Hōnen
Hōnen (法然) | |
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![]() Portrait of Honen by Fujiwara Takanobu, 12th Century | |
Title | Founder of Jōdo-shū |
Personal life | |
Born | Seishimaru May 13 (April 7), 1133 |
Died | February 29, 1212citation needed] | (aged 78)[
Other names | Genkū (源空) |
Religious life | |
Religion | Buddhism |
School | Jōdo-shū school of Pure Land Buddhism |
Lineage | Tendai, Sammon lineage |
Hōnen (法然, May 13 (April 7), 1133 – February 29, 1212), also known as Genkū, was the founding figure of the Jōdo-shū (浄土宗, "Pure Land School"), the first independent branch of Japanese Pure Land Buddhism.
Hōnen became a Tendai initiate at an early age, but grew disaffected and sought an approach to Buddhism that anyone could follow, even during the perceived Age of Dharma Decline. After reading Shandao's Commentary on the Amitāyus Contemplation Sūtra, Hōnen devoted himself to attaining birth in the pure land of Amitābha through the practice of "recitation of the Buddha's name" (Jp: nembutsu) and to spreading this teaching among all classes and people.
Hōnen gathered a wide array of followers and attracted numerous critics. After receiving many criticisms of Hōnen from various rival traditions and following an incident at court, Emperor Tsuchimikado exiled Hōnen and his followers in 1207. Hōnen was eventually pardoned and allowed to return to Kyoto, where he stayed for a short time before his death. Hōnen was a teacher to Shinran, the founder of Jōdo Shinshū, the other major Japanese Pure Land tradition. As such, he is also considered the Seventh Patriarch in the Shinshū tradition. Hōnen's Pure Land teaching was very popular among laypersons, and was a major influence on the Buddhism of the Kamakura period. He was the first Japanese author to have his writings in Chinese and Japanese printed in the history of Japanese Buddhism.[1]
Biography
[edit]Early life
[edit]Hōnen was born to a prominent family in the city of Kume in Okayama, Mimasaka Province. His father was Uruma no Tokikuni, a province official who headed up policing in the area.[2][3] According to legend, his mother is a descendant of the Hata clan. Hōnen was originally named Seishimaru after the bodhisattva Seishi (Sanskrit Mahāsthāmaprāpta). In 1141 Hōnen's father was assassinated by Sada-akira, an official sent by Emperor Horikawa to govern the province. It is believed that Tokikuni's last words to his son were "Don't hate the enemy but become a monk and pray for me and for your deliverance."[4]
Fulfilling his father's wishes for him, Hōnen was initiated into his uncle's monastery at the age of nine. From then on, Hōnen lived his life as a monk, and at thirteen, ordained to study at the primary Tendai temple of Mount Hiei near Kyoto.[3] Clerics at Mt. Hiei took the bodhisattva vows and then undertook 12 years of training, a system developed by the Tendai founder, Saichō. While at Mt. Hiei, Hōnen studied under Genkō (源光), Kōen (皇円) and later, with Eikū (叡空). Under Kōen he was officially ordained as a Tendai priest, while under Eikū he received the name Hōnen-bō Genkū (法然房源空). In speaking of himself, Hōnen often referred to himself as Genkū, as did his close disciples.[3]
Departure from Mt. Hiei
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In 1150, Hōnen left Mt. Hiei for the more peaceful temple of Kurodani, seeking to live in seclusion.[3] Hōnen eventually grew dissatisfied with the teachings at Mt. Hiei. At the age of 24, Hōnen then went to study at the city of Saga, then Nara, and stayed at such temples at Kōfuku-ji and Tōdai-ji. Still not satisfied, he returned to the libraries of Mt. Hiei and studied further.[5] During this time, Hōnen was deeply affected by the contrast between the suffering of the common people and the lives of elite Buddhist monks and their ornate temples. He was thus seeking a path that would allow all people to liberation, not just the elite.[6]
During this period, Hōnen is said to have studied the Chinese Buddhist canon five times.[6] He was deeply impressed when, at the age of forty three, he read the Commentary on the Meditation Sutra (Chinese: 觀經四帖疏; pinyin: Guānjīng Sìtièshū) by the Chinese Pure Land master Shandao's (613-681).[6] He was particularly struck by the following passage:
To recite intently and exclusively the name of Buddha Amitabha while walking, standing, sitting, or lying down, without regard for the length of time; to engage without cessation in the recitation of nembutsu for life: This is called the rightly established practice because it is in accordance with the essential vow of Buddha Amitabha.[7][6]
