This paper was presented at the 7th Annual International Conference on the Lotus Sutra held from July 13-17, 2001 at Rissho Kosei-kai's Mt. Bandai retreat facility.

In considering the theme for our meeting, the Lotus Sutra and Pure Land, I have found that from my traditional Jodo Shu foundations, I have been confused about the understanding of the Pure Land and its nature. Therefore, I have intentionally used unorthodox methods in this paper to explore the meaning of the Pure Land for this world. For example, I have tried to focus on what we call in Japanese honne (the real daily situation) of Jodo Shu and Japanese Buddhism. In using this approach, I hope to make clear the potentials and pitfalls of Honen's teachings for Japanese today. As such, I have made a number of leaps in interpretation and understanding of Pure Land ideas. I hope that this will contribute to our open and fruitful discussion.

Generally speaking, Pure Land teaching is regarded as otherworldly, because it emphasizes a pure land in the West that is attained after death. However, among Pure Land teachings, Jodo Shinshu tends to have a more this-worldly orientation than does Jodo Shu. It is concerned with how the believer develops faith in the present moment towards Amida Buddha and salvation in the Pure Land. Meanwhile, Jodo Shu emphasizes the practice of the nembutsu that gives rise to faith and secures Birth (ojo) in the Pure Land. In order to better understand these differences, it is necessary to look at each school's conception of Amida Buddha and the Pure Land.

Pure Land Buddhism has throughout the ages been criticized for its deification of Amida that appears to resemble some kind of theism. It is my understanding that in order to fixate itself properly within Buddhist orthodoxy, Shinshu sees Amida manifesting in form as an expedient mean (upaya). At the same time, however, they view his fundamental existence is as a formless Truth Body (dharmakaya) which is utterly void (sunnata) in nature. In this way, Amida is understood as both absolute and as relative. Shinran regarded the Pure Land as a Reward Land (hodo) and divided its nature into two based on this above interpretation of Amida. Therefore, one is absolute and formless (shinbutsu-do) in relation to Amida as dharmakaya. The other is manifest and real (kedo) in relation to Amida as upaya. As the prominent Shinshu scholar Daiei Kaneko wrote:

The Pure Land is not a place that is different from our every-day world. It is a higher world that envelops the world in which we live. Although expressed as being the world to come, it is not a world that will come into being in time; it is the world of the transcendental future, as Shinran made clear. He referred to the Pure Land as the "changeless world of nirvana" and a "world of unlimited light".1

In gaining salvation, Shinran speaks of the believer leaping crosswise and gaining Birth in the Pure Land in this very moment and in this very life:

Let us all together awaken the diamond-like aspiration
And, transcending crosswise, cut off the four currents.
Upon truly receiving the diamond-like mind
According [with the Vow] in that one thought-moment
We become persons who consequently attain nirvana.2

The nembutsu, therefore, becomes not a practice but a way to express gratitude at this experience. In this way, Shinshu belief fits into mainstream Mahayana Buddhist notions of sudden enlightenment (tongyo) and the realization of buddha nature (bussho) in the present moment. These traits give Shinshu a very this-worldly feel with a salvation that is readily attainable to all through the immediate embrace of faith in Amida Buddha. This dual nature of Shinshu theology which both saves all beings without discrimination through Amida's infinite compassion while still based in the fundamental concept of sunnata makes Shinshu, for some people, the ultimate expression of Mahayana Buddhism.

