Nyenpa

Nyenpa, Approach or Recitation Practice (Wyl. bsnyen pa) is the framework set for accomplishing one of the three roots practices.

The word nyenpa in Tibetan implies 'familiarisation', 'associating with', or 'approaching'.

As Kyabje Sakya Trizin and Alak Zenkar Rinpoche have explained: in the past, the approach practice mainly involved focusing on the visualization of the deity during the session, and the mantra was recited in between sessions. However nowadays mantra recitation is the standard practice to measure deity meditation (most of our sadhanas advise reciting a certain number of mantras for the different phases of the practice, such as the four stages of approach and accomplishment). This is why Buddhist practitioners today use the word ‘recitation’ or talk about ‘doing accumulation’ when referring to the ‘nyenpa’.