This commentary persuaded Hōnen to believe that nembutsu (ch: nianfo, the faithful recitation of Amida Buddha's name), was all one needed to enter Amitābha's pure land and attain Buddhahood. Previously, nianfo was recited along with other practices, but Shandao was the first to propose that only nianfo was necessary. This new appreciation and understanding prompted Hōnen to leave Mt. Hiei and the Tendai tradition in 1175 and to abandon all other practices in favor of the exclusive practice of nembutsu.[8][9]
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Rise in popularity in the capital
[edit]Hōnen relocated to the district of Ōtani in Kyoto, where he began to teach the simple recitation of the nembutsu to crowds of laymen and women, establishing a considerable following.[8] Hōnen taught that through this simple practice, all people could attain Buddhahood in the pure land. One did not need to become a monk or meditate intensively, just say the name of the Buddha with faith. During this time, the conflict between the Minamoto and the Taira clans (which would culminate in the Genpei war of 1180-1185) plunged the nation into chaos. Many people flocked to the capital seeking refuge and Hōnen's teaching of universal salvation through the nembutsu became very appealing.[9] During this time, he also traveled around the Kansai region, and he likely also encountered various nembutsu hijiri (nembutsu holy people) who may have influenced his thought.[1]
Hōnen's teaching attracted all sorts of people, including merchants, fortune-tellers, robbers, samurai and other elements of society normally excluded from Buddhist practice.[10][11] Hōnen was a man of recognition in Kyoto, and many priests and nobleman allied with him and visited him for spiritual advice.[12] The increasing popularity of his teachings drew criticism from noted contemporaries as Chikai, Myōe and Jōkei among others, who argued against Hōnen's sole reliance on nembutsu as a means of rebirth in a pure land.[13] This led to a public debate (known as the Ohara Controversy) in 1186 between Hōnen and some monks representing other schools. Hōnen's popularity rose after this debate and he gained more followers.[13]
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In 1190, Hōnen was granted the great honor of being invited to give a series of lectures on the Pure Land sutras at the national temple of Tōdai-ji in Nara. After these lectures, he becomes even more popular and gives further lectures in Kyoto, including public talks which draw large crowds.[1] He was also invited to give lectures at the court of the imperial regent (kampaku) Kujō Kanezane (1149–1207), who then became a follower of Hōnen.[13][1] At the behest of Kanezane, Hōnen reworked his lectures into his magnum opus, the Senchakushū, which outlines his main teachings.[13][1]
As Hōnen's teaching became popular and spread throughout the nation, some individuals began to interpret the teachings in more radical and unexpected ways, including forms of antinomianism and criticisms of other traditions.[11] In 1204, the Tendai monks at Mt. Hiei implored the head priest of Tendai to ban the teachings of exclusive nembutsu and to banish any adherents from their principality.[14]
In 1205 the temple of Kōfuku-ji, located in Nara, implored Emperor Toba II to sanction Hōnen and his followers.[15] The temple provided the emperor with nine charges alleging unappeasable differences with the so-called eight schools. Hōnen's detractors cited examples of his followers, such as Gyoku and Kōsai, who supposedly committed vandalism against Buddhist temples, intentionally broke the Buddhist precepts, or caused others to intentionally turn away from established Buddhist teachings.[16]
Richard Bowring condenses these charges into two general forms. First is the nature of a single practice. Hōnen's emphasis on the single practice of nembutsu denied the usefulness of all other Buddhist practices. The sole emphasis on Amitābha was also coupled with discouraging the traditional worship of the kami. The second charge was that Hōnen placed the most lowly layperson on equal footing with the wisest monk, rendering the entire monastic establishment as useless.[17] Prior to the teachings of Hōnen, the role of nembutsu were less apparent.[18]
In response, Hōnen censured Kōsai's single-nembutsu teaching and his followers agreed to sign the Shichikajō-kishōmon (七箇条起請文, "Seven Article Pledge"), which called for restraint in moral conduct and in interactions with other Buddhist sects, promising not to criticize or insult the teachings of other sects.[19][20][21]
