Nguyen!, Miss Nguyen!..."
As this was the time for her practice she became annoyed,
but she said to herself:
"I have to struggle against my anger, so I will just ignore it."
And she continued: "NAMO AMITABHA BUDDHA, NAMO AMITABHA BUDDHA..."
But the man continued to shout her name, over and over…
"Miss Nguyen!, Miss Nguyen!, Miss Nguyen!..."
As this continued she began to feel more and more aggressive.
She struggled against it, but wondered if she shouldn't stop the recitation to give the man a piece of her mind?
However, she decided to continue her recitation: "NAMO AMITABHA BUDDHA, NAMO AMITABHA BUDDHA..."
The man outside heard her and continued his barrage:
"Miss Nguyen!, Miss Nguyen!, Miss Nguyen!, Miss Nguyen! …"
Finally, she could not stand it anymore. She jumped up, slammed the door on the way and went to the gate and shouted at the man:
"What's the matter with you?! Why do you have to behave like that?! I am trying to do my practice and you keep on shouting my name over and over and over and over!"
The gentleman smiled at her and said:
"I only called your name for ten minutes and you are so angry.
You have been calling Amitabha Buddha's name for more then ten years now; just imagine how annoyed he must be!"
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