In contrast, Honen, and consequently Jodo Shu, stresses that Amida Buddha is simply a Reward Body (sambhogakaya). This is based on the 7th century Chinese Pure Land Master Shan-tao's interpretation that Amida is the Reward Body of Dharmakara Bodhisattva (Hozo-bosatsu) after already having fulfilled his vows and practice. As to the Pure Land, Honen also relied heavily upon Shan-tao's interpretation of shiho-risso, a land of definite direction. While stating that the Pure Land is a real place and that Amida is a sambhogakaya, Shan-tao also used the idea of shiho-risso to show how the concrete aspects of Amida and the Pure Land serve as aids for ordinary people who have difficulty in understanding abstract Buddhist theology. What is problematic about this conception is that various Pure Land scholars have interpreted shiho-risso as a kind of skillful means.3 This interpretation conflicts with mainstream Jodo Shu ones and makes a clear understanding of Shan-tao somewhat difficult. Furthermore, since Honen hardly speaks about the nature of the Pure Land in his writings and quotes directly from Shan-tao in his main text the Senchakushu, it is unclear about how he felt about this question. It does seem clear, though, that he agreed with this assessment of regular people needing a clear object of devotion. Thus, he rejected the concept of the Pure Land that exists in one's mind (jojakkodo) and explained it from the viewpoint of the Pure Land of the next life (raisejodo) with an emphasis on the human capacity and potential to attain it.4 In this way, Birth in the Pure Land is attained through the fervent practice of the nembutsu in this life culminating in Amida's guidance at the time of physical death. Based on these differences and characteristics, Jodo Shu's understanding and tendency towards Pure Land practice and belief is regarded as other-worldly.

On a final note, it seems ironic that the notion of pure land in the Lotus Sutra captures both of these apparently opposed notions found in the two Pure Land Schools. As the Pure Land in the Lotus Sutra is none other than this world into which Shakyamuni has become the Buddha, it is both a real place as in the Jodo Shu sense and this-worldly in the Jodo Shinshu sense. At this point, however, we need to further explore this unorthodox and somewhat problematic notion of Jodo Shu's that the Pure Land is truth and fully existent.

Recently, there have been some interesting and meaningful studies on Honen by the well known "Critical Buddhism" scholars Hakamaya Kensho and Matsumoto Shiro who are Soto Zen priests. In analyzing the structure of salvation in Honen's teachings, Hakamaya arrives at the conclusion that Honen rejected the doctrine of tathagata-garbha (seed of the Buddha) and hongaku shiso (innate enlightenment). He feels that basing himself on Shan-tao's conceptions of Amida and the Pure Land, Honen considered Amida Buddha as existing outside the mind (gaizai-sei). In his works, Shan-tao hardly speaks of tathagata-garbha and hongaku shiso that leads Hakamaya to conclude that Shan-tao considered them ideas for the elite. He further states that Shan-tao felt the idea of an external Amida would guarantee salvation for all beings equally, regardless of their inner nature.5

On the other hand, Matsumoto focuses on Honen's logic. He refers to the opening lines of the first chapter of Honen's Senchakushu in which Honen quotes the Chinese Pure Land Master Tao-ch'o (562-645) as saying that beings have not been able to realize their Buddha nature due to the conditions of the Age of the Final Dharma (mappo). For Matsumoto, this means that Honen did not outright reject these concepts of tathagata-garbha and hongaku shiso, but considered them impossible to realize for common people. On this basis, Matsumoto attacks Hakamaya as attributing theistic ideas to Honen in which Amida becomes like God.6

The reason I introduce this debate is to show the difficulties in arriving at a definitive interpretation of Honen's thought. Though his scholarly works may conform to Buddhist orthodoxy, his sayings and personal teachings to individual devotees show a wide variety of understandings. My interpretation of Honen in this regard reflects deeply on his personal existential experience. In looking at his life, we see his long years spent in intense scholarly study of the sutras and doctrines. Yet in the end, it was his concern for his own existential suffering that led him to embrace Shan-tao's understandings of the Pure Land and to interpret the Three Pure Land Sutras (Jodo Sanbukyo) as the very words of Shakyamuni Buddha, that is the absolute truth regarding salvation, not an upaya. From having an awakening experience along these lines, Honen, out of compassionate concern for other people, endeavored to teach this existential truth to others. In the end, Honen's concern for finding an end to suffering always took precedence over concern for ideological orthodoxy. As such, his ideas may appear at odds with Buddhist doctrine, yet his teaching have a very this-worldly orientation.