Exile and the Final Years
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The clamour surrounding Hōnen's teachings dissipated for a time until 1207, though the monks of other sects continued to critique his teaching. In this year, regent Kanezane died, and then Emperor Gotoba implemented a ban against exclusive nembutsu. This ban was sparked by an incident where two of Hōnen's most prominent followers held a nembutsu retreat which was attended by various figures, including two court ladies.[22][1] Hōnen's disciples were accused of using nembutsu practice as a coverup for sexual liaisons.[1] As part of the ban, Hōnen (now eighty) and some of his disciples, including Bencho and Shinran, were exiled to Shikoku, while four disciples, were executed.[23] This is known as the Jogen Persecution (承元の法難, jōgen no hōnan) of 1207. Hōnen is said to have responded:
I have labored here in the capital these many years for the spread of the Nembutsu, and so I have long wished to get away into the country to preach to those on field and plain, but the time never came for the fulfillment of my wish. Now, however, by the august favor of His Majesty, circumstances have combined to enable me to do so.[24]
While Hōnen and some key disciples were exiled to Tosa province, his movement in Kyoto remained strong. While in exile, Hōnen spread the teachings to the people he met - fishermen, prostitutes, and the peasantry. The emperor soon rescinded the exile however, though Hōnen only returned to Kyoto in 1211.[25] In 1212, the following year, Hōnen died in Kyoto, but was able to compose the One-Sheet Document (一枚起請文, Ichimai-kishōmon) a few days before he died.[25]
Character
[edit]The Japanese Jodo Shu Research Institute describes Hōnen's personality as a "strict" but "bold innovator" who was "introspective and self-critical" and "concerned with solving the problems of daily life rather than worrying about doctrinal matters".[26] On the latter point Hōnen expressed unusual concern over the spiritual welfare of women. In teaching them, regardless of social status (from aristocracy to prostitutes), he particularly rejected the significance of menstruation; which wider Japanese religious culture considered to cause spiritual defilement. As a consequence the role of women in the Jōdo-shū sects has often been greater than in some other Japanese Buddhist traditions.
About himself Hōnen reportedly said:[26]
[I lack] the wisdom to teach others. Ku Amida Butsu of Hosshō-ji, though less intelligent, contributes in leading the people to the Pure Land as an advocate of the nembutsu. After death, if I could be born in the world of humans, I would like to be born a very ignorant man and to diligently practice the nembutsu. (Tsuneni Oserarekeru Okotoba - Common Sayings of Hōnen)
Influence
[edit]Hōnen had a profound influence on later Buddhist figures both within Pure Land traditions and beyond. His advocacy of a single chosen practice marked a significant departure from the more complex practices of the Tendai and Shingon schools. This emphasis on a single practice would become the hallmark of many other popular "New Kamakura schools" of Japanese Buddhism, including Dōgen's Sōtō school and Nichiren's Lotus sutra tradition.[1]
Hōnen's emphasis on faith and practice over scholasticism laid the foundation for later developments in Japanese Pure Land thought and made Pure Land a very appealing form of Buddhism among the masses, one which would eventually overtake the other schools of Japanese Buddhism in popularity in later periods.[1] Hōnen is considered the founder of the Jōdo-shū school. However, during Hōnen's life, Jōdo-shū was never separated from the Tendai establishment, and was really only a faction (ha) or sub-sect of the Tendai school. After the 14th century however, this faction became a truly independent tradition.[27]
Among his most direct successors was Shinran (1173–1263), the founder of Jōdo Shinshū (True Pure Land School), who emphasized absolute reliance on Amida’s grace, rejecting the necessity of repeated nembutsu recitation as a self-powered practice.[28] Ippen (1239–1289), another Pure Land reformer, took Hōnen’s teachings in a different direction, promoting ecstatic recitation and proselytizing through the Ji-shū movement. Even within other schools like Shingon and Tendai, Hōnen’s legacy and the popularity of the nembutsu contributed to ongoing debates about practice and faith and to the development of new teachings on Pure Land practice within these schools. This reflects his enduring impact on Japanese Buddhism as a whole.
