Within Pure Land Buddhism, devotion to Amitābha Buddha and recitation of the Buddha’s name remain central, yet other practices are widely regarded as valuable supports. Ethical conduct, meditation, and various meritorious deeds are seen as harmonizing one’s life with Amitābha’s compassionate vow, creating a mental and karmic environment in which faith becomes more stable and sincere. Rather than competing with reliance on Amitābha, these practices can be understood as shaping a mind and heart that are more receptive to that reliance.

Ethical discipline, such as observing the precepts, cultivating compassion, and engaging in generosity, is often described as purifying the mind and generating wholesome karma. This moral foundation reduces gross disturbances and remorse, making it easier for trust in Amitābha and the aspiration for rebirth in the Pure Land to arise and endure. Acts of charity, service, and other good deeds are frequently dedicated to rebirth in the Pure Land and to the benefit of all beings, so that the merit accumulated becomes a conscious support for that aspiration.

Meditative practices also play a significant auxiliary role. Calm and focused states of mind allow recitation of Amitābha’s name to be more concentrated and heartfelt, while visualization of Amitābha and the Pure Land, or contemplations on impermanence and compassion, make the reality of the Pure Land and the power of Amitābha’s vows more vivid. Study and reflection on relevant scriptures and teachings can clarify doubts, deepen understanding of non-self and emptiness, and prevent a merely superstitious or mechanical approach to devotion.

Different Pure Land lineages interpret the function of these supporting practices in distinct ways, though they converge on their usefulness. Traditions such as Jōdo-shū and many Chinese Pure Land schools encourage “dual practice,” where meditation, ethics, sutra recitation, and nianfo mutually reinforce one another, with nianfo still regarded as the primary cause of rebirth. Jōdo Shinshū, by contrast, strongly emphasizes that rebirth rests solely on Amitābha’s vow realized through faith, viewing good deeds and meditation as expressions of gratitude and the natural outflow of awakening to that grace, rather than as additional causes. Across these perspectives, the shared thread is that supportive practices are most meaningful when they deepen reliance on Amitābha and align one’s conduct with the compassionate spirit of the Pure Land.