By further investigating Honen's personal experiences, I believe we can gain additional insight into his very this-worldly character. First, if we consider his life history, he faced his father's death at the young age of nine when he was assassinated in the family home. Later, while he was a novice on Mt. Hiei, his mother died. Since he could not return home, he worried about her funeral rites, especially since she was from a Korean immigrant family susceptible to discrimination. This experience influenced Honen in his search for a confirmed place of salvation after death and also influenced his positive interpretation of women's Birth in the Pure Land.7

During Honen's time on Mt.. Hiei, he did travel about some studying at various famous temples in Nara and Kyoto and experiencing the daily life of the people. Specifically, in 1156 at the age of twenty-four, he went to Nara after finishing a week of retreat at Seiryo-ji in Saga. At this time, the great Hogen political insurrection had broken out and Honen could witness first hand the catastrophic events of the end of the Heian period. It is easy for us to imagine Honen's experience with people's suffering and their daily encounters with death. This no doubt reminded him of his own parents' death. For Honen, death was a very real experience and a very personal issue.

Furthermore, in those days, Pure Land belief had become widespread and the people held the Pure Land as a very real thing. For example, people who were dying would come to the west gate of Shitteno-ji in Osaka believing that this gate formed the east gate of the Pure Land.8 In this way, Honen's personal concern for death and salvation in the Pure Land found resonance with the hopes and desires of the common people.

Finally, we should reflect on Honen's intense practice of the nembutsu of which he was known to chant 60,000 times a day. This deep spiritual experience gave him the faith and personal confidence in the truth of his insight. From these personal experiences, Honen re-evaluated the Three Pure Land Sutras and Shan-tao's Commentary on the Meditation Sutra (Kammuryoju-kyo sho) as the real teaching of Shakyamuni Buddha to save himself and all sentient beings, including women.

If you believe in Shan-tao and convert to Pure Land teachings, you should do the five right practices (shogyo) as a daily rite. This involves ten or twenty thousand to fifty or sixty thousand and on upward to one hundred thousand nembutsu a day. This depends on your capacity.9

Honen made steady and consistent nembutsu practice one of the cornerstones of his teaching. His intensity concerning practice is reflected in his maintenance of the monastic precepts until his death and his expelling of his close disciple Kosai for advocating that the single recitation of the nembutsu was sufficient for Birth (ichinengi). His insight, however, also led him to teach in a variety of ways that suited the particular situation of each person he encountered. Two outstanding cases are his encounter with a warrior and with a prostitute.

Once a warrior named, Amakasu Taro Tadastune, came and confided in Honen his trouble with reconciling his belief in Pure Land Buddhism with his duty as warrior to fight and kill on the battlefield. Honen answered:

The Original Vow (hongan) of Amida is not concerned whether one's predisposition is good or evil, or whether the religious practice is more or less. Since it does not depend upon the purity or impurity of the body, or time, place or opportunity, the occasion of death is of no consequence. Even sinners, just as they are, will attain rebirth in the Pure Land, if they only repeat the nembutsu. This is the miracle of the Original Vow. So, though a man born into a family of warriors goes to war and loses his life, if he only repeats the Nembutsu, he will be assisted by the Original Vow and will be welcomed by Amida in the Pure Land. This you should not forget.10

In his later years, traveling to Shikoku after being sent into exile from Kyoto, Honen met a prostitute on a boat in Muro harbor. The exchange went something like this:

Prostitute: Owing to what kind of evil karma I don't know, but I have come to earn my living by this disgraceful profession. How can such a sinful person like me be saved and attain Birth in the Pure Land?
Honen: No one knows what kind of evil karma has made you enter into such a profession. However, if you can find another way of living, you may as well throw the profession away as soon as possible. If it is impossible, you should practice the nembutsu as you really are. You should not despise yourself so much. It is for such a sinful being as yourself that Amida Buddha made his Original Vow. If you rely on it and practice the nembutsu, you are sure to attain Birth.11

By investigating the logical inconsistency of Honen's thought and teachings in this way, we arrive at what was consistent for Honen - the resolution of personal suffering through the guaranteed salvation by Amida Buddha at death's moment. This was Honen's "single vehicle", the ultimate experience of death and the need to help beings overcome the suffering associated with it. Ideological orthodoxy and purity in practice were often set aside for this highest vehicle.