Works
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Hōnen's main work expounding his Pure Land doctrine is the Senchaku Hongan Nenbutsushū (Collection of Selections on Nenbutsu and the Original Vow, 選択本願念仏集, Senchakushū for short), written in 1198 at the request of his patron Lord Kujō Kanezane (1148–1207). The document was not widely distributed by Hōnen's request until after his death. However, it was copied and distributed among Hōnen's close disciples, including by Shinran who made his own copy.[1]
When Hōnen was exiled in 1207, his disciples in Kyoto worked to have the text printed (using traditional woodblock printing techniques). The carving of the blocks was completed in 1211 and the first copied were then printed and distributed publicly.[1] This was the first printing of the text of a Japanese Buddhist author and it caused another uproar among other Buddhist schools.[1] In 1227, the monks of the Tendai school attacked the print shop, and destroy the printing blocks. In 1239, Hōnen's followers then re-carved the blocks so they could reprint the text again.[1]
Another key document from Hōnen is his last testament, the Ichimai-kishōmon (一枚起請文) or "One-Sheet Document".
Most of Hōnen's teachings and writings (which were not published in his lifetime) were collected by his disciples after his death into four main collections. They include writings in classical Chinese and in Japanese. The collections are:[29]
- The Collected Teachings of Kurodani-shōnin ("Eminent monk of Kurodani"): The Chinese Anthology (ten fascicles)
- The Collected Teachings of Kurodani-shōnin: The Japanese Anthology (five fascicles)
- The Supplement to the Collected Teachings of Kurodani-shōnin: The Chinese Anthology (one fascicle)
- The Supplement to the Collected Teachings of Kurodani-shōnin: The Japanese Anthology (two fascicles)
Teaching
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The teachings of Hōnen are informed primarily by the Chinese Pure Land tradition, especially the work of key Chinese Pure Land masters like Tanluan, Daochuo, Shandao and Huaigan. Hōnen himself lists these figures as Pure Land patriarchs in his Jōdo goso den.[30] Hōnen was also influenced by the Tendai school background in which he trained as a monk. The work of Genshin was also important for Hōnen, as he was a Japanese Tendai monk who focused on Pure Land practice.[31] Out of all of these, Shandao is clearly the central figure for Hōnen, who writes in his Senchakushū: "Shandao's Commentary on the Meditation Sutra is the guidebook to the Western Pure Land. It should be regarded as the eyes and feet of nembutsu devotees."[32]
The basic premise of Hōnen's teaching is an existential honesty and humility regarding our limitations to reach Buddhahood.[1] For Hōnen, most, if not all people, cannot attain awakening through the Mahayana practices based on self-effort (the perfections, meditation, etc). This is because most people are deluded and fallible "bombus" (common foolish people of worldly passions).[33][1] Hōnen certainly believed that about himself, even though he had spent years in monastic training. Since ordinary people lack the ability to liberate themselves, their only other option is to have faith in the salvific power of the Buddha Amitabha. Thus Hōnen argued that we should turn to the easy practice of nembutsu (the faithful recitation of the Buddha's name in the phrase: Namo Amida Butsu, "Homage to Amida Buddha") and rely on the power of the Buddha to liberate us from this world into the pure land after death.[33] Through this simple practice, Hōnen taught that all people could attain this birth in the pure land, where they could become Buddhas easily by learning directly from the Buddha Amitabha. This included all women, the uneducated lower classes and even the most evil people who had committed the worst deeds. This universality and inclusiveness made his teachings extremely popular among all classes of people.[33] The universal and democratic nature of this teaching threatened the influence and power of the other schools, and this is why they opposed Hōnen's teaching to fiercely.[1]
Nembutsu
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Hōnen's teachings on the nembutsu are briefly summarized in his final work, the One-Sheet Document, in which Hōnen also states that he has "no other teaching than this". This short text containing the core of Hōnen's teaching states that the nembutsu is not a kind of meditation, nor does it require studying or understanding.[34] Instead:
There is no other reason or cause by which we can utterly believe in attaining birth in the Pure Land than the nembutsu itself. Reciting the nembutsu and believing in birth in the Pure Land naturally gives rise to the three minds (sanjin) and the four modes of practice (shishu). If I am withholding any deeper knowledge beyond simple recitation of the nembutsu, then may I lose sight of the compassion of Shakyamuni and Amida Buddha and slip through the embrace of Amida's original vow. Even if those who believe in the nembutsu deeply study all the teachings which Shakyamuni taught during his life, they should not put on any airs and should practice the nembutsu with the sincerity of those untrained followers ignorant of Buddhist doctrines.[35]
For Hōnen, the nembutsu is a gift by Amida Buddha which has the power to establish a karmic relationship between the devotee and the Buddha and his pure land.[1] Hōnen believed that the nembutsu was "chosen" or "selected" (jp. senchaku) by the Buddha himself as the primary practice. Furthermore, for Hōnen, the nembutsu is really the Buddha himself in sonic form, and thus to say the nembutsu and hear it is to manifest and experience a nirmāṇakāya of the Buddha Amida.[1]
As such, Hōnen's teaching focuses on the nembutsu as the "chosen practice", seeing it as the central and most important Buddhist practice. The reason that the Buddha chose this practice as the most important one is that the compassion of the Buddha is so great that he wishes all beings to succeed and thus will promote the practice that is easiest and most accessible for the greatest number of beings (and they infuse this practice with his power). This revolutionary idea goes against the traditional assumption that the more difficult the practice, the greater the gain.[1]
Since the nembutsu is the chosen practice, all other practices were seen by Hōnen as merely supportive or secondary.[1] For Hōnen if one wanted to attain birth in the pure land, one only needed to recite the name of Amitabha with faith.[36] Hōnen taught that meditation, study, keeping precepts, or other practices were not necessary and nembutsu should be one's priority.[36] Through nembutsu (even just a few recitations), Hōnen believed that even the most unethical people would be born in the pure land.[36] Because of his reliance on a single simple practice, Hōnen's teaching was widely criticized as "exclusive" and as neglecting basic Buddhist ethics and bodhicitta.[37] However, Hōnen still practiced meditation, kept the bodhisattva precepts, and continued to perform rituals and study texts. Thus, even if Hōnen saw other practices as unnecessary, he did not teach that one should completely abandon all other practices since they could still support one's nenbutsu practice.[36] Furthermore, Hōnen also held that the recitation of the nembutsu could lead to a state of samadhi (meditative absorption), just like other forms of Buddhist meditation.[1] Thus, Hōnen held that at first one needed to focus exclusively on the nembutsu. Once one had become firmly and faithfully established in this practice however, one could reintroduce other auxiliary practices (as defined by Shandao) to support one's nembutsu practice.[36]
Regarding the practice of nembutsu, a dispute arose among Hōnen's followers over two positions: once-calling (Jp: ichinengi) and many-calling (tanengi). Once-calling held that you only needed to recite nenbutsu once to be liberated, while many-calling held that you needed to recite nenbutsu as much as possible. According to Jones, Hōnen promoted sustained practice as taught by many-calling, though he also said that one could be saved by even a few recitations.[27]
Thus, Hōnen gave the following practical advice on the nembutsu:
If, because it is taught that birth is attained with but one or ten utterances, you say the Nembutsu heedlessly, then faith is hindering practice. If, because it is taught that you should say the Name without abandoning it from moment to moment, you believe one or ten utterances to be indecisive, then practice is hindering faith. As your faith, accept that birth is attained with a single utterance; as your practice, endeavor in the Nembutsu throughout life.[38]
Disciples
[edit]By 1204 Hōnen had a group of disciples numbering around 190.[8] This number is derived from the number of signatures found on Shichikajō-kishōmon (七箇条起請文, Seven Article Pledge), a guideline for rules of conduct in the Jōdo Shū community to assuage concerns by other groups. Key disciples who signed the pledge include:
- Benchō (1162–1238), founder of the main Chinzei branch of Jōdo-shū. Often called Shōkō. Exiled in 1207 to Kyushu.
- Genchi (1183–1238), Hōnen's personal attendant, and close friend of Benchō.
- Shōkū (1147–1247), founder of the Seizan branch of Jōdo-shū. Not exiled.
- Shinran (1173–1263), founder of the Jōdo Shinshū branch of Pure Land Buddhism. Exiled to Echigo Province in 1207.
- Ryūkan (1148–1227), founder of the many-recitation or Tanengi branch of Jōdo-shū.
