Introduction
In Japan, the typical methodology for approaching studies on Honen is to divide his thought into various dimensions such as those related to Amida Buddha, to the nature of defilements, to the Age of the Final Dharma (mappo), to Birth in the Pure Land (ojo) and so forth. In this way, each issue is handled separately and addressed from a Jodo-shu doctrinal viewpoint. Recent scholarship, however, has seen the emergence of a new approach which attempts to grapple with Honen's thought as a totality. It takes a holistic and experiential approach in looking at the personal relationship between Amida Buddha and the ordinary, deluded person (bonpu).

As there exists little direct scholarship on this topic, I would firstly like to briefly outline the key points of Honen's personal understanding of Amida Buddha and the Pure Land. Secondly, I would like to discuss the above mentioned new scholarship whose chief proponent is Dr. Todo Kyoshun, Professor Emeritus of Bukkyo University and Chief Abbott of Zojoji (since deceased). His study is based on previous detailed studies in the field, but his new, unique component centers on the personal relationship between Amida Buddha and ordinary, deluded people, as especially expressed in Honen's piety. His general idea is that such ordinary, deluded people through their own relationship with Amida can be transformed by the practice of the nembutsu.

I. Honen's Conception Of Amida Buddha
Firstly, I would like to discuss Honen's conception of Amida Buddha in terms of the theory of the Three Buddha Bodies (sanjin). According to traditional understanding, Honen regarded Amida Buddha as the Reward Body of the Buddha (sambhogakaya). However, in looking at Honen's works, we can see three different understandings of Amida:

1) as Reward Body (sambhogakaya)
2) as the unity of the Three Bodies
3) as both Truth Body (dharmakaya) and Manifestation Body (nirmanakaya)

Honen derived the first from Tao-cho's Collection of Passages on the Land of Peace and Bliss (An-lo chi)1 and Shan-tao's Commentary on the Meditation Sutra (Kammuryoju-kyo-sho)2 and discusses it in his Commentary on the Sutra of Immeasurable Life (Muryoju-kyo-shaku)3 and the Gyakushuseppo ("Pre-emptive Funeral" Sermons)4. As Honen adopted the lineages of Tao-cho and Shan-tao in establishing and legitimizing Jodo-shu, it is natural that he picked up this framework. Honen derived the second from the above two sources as well as from Genshin's Ojoyoshu (Teachings Essential for Birth) and discusses it in the Senchakushu (Passages on the Selection of the Nembutsu in the Original Vow )5 and his Commentary on the Sutra of Immeasurable Life6. Honen derived the third from Nagarjuna and T'an-luan yet created his own original understanding by basing it on Shan-tao's understanding of the Reward Body (sambhogakaya) functioning as Manifested Body (nirmanakaya).7

In understanding Amida Buddha as Reward Body, we must keep in mind the Dharma Body (dharmakaya) as the principle behind it. From the viewpoint of Honen's faith towards Amida and his salvation by Amida, however, it is not necessary for Amida to be understood in terms of Dharma Body. Honen only needed to understand Amida as a savior and not as intellectually or philosophically having any larger truth behind him. In this sense, his understanding more closely corresponds to the second aspect of Amida as the unity of the three bodies. The first two methods of understanding Amida Buddha which Honen used have become the traditional way of understanding the relationship with Amida and the ordinary, deluded person. However, in the third aspect, Honen established his own viewpoint based on his personal relationship with Amida and not on traditional method.

In this last aspect, according to the Gyakushuseppo, the Truth Body of Amida is his nature as the buddha who accomplished his vow to save all people by embracing them with his light and by always being concerned with their salvation. The Manifestation Body of Amida has four aspects:

1) an inconstant manifestation which depends on the circumstances and capacity of the individual
2) the manifestation of bodhisattvas and small buddhas within Amida's light who reveal Amida's characteristics
3) the manifestation of Amida which sends light to all people in the 10,000 directions but only embraces and saves those who recite the nembutsu
4) the manifestation of Amida at the moment of death when he takes people away to the Pure Land.

In these four points, Honen speaks of Amida as having both form and function and emphasizes Amida's relationship to people. The above is the specific, personal understanding of Honen concerning Amida Buddha.

II. Problems In Understanding The Pure Land
In the An-lo-chi, Tao-cho mentions three Pure Lands in parallel relation to the Three Buddha Bodies. The first is the land of the Truth Body (hosshodo), the second is the Reward Land (hodo) and the third is the Provisional Land (kedo). Tao-cho regarded Amida Buddha's Pure Land as the second, Reward Land, because it is derived from the formless Dharma Body. In his Commentary on the Meditation Sutra, Shan-tao also refers to the Pure Land as Reward Land, because it is the abode of the buddha who is a Reward Body. In this way, the Reward Land is formed by the fulfillment of Amida's Original Vow (hongan) and has a concrete location and forms. Therefore, one can say that the nature of the Pure Land is the Original Vow. However, while Vasubandu, T'an-luan, and Shan-tao all supported this theory, they also said that the Pure Land was uncreated, limitless and unfixed and that its nature was tathata or Truth. Thus we are left with this conflicting understanding of the Pure Land.