In the above section, we saw how the sense of the Pure Land as an actual after-death destination was a common belief during Honen's time and consequently, how Honen molded his message around that common belief as a way to communicate with followers. However, looking at Japanese society today, we can see that the Pure Land as an existential reality is no longer a prevalent belief. This is due to two basic trends.

The first is that daily values have become increasingly based on scientific rationalism. Our ability to explore space has cast into doubt the nature of our traditional myths of heaven and the Pure Land. The development of modern psychology and rational education has further influenced people to look at their lives in abstract ways while devaluing traditional mythologies. This trend has influenced Buddhism in that the emerging style of contemporary Buddhism appeals more to rational abstractions like sunnata, mutual co-existence, mindfulness in the moment and even the very this-worldly trend of socially engaged Buddhism. Rissho Koseikai's development in recent years is perhaps a good example of this trend.
The second is that modern development has brought the fulfillment of most people's basic material needs, most remarkably in Japan. This creates a certain complacency about this life and this world and tends away from seeking escape from this world through transcendence. Improvements in medical science have further pushed death away as something to be readily conquered through modern technology. The breakup of the extended family has meant that young people no longer closely experience the process of aging and death with their grandparents. Further, most people nowadays die in hospitals and not in the home. Therefore, death has become further pushed out of our daily experience, almost invisible. Our one common experience with death is through the virtual reality of television reports, movies and video games, thereby making death an even more surreal thing.

This situation has created a crisis for Jodo Shu. The specific problem lies with Jodo Shu's codification of Honen's teachings as fundamentally other-worldly. Over the years, it appears that the sect has too literally understood Honen's focus on attaining Birth (ojo) at the moment of death, while somewhat disregarding his focus on teaching each individual personally in a way that had meaning for their daily lives. The fundamental problem with this approach today is that it comes into direct conflict with the above mentioned this-worldly orientation of the modern world. Therefore, the Jodo Shu priest has to grapple with two incompatible ideologies - the teaching of his denomination that spiritual meaning is created by the attainment of Birth in a real Pure Land through physical death and the prevalent social paradigm of rational materialism which denies such mythological thinking. It is said now that the more a Jodo Shu priest becomes educated, the less he believes in the Pure Land as a real place. This situation creates the worst aspects of what is known as "funeral Buddhism". The lay followers, also being secularized moderns, hold little to no belief in the teachings and the practice which are far removed from daily life. Buddhism comes to function merely as custom and superstition for dealing with the dead. The priest being equally as secularized can do little to remedy this situation.

This fundamental problem extends outward towards Jodo Shu's general passive approach to social issues and problems. While this passivity is common to all Japanese Buddhist sects which form the core of Japanese funeral Buddhism, Jodo Shu's particularly other-worldly orientation serves as a further inhibitor to priests and lay people in creating social activities. If we look at the priests most commonly involved in social issues, like political and peace issues, they come from Nichiren-shu or Shinshu. As these schools have a particularly this-worldly theological orientation, individuals are able to use this theology as a legitimate basis for going against the normal social passivity of temples and becoming active in social issues. It is also noticeable that the schools most active in social issues, such as Soka Gakkai, Rissho Koseikai and Nipponzam Myohoji, are Nichiren-shu based new religions that have further liberated themselves from the funeral Buddhism system.