- Chōsai (1184–1266), founder of the Shōgyōhongangi branch of Jōdo-shū which believed that all Buddhist practices can lead to rebirth in the Pureland.
- Kōsai (1163–1247), promoted the controversial Ichinengi, or "single-recitation" teaching of Jōdo-shū. Expelled from Honen's community before the exile of 1207.
- Gyōkō (?), another proponent of Ichinengi doctrine. Exiled to Sado in 1207.
- Rensei (1141–1208), formerly a notable samurai named Kumagai no Jirō Naozane who had fought at the Battle of Ichi-no-Tani and killed the Heike leader Taira no Atsumori
- Kansai (1148–1200).
- Shinkū (1146–1228).
- Anrakubō (? -1207), executed during the purge of 1207.[8]
- Jūren (?), executed along with Anrakubō in 1207.
A number of disciples went on to establish branches of Pure Land Buddhism, based on their interpretations of Honen's teachings.
Notes
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Blum, Mark (2021-02-14). Honen Shonin And His Modern Legacy. Retrieved 2025-02-14 – via BCA: Center for Buddhist Education | YouTube.
- ^ 浄土宗西山禅林寺派宗祖法然上人立教開宗850年記念サイト. honen850.jp
- ^ a b c d Atone & Hayashi (2011), p. 27
- ^ "Life of Honen, Jodo Shu homepage". Archived from the original on 2013-10-31. Retrieved 2008-11-23.
- ^ Hattori, Sho-on (2000). A Raft from the Other Shore: Honen and the Way of Pure Land Buddhism. Jodo Shu Press. pp. 7–8, 13. ISBN 2-213-61738-4.
- ^ a b c d Atone & Hayashi (2011), p. 28
- ^ Yoshinori, Takeuchi (1990). Buddhist Spirituality: Later China, Korea, Japan, and the Modern World. Moltilal Banarsidass Publishers. p. 205. ISBN 81-208-1944-6.
- ^ a b c d Dobbins, James C. (1989). Jōdo Shinshū: Shin Buddhism in Medieval Japan. Indiana University Press. pp. 13–18. ISBN 0-253-33186-2.
- ^ a b Atone & Hayashi (2011), p. 29
- ^ Fitzgerald, chapters 15 and 16
- ^ a b Atone & Hayashi (2011), p. 34.
- ^ Fitzgerald, chapter 14
- ^ a b c d Atone & Hayashi (2011), p. 30.
- ^ Atone & Hayashi (2011), pp. 34-35.
- ^ Morell, Robert E. (1983). Jokei and the Kofukuji Petition, Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 10 (1), 6-38
- ^ 興福寺奏狀(全) @ 活在恩海裡 :: 痞客邦 PIXNET :: Archived 2013-12-03 at the Wayback Machine興福寺奏状 Archived 2013-12-03 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Bowring, Richard. Religious Traditions of Japan: 500-1600. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005. 247.
- ^ Andrews, Allan A. “The Essentials of Salvation: ‘A Study of Genshin’s Ōjōyōshū.’” The Eastern Buddhist, vol. 4, no. 2, 1971, pp. 50–88. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/44361283. Accessed 31 Aug. 2024. p. 50.
- ^ Jodo Shu Research Institute, Jokaku-bo Kosai (1163-1247) The Single Calling
- ^ "Shichikajo-kishomon (Seven Article Pledge)". Archived from the original on 2012-02-20. Retrieved 2009-08-31.
- ^ 七箇條起請文
- ^ Atone & Hayashi (2011), p. 35.
- ^ Bowring, 251.
- ^ Fitzgerald, 119
- ^ a b Atone & Hayashi (2011), p. 37.
- ^ a b "A Personal Portrait of Honen". Archived from the original on 2013-07-21. Retrieved 2009-08-31.
- ^ a b Jones, Charles B. (2021). Pure Land: History, Tradition, and Practice, pp. 123–135. Shambhala Publications, ISBN 978-1-61180-890-2.
- ^ Jones, Charles B. (2021). Pure Land: History, Tradition, and Practice, pp. 136–150. Shambhala Publications, ISBN 978-1-61180-890-2.
- ^ Atone & Hayashi (2011), p. 39.