III. The Relationship Between Amida Buddha And Ordinary, Deluded People
In looking at the relationship between Amida Buddha and ordinary, deluded people (bonpu), we can choose from a set of different works, such as Honen's doctrinal Senchakushu, his sutra commentaries, or his personal correspondence with followers. In this sense, I feel it is appropriate to you use his more personal words since they reveal a sharper side of his own faith. Honen is quoted as once saying,"I have already experienced nembutsu samadhi (nembutsu zammai) and I recite the nembutsu in such a state." He also said,"In this life, I naturally have the merit of the nembutsu and after death will simply go to the Pure Land." The sense of these two quotes are of a settled and serene Honen who was strong in his faith in Amida Buddha.

The first example I would like to examine is Honen's The Shadow of the Moon (Tsukikage) which is a metaphoric verse based on the manifestation of Amida in the Meditation Sutra.

There is no village
where the shadow of the moon does not reach.
It lives in the hearts
of those who gaze at it.8

This is a very important and famous verse in Jodo-shu, and it speaks of how Amida Buddha offers limitless light to ordinary people and never abandons the one who practices the nembutsu in the ten directions. The first part of the verse, from the standpoint of Amida, speaks of his vow of salvation for all people, while the second half, from the standpoint of the ordinary, deluded person, speaks of the kind of heart one has who responds to Amida's call. Amida Buddha as savior calls on everyone without discrimination. "Please call my name and I will welcome you to the Pure Land." Amida is waiting for the call (nembutsu) of people, and when we respond by reciting his name, we can be saved. This important verse, therefore, shows Honen's painting of an intimate, human-like connection between Amida and ordinary people and contrasts the previous image of Amida as the Buddha of Truth Body.

I would now like to look at the relationship between Amida and the ordinary, deluded person from the standpoint of Amida Buddha. Honen in his Nembutsu ojoyogi-sho (Essentials on Birth in the Pure Land through Nembutsu) said, "Amida Buddha realized the vow in which he would embrace all those who have been abandoned by the buddhas of the three periods and the bodhisattvas of the three directions." For Honen, this meant that the main factor of salvation for Amida is the disposition of the ordinary, deluded person which in Honen's time meant a number of things. Theologically, since this time was considered the Age of the Final Dharma (mappo), it was seen that all other buddhas and bodhisattvas could no longer offer salvation. Socially, until this time, the masses of Japanese society had always been disenfranchised from Buddhist teachings and naturally would have felt abandoned by Buddhist salvation which was only open to males of the higher classes. Furthermore, the social, political and meteorological turmoil of this age gave great doubt to all Japanese about their lives and ultimate destinies. In this passage, Honen meant to emphasize that Amida Buddha was the only buddha of this time which could offer salvation to the people.

Therefore, from Amida Buddha's standpoint, Amida bid people to call his name as a way to attain Birth in the Pure Land (ojo) without exception. This standpoint is, of course, based on the 18th vow of Birth in the Pure Land (juhachi-gan) by means of the nembutsu. Although there is no exception for those who recite the nembutsu, those who do not cannot be embraced by Amida, even if Amida has the intention. For those who feel they have been abandoned or who have no relation to the nembutsu, Honen in his Commentaries on the Three Pure Land Sutras (Sanbukyo-shaku) said the manifestation of compassion for all is Amida Buddha's light. This means that Amida's light awakens and guides those outside of the nembutsu. Amida Buddha's light continuously serves this kind of function.

In this way, Honen interpreted two different kinds of Amida's light: the Ever-Present Light (jo-ko) and the Holy Light (jinzu-ko). In the Morohidesesso (a kana version of the Gyakushu seppo), Honen explains this first light, jo-ko, as everlastingly being directed to all people. He pointed out that this Ever-Present Light is a synonym for Amida's Bodhi Light (shin-ko, lit. "body-light") in the Meditation Sutra. Once one is awakened by this light and begins a relationship with the nembutsu, Amida's light continues on as Holy Light, which Honen noted is a synonym to Amida's Heart-Light (shin-ko) in the Meditation Sutra. Honen clearly differentiated between these two lights.