My contention is that Jodo Shu has made a critical error in not better paying attention to Honen's process of faith and teaching. As mentioned before, Jodo Shu tends to often focus and stress the conclusion of the practice - chanting the nembutsu to attain Birth in the Pure Land. However, I feel we should investigate more deeply how Honen came to this point. This means how did Honen understand people's character at that time and how did he understand the conditions of society at that time? There is a great variety in his teachings and sayings that sometimes seem to contradict each other. As such, we should pay attention to Honen's variety of teaching according to individual character and specific time and place. In coming to grips with Honen's method of teaching, we can better understand how to properly impart it to modern people in this time and age.

The first aspect of Honen's method is the focus on personal relationship. The basis of this method comes from the relationship between the believer and Amida Buddha who is residing in his real Pure Land in the West. Once again based in Shan-tao's interpretation, Honen describes three aspects of the relationship between Amida Buddha and the nembutsu practitioner: intimate karmic relations (shinnen), close karmic relations (gonnen), and superior karmic relations (zojo-en).12 These sets of relations elucidate the personal connection that a believer develops with Amida through intensive nembutsu practice. For example, Honen remarked about intimate karmic relations, "Therefore, if you hold a rosary, Amida Buddha will see it. If you recite the nembutsu in your mind, Amida Buddha will, in his mind, think of you."13 In the Gyakushu seppo, Honen further remarks, "At the time of death, the Buddha will appear in the presence of the practitioner and extend his hands of saving to help the nembutsu practitioner overcome the fear of death peacefully."14 Honen developed a very personal and intimate teaching style that reflects his own sense of relationship with Amida Buddha. Therefore, nembutsu practice is not simply a means for attaining salvation at death, but it is also a method for cultivating personal connection and bodhisattvic concern for others. I feel this is a fundamental ability that Jodo Shu priests must cultivate in forming relationships with their lay followers.

An extension of this understanding of personal relationship is the concept of oso (going to the Pure Land) and genso (returning to this world). This concept is well-known in Shinshu as it derives principally from the 6th century Chinese Pure Land Master T'an-luan's Commentary on Vasubandhu's Discourse on the Pure Land (Ojoron-chu) which had a fundamental influence on Shinran. Oso-genso is the way that Pure Land Buddhism reaffirms the central Mahayana teachings of bodhisattvic compassion. The emphasis is not on the departure to the Pure Land, but rather the returning to this world to work for the benefit of others. This finds special emphasis in Shinran's thought where the Pure Land is none other than faith in Amida in our daily lives. Traditionally, Jodo Shu does not emphasize oso-genso, because Honen warned about confusing it with samsara. In his sayings, however, Honen shows us something different:

The real purpose is not only your personal salvation as Birth in the Pure Land but also for people's salvation in the world. Therefore, firstly, it is important for you yourself to attain Birth in the Pure Land in one of its higher realms so as to be able to guide others as soon as possible.15

After gaining Birth in the Pure Land and subsequently enlightenment, as soon as possible by using your spiritual powers, guide people regardless of their relation with yourself and regardless of whether they believe or criticize the nembutsu teaching.16

If we practice the nembutsu sincerely we will go to the Pure Land as soon as we die and will attain enlightenment. Then we can guide to the Pure Land, in our own way, the beings of the six realms and also visit the realms where our deceased loved ones have transmigrated.17

In these passages, Honen uses the idea of oso-genso to reflect on the personal bodhisattvic activities after Birth in the Pure Land.

Here the question arises, however, can one only engage in such bodhisattvic action after our death? Of course, if Jodo Shu wishes to positively interpret this teaching for daily lives and for social benefit, it will embrace oso-genso in a this-worldly way. Furthermore, one can substantialize the Pure Land and make this other-worldly mythology very real by expressing this bodhisattvic action in daily life. For modern Jodo Shu followers caught in the contradiction of belief in a real Pure Land and rational materialism, bodhisattvic action in society becomes a very real and concrete manifestation of the existence of the Pure Land.

