Thank you, novice.
I am not here to stir trouble. A forum is for open
discussion.
I have been interested in Buddhism for 30 years.
It has been a journey of confusion and many wrong turns.
We tend to defend what is familiar to us.
You chant Amitabha, is it any different from chanting
Sakyamuni?
There is nothing wrong with chanting Amitabha.
I am sure there are many great monks who chanted Amitabha
and
become enlightened.
Hi Humittt, thanks for clarifying and allowing us to see your
perspective of things.
I would like to offer the following passages by scholars of
Buddhism for consideration.
“ An early form of Buddhanusmrti (Buddha Remembrance or
Buddha Recitation) can be found in the Nikayas of the Pali Canon:
‘In the Nikayas, the Buddha … advised his disciples to think of him
and his virtues as if they saw his body before his eyes, whereby
they would be enabled to accumulate merit and attain Nirvana or be
saved from transmigrating in the evil paths.’ ” D. T.
Suzuki, The Eastern Buddhist / Vol. 3, No. 4: 317 #2146
and more on Buddhanusmrti...
~ from the book "Buddhism
in Practice" edited by Daniel S. Lopez
“The word nien-fo [Buddha Recitation] is originally a Chinese
translation of the Sanskrit compound Buddhanusmrti, meaning ‘the
recollection or the bearing in mind (anusmrti) of the attributes of
a Buddha.’ The practice of Buddhanusmrti itself has a long history
in India, extending back to well before the rise of Mahayana
Buddhism…
When the term and its practical lore were introduced to China, they
came as a highly developed meditative system, with ties to a
diversity of Buddhist scriptures and deities. Amitabha and the Pure
Land sutras represented but one among many such systems. The major
Indian sources and early Chinese treatises on Buddhanusmrti treat
it as a complex practice involving several different approaches to
contemplation.
At its most basic level, Buddha-mindfulness begins with visual
recollection of the thirty-two major marks and eighty minor
excellencies of the Buddha’s glorified ‘body of form’
(Skt/rupa-kaya). Progressing to successively deeper levels of
practice, one may dispense with recollection of the Buddha’s
physical form and instead contemplate his boundless spiritual
powers and omniscience until one ultimately arrives at the Buddha’s
formless essence of enlightenment itself – a practice known as
mindful recollection of the Buddha’s ‘body of truth or reality’
(Skt/Dharma-kaya)...” Lopez / 95: 360-361
... and so yes, Nien Fo 念佛 should not simply be about
the intonation/recitation of the Buddha's name (Chi Ming
持名). It needs to also incorporate meditative contemplation on
the excellent qualities of Buddhas, be it the Buddha Shakyamuni or
Amitabha Buddha.
Personally, I see it this way. When offering flowers at
whichever Buddha's altar - if done with suitable mindfulness and
respect for the boundless virtue and wisdom of that Buddha - the
effects will be positive and meritorious; possibly carrying over
into future lives.
2009novice, I didn't know before that flower offerings
are a sort of contemplation on impermanence. Hehe, learnt
something new again. 