Concerning the practice of the nembutsu within this latter Holy Light, the Sutra of Immeasurable Light explains that when encountering this light of Amida Buddha, the three poisons of greed, anger and delusion will decrease inside of us and spontaneously give rise to the virtuous mind. Further, if people at the moment of death encounter this light, they can realize enlightenment in the Pure Land without further suffering. The function here of Amida's light is as a purifier of people's hearts which Honen more concretely explained as the Three Lights: of Light of Purification (shojo-ko), Light of Bliss (kangi-ko) and Light of Wisdom (chie-ko). The Light of Purification diminishes people's greed and performs the same function as the practice of the precepts did in former times. The Light of Bliss diminishes our natural anger and bestows an uncontrived patience. The Light of Wisdom diminishes delusion and imparts wisdom. In this way, Honen linked the Ever-Present Light (jo-ko) and the Holy Light (jinzu-ko) with the three poisons and said that after reciting the nembutsu, these two, especially the Holy Light, enable an ordinary person to become upright in conduct, patient and wise without hindrance. In Chapter III of the Senchakushu, he used the metaphor of a rock being turned into gold to describe this transformation.

I have just spoken of these two lights of Amida Buddha, but actually such a distinction does not really exist. These lights describe more the process of transformation whereby the light is seen in different ways before and after entering into the nembutsu. The ultimate mark of this transformation is in a person's daily life and disposition.

Finally, I would like to look at the relationship between Amida Buddha and the ordinary, deluded person from the standpoint of the ordinary, deluded person. From this standpoint, there are two aspects. The first concerns what Honen felt the person's disposition should be in practicing the nembutsu. In the concept of the Three Minds (sanjin) of the nembutsu practitioner, the Sincere Mind (shijo-shin), the Deep Mind (jin-shin) and the Mind which Dedicates One's Merit to the Pure Land with the Resolution to Be Born There (ekohotsugan-shin), the Deep Mind shows us the function of the person's mind in relation to Amida. It combines a deep introspection and self-doubt about one's worthiness to gain salvation (shinki) with the development of faith in Amida Buddha (shinpo). Here the nembutsu plays the essential role of uniting the introspecting person with Amida. This is not a simple, linear process but a dynamic circular one in which introspection leads to nembutsu practice and contact with Amida which leads to deeper introspection and deeper contact. This introspective process of the ordinary, deluded person parallels Amida's giving of light where the first introspection encounters Amida's Ever-Present Light (jo-ko) and further introspection within the nembutsu encounters Amida's Holy Light (jinzu-ko).

The second aspect of the ordinary, deluded person's standpoint concerns what Honen felt the person's disposition should be at the time of death. Traditionally, it is said that at the time of death, when a person's mind is peaceful, Amida Buddha will appear. However, Honen admonished his followers not to concern themselves over trying to control the state of their minds at this time. He felt that it is natural at the time of death not to be peaceful due to various physical and mental discomforts. Rather, he taught that by practicing the nembutsu, the ordinary person can establish contact with Amida and begin to accept their discomforts. Through Amida's response to their calling and their feeling of his growing presence, their minds will naturally become calm.

IV. Conclusion
In conclusion, I feel it is important for us to study Honen's personal point of view. In the history of Jodo-shu studies, we have hesitated to use these accounts eschewing them for his theoretical writings and exegeses. However, upon examination of these personal accounts, a clear system for the ordinary person to approach Amida Buddha reveals itself. Importantly, this system always reflects Honen's systematic and scholarly understanding and development of Amida and the Pure Land. Through my paper, I hope that I have shown Honen's concern not with the past but with the present and the future which has deep significance for our daily lives and actions. This concern is specifically expressed in the function of Amida's lights and the ordinary, deluded person's practice of the nembutsu which reflect purification and introspection as key aspects. Honen never required an outward change in lifestyle as a qualification for gaining Birth in the Pure Land. However, he felt that as a result of the internal processes of his practices and the subsequent relationship with Amida that an outward face of the nembutsu expresses itself.

As Professor Andrews points out in his paper, Honen's stance on the precepts is often contradictory in his writings. I feel, though, that it is vital to uncover the presuppositions and contexts of these statements instead of hoping to establish a single theory of Honen's that logically applies in all cases. Through my examples of Honen's personal accounts, I hope I have uncovered further instances which show the true nature of his teachings. I believe Honen's real intention for the ordinary, deluded person approaching faith in Amida was to not only recite the nembutsu but to manifest the fruits of this practice in his/her daily life

Notes:
1.Jodo-shu zensho (JZ) Vol.1 (Tokyo: Sankibo, 1968), p.676.
2. JZ Vol.2, pp.10-11.
3. Ishi Kyodo, ed. Honenshonin zenshu (HZ), pp.78-79.
4. HZ, p.255.
5 Senchakushu Chapt.III. Honen mentions that Amida Buddha has 4 wisdoms, 3 bodies, and 10 powers which are all parts of his internal merit.
6. HZ, p.76.
7. JZ Vol.2, p.10.
8.The Collected Hymns of the Yoshimizu Lineage (Verse and Commentary) , Jonathan Watts & Yoshiharu Tomatsu, trans. (Tokyo: Jodo Shu Press, 2000), p.18.