The second aspect of Honen's method is the process of senchaku or selection. Prof. Hirokawa Takatoshi who led the Taisho University English translation project of Honen's Senchakushu explains Honen's theology as a four stage series of "selection, rejection, and reappropriation". In the first two stages, Honen taught the selection of the Pure Land Path over traditional Buddhist practices and then the selection of the nembutsu over all other Pure Land practices. This is traditional Jodo Shu understanding which culminates in Honen's ultimate teaching of the exclusive nembutsu (senju nembutsu). Prof. Hirokawa, however, has indicated two further stages in Honen's thought which occur after the practitioner has firmly established faith in the nembutsu (ketsujo ojoshin). Prof. Hirokawa shows how after establishing the nembutsu as the core eof one's faith and practice, Honen then spoke clearly of different kinds of auxiliary acts (irui-no-jogo) support and deepen nembutsu practice.18 These include keeping the precepts and various acts beneficial to daily life and to others in society:

How should we spend this life? We should spend our life so that we can recite the nembutsu. If something hinders our practice of the nembutsu, it should be abandoned and stopped...... Clothing, food and shelter, these three are the auxiliary acts of the nembutsu, that is to say that anything which can enable a secure life is an auxiliary act of the nembutsu. People who do not recite the nembutsu and love and care about their bodies will surely fall into the three evil realms after death. Yet why should people who recite the nembutsu not care about their bodies which will be born in the Pure Land? You should care for yourself as much as possible. If you think such acts are not auxiliary acts of the nembutsu and become attached to them, they will become the karma for falling into the three evil realms. If you care for yourself in order to recite the nembutsu and attain birth in the Pure Land, such a secure life will become an auxiliary act of the nembutsu. Everything is like this.19

If one has the heart of the nembutsu then going about daily activities, engaging in various other practices like making offerings or meditating, and getting involved in social welfare activities is something one should do. However, if these activities become the center of one's life and the nembutsu auxiliary, then one should re-prioritize one's life.20

Prof. Hirokawa shows how Honen's selection as rejection of other Buddhist practices is a temporary one.21 After establishing a regular and deep nembutsu practice, the practitioner is then encouraged to participate in society where all activities become a kind of auxiliary act. From this perspective, Honen's multifarious styles and methods of teaching become comprehensible. Further, they show his commitment to a very this-worldly faith and practice.

In conclusion, these aspects of Honen's method present Jodo Shu with a theological basis for this-worldly action which contrast typical notions of escaping this world for Birth in the Pure Land. However, the Pure Land is not devalued as an upaya, a mythology or a psychological projection that needs to be unpacked and made real in this world. Rather, I believe Honen's emphasis on practice and engagement in this very world was a way to affirm the truth of the Pure Land in the next life. By realizing Pure Land practice in this world, we affirm it as a reality in the next.

The tendency of modern Japanese is precisely to confront this notion of Pure Land as an upaya, mythology or psychological projection. Shinshu and the Zen sects have appealed to modern Japanese because of the psychological nature of their theology. Such teachings appear to have much significance for daily life, for example, as a type of psychotherapy that aids people suffering from stress in the fast paced modern world. I feel this is indeed beneficial. However, it has been my experience as a priest that the experience of death presents emotional and spiritual challenges that such teachings have a problem confronting. Most people don't have the level of spiritual realization for teachings like sunnata and not-self to offer any comfort or mental stability in dealing with death. In my personal conversations with priests, especially Zen ones, they have a problem offering teachings on the nature of the after-life which can comfort people in times of great grief with the death of loved ones. For myself, this is the simple reality of our present situation that challenges attempts to conform to Buddhist orthodoxy.