- ^ Blum, Mark L. (1994). "Pure Land Buddhism as an Alternative Mārga". The Eastern Buddhist. 27 (1): 30–77. ISSN 0012-8708. JSTOR 44362009.
- ^ Rhodes, Robert F. (2017). Genshin's Ōjōyōshū and the Construction of Pure Land Discourse in Heian Japan, p. 10. (Pure Land Buddhist Studies). University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 978-0824872489.
- ^ Atone & Hayashi (2011), p. 28
- ^ a b c Atone & Hayashi (2011), pp. 1-3, 29-30
- ^ Honen, Ichimai-kishomon (The One Sheet Document), Jodo Shu Research Institute 1996-2002
- ^ Honen, Ichimai-kishomon (The One Sheet Document), Jodo Shu Research Institute 1996-2002
- ^ a b c d e Jones, Charles B. (2021). Pure Land: History, Tradition, and Practice, pp. 123–135. Shambhala Publications, ISBN 978-1-61180-890-2.
- ^ Williams, Paul (2008). Mahāyāna Buddhism: The Doctrinal Foundations 2nd Ed., pp. 257–258. Routledge.
- ^ Fitzgerald, 20
References
[edit]- Atone Jōji & Hayashi Yōko : The Promise of Amida Buddha, Hōnen’s Path to Bliss (Kurodani Shōnin wagotōroku); Boston, Wisdom Publications, 2011.
- Augustine, Morris J., Kondō, Tesshō, trans. (1997). "Senchaku hongan nembutsu shū": a collection of passages on the nembutsu chosen in the original vow compiled by Genkū (Hōnen), Berkeley, Calif.: Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research. ISBN 1-886439-05-2
- Coates, Harper Havelock & Ishizuka Ryūgaku: Hōnen, The Buddhist Saint, His Life and Teachings (by Shunjō); Kyoto, Chion’in, 1925 / New York and London, Garland Publishing, 1981.
- Dobbins, James C. (1989). Jodo Shinshu: Shin Buddhism in Medieval Japan. Bloomington, Illinois: Indiana University Press. ISBN 9780253331861; OCLC 470742039
- Hônen : Le gué vers la Terre Pure, Senchaku-shû, traduit du sino-japonais, présenté et annoté par Jérôme Ducor. Collection "Trésors du bouddhisme". Paris, Librairie Arthème Fayard, 2005. ISBN 2-213-61738-4
- Jonathan Watts, Yoshiharu Tomatsu, Traversing the Pure Land Path: A Lifetime of Encounters with Honen Shonin, Jodo Shu Press, Tōkyō, 2005, ISBN 4-88363-342-X
- Jones, Charles B. (2021). Pure Land: History, Tradition, and Practice. Shambhala Publications. ISBN 978-1-61180-890-2.
- Jokai Asai (2001). Exclusion and Salvation in Honen's Thought: Salvation of Those Who Commit the Five Grave Offenses or Slander the Right Dharma, Pacific World Journal, Third Series, Number 3, 125-156. Archived from the original
- Takahashi Koji. Senchakushu no seikaku ni tsuite: tokuni hi ronriteki ichimen o chushin to shite. in Jodokyo no shiso to bunka, Etani Festschrift (Kyoto: Dohosha, 1972)
- Fitzgerald, Joseph A. (2006). Honen the Buddhist Saint: Essential Writings and Official Biography. World Wisdom. ISBN 1-933316-13-6.
- SETP (Senchakushu English Translation Project): Honen's Senchakushu, Passages on the Selection of the Nembutsu in the Original Vow (Classics in East Asian Buddhism. A Kuroda Institute Book); Honolulu, University of Hawai'i Press / Tokyo, Sogo Bukkyo Kenkyusho, Taisho University, 1998.
- Sho-on Hattori, A Raft from the Other Shore: Honen and the Way of Pure Land Buddhism, Jodo Shu Press, Tōkyō, 2001, ISBN 4883633292
- Sōhō Machida, Renegade monk : Hōnen and Japanese Pure Land Buddhism, University of California Press, Berkeley, 1999, ISBN 0520211790
External links
[edit]- Honen Shonin’s Religious and Social Significance in the Pure Land Tradition by Alfred Bloom
- Kyoto National Museum: The Illustrated Biography of Priest Honen Archived 2014-05-02 at the Wayback Machine
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