In this way, Jodo Shu's belief in a real Pure Land actually serves as an aid in dealing with people's grief and suffering at funerals and memorial services. I find it ironic in my work as a priest that many people who say they don't believe in religion end up having deep religious experiences at funerals. Many modern Japanese believe in a kind of utilitarianism that focuses on the maintenance of daily life. However, I think that such a belief has problems, because it is not connected to a holistic view of life and the meaning death. Therefore, in experiencing death, people find themselves falling back into the customs of funeral Buddhism for want of another way to deal with death. In this way, Buddhism is offered a great opportunity to provide deeper meaning to people's lives in this modern world. However, most denominations and temples cannot integrate their theology with the practice of funerals and the real spiritual abilities and needs of the people.
I believe that this integration is essential for the future of Japanese Buddhism. Various sects and individual priests have done much to try to make Japanese Buddhism more relevant for modern people by creatively interpreting their theology. While I agree with such efforts, I think that as the fundamental basis of all Japanese Buddhism is funeral and memorial rites, we must make a greater effort to integrate our theology with this fundamental activity. Often times when an individual priest or temple attempts to create a social activity, they experience opposition from lay followers who feel it is taking away from their work in the temple. This problem happens often when creating social activities from a purely theological standpoint. I believe that if the priest puts the work of the temple over all else and develops strong personal relationships with his followers, then social activities can develop more naturally. Regardless of whether a priest or denomination believes in a real Pure Land or not, developing close personal relationships with lay followers enables a priest to use a variety of skillful means to impart the teachings of his particular denomination. This serves as a foundation for extending to further into bodhisattvic action for all beings. For me this is the heart of Honen's message and the meaning of his teachings for our present day.

NOTES:
1 Daiei Kaneko, "The Pure Land Teachings and Shinran", Shinran: His Life and Thought, ed. Norihiko Kikumura (Los Angeles: Nembutsu Press, 1972), 20-21.
2 Shinran, Kyogyoshinsho The True Teaching, Practice and Realization in The Collected Works of Shinran (Kyoto: Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji-ha, 1997), 3:47; cf. "Introduction to Teaching, Practice and Realization", Vol. II, 45.
3 Matsumoto Shiro, "Shohyo Hakamaya Kensho-cho Honen-to Myoe", Komazawa Daigaku Bukkyo Gakubu Ronshu, Vol. 29, 442.
4 Honen's Senchakushu Passages on the Selection of the Nembutsu in the Original Vow (Senchaku Hongan Nembutsu Shu), trans. & ed. Senchakushu English Translation Project (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1998), 30, fn.88.
5 Hakamaya Kensho, Honen-to Myoe (Tokyo: Daizo Shuppan, 1998), 91. Honen also speaks very little of these ideas which leads Tamura Yoshiro to conclude that he rejected them. Tamura Yoshiro, Kamakura shin-bukkyo shiso no kenkyu (Kyoto: Heirakuji shoten, 1965) & Honen's Senchakushu, 14-15.
6 Matsumoto Shiro, Honen, Shinran Shiso-ron (Tokyo: Daizo Shuppan, 2001).
7 Umehara Takeshi, Honen no Kanashimi (Tokyo: Shogakan, 2000), 131-39.
8 Jacqueline Stone, "Amerika-no-bukkyo-gaku kara mita Jodo-kyo", Kyoka Kenkyu the Journal of Jodo Shu Edification Studies, Vol. 10, March 1999, 6-10.
9 Jodoshu Ryakusho, Showa Honen-shonin Zenshu (SHZ)., 602.
10 SHZ., 717.
11 SHZ., 718
12 Honen's Senchakushu, Chapter 7, 96-97.
13 SHZ., 559 & Honen's Senchakushu, 29.
14 Honen's Senchakushu, 28-29.
15 Personal Letters, Honen Shonin Zenshu (HSZ), 526.
16 Personal Letters, HSZ, 576.
17 Guidelines for Birth in the Pure Land (Ojo-jodo-yojin), SHZ. 560.
18 Honen's Senchakushu, 35-44.
19 SHZ. 462-463.
20 Tsuneni osei rarekeru okotoba, SHZ., 493.
21 Honen's Senchakushu, 28-29.