Hōnen

Hōnen (法然 1133-1212) is the religious reformer and founder of the first independent branch of Japanese Pure Land Buddhism called . In the related Jōdo Shinshū sect, he is considered the Seventh Patriarch. Hōnen became a monk of the Tendai sect 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 discovering the writings of Chinese Buddhist, Shan-tao, he undertook the teaching of rebirth in the Pure Land of Amitabha through reciting the Buddha's name, or nembutsu.
Hōnen gathered a wide array of followers, but also critics. The emperor exiled Hōnen and his followers in 1207, after an incident regarding two of his disciples, in addition to persuasion by certain influential Buddhist communities. Hōnen was eventually pardoned and allowed to return to Kyoto where he stayed for a short time before his death.
== Biography ==
=== Early life ===
Hōnen was born to a prominent family in city of Kume, in Mimasaka province. His father was Uruma no Tokikuni, a province official who headed up policing in the area. His mother was of the Hada clan, whose ancestry could be traced back to the silk merchants of China. Hōnen was originally named Seishi-maru after the bodhisattva Seishi (Mahāsthāmaprāpta in Sanskrit). 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." 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 eventually studied at the primary Tendai temple at Mount Hiei, located near Kyoto. Tendai training at Mt. Hiei was concerned with turning followers into clerics, underpinned by a notion that the clerics were spiritually superior to laypersons. Clerics took the bosatsukai (vows of the Bodhisattva) and then undertook 12 years of training at Mt. Hiei; a system developed by the Tendai sect's founder, Saichō.
While at Mt. Hiei, he 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.
=== Departure from Mt. Hiei ===
While studying on Mt. Hiei, Hōnen devoted his time to finding a way to bring salvation to all beings through Buddhism, but was not satisfied with what he found 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.
During this period, Hōnen read a Pure Land Buddhist text called the Commentaries on the Contemplation Sutra (), authored by Chinese Pure Land master Shan-tao, notably the statement:
This commentary persuaded Hōnen to believe that nembutsu was all one needed to enter Amida Buddha's Pure Land. Previously, the nembutsu was recited along with other practices, but Shan-tao was the first to propose that only the nembutsu was necessary. This new appreciation and understanding Hōnen held for nembutsu prompted him to leave Mt. Hiei and the Tendai tradition in 1175.
== Beginnings of a New Sect ==
Hōnen relocated to the district of Ōtani in Kyoto where he started addressing crowds of men and women, establishing a considerable following. Hōnen attracted fortune-tellers, ex-robbers, samurai and other elements of society normally excluded from Buddhist practice.Fitzgerald, chapters 15 and 16 Hōnen was a man of recognition in Kyoto, and many priests and nobleman allied with him, and visited him for spiritual advice.Fitzgerald, chapter 14 Among them was an imperial regent named Kujō Kanezane (1149-1207). The increasing popularity of his teachings drew criticism from noted contemporaries as Myōe and Jōkei among others, who argued against Hōnen's sole reliance on the nembutsu as a means of rebirth in the Pure Land.
Additionally, some disciples interpreted Hōnen's teachings in unexpected ways, leading to disreputable behavior, criticism of other sects, or other forms of antinomianism.
In 1204, the monks at Mt. Hiei implored the head priest to ban the teachings of exclusive nembutsu and to banish any adherents from their principality. 
In 1205 the temple of Kōfuku-ji, located in Nara, implored the Emperor Go-Toba to sanction Hōnen and his followers. The temple provided the emperor with nine charges alleging unappeasable differences with the so-called eight schools. Hōnen's detractors cited examples of Hōnen's followers, such as Gyoku and Kōsai who committed vandalism against Buddhist temples, intentionally broke the Buddhist precepts, or caused others to intentionally turn away from established Buddhist teachings.
In response, Hōnen censured Kōsai's single-nembutsu teaching, and his followers agreed to sign the , which called for restraint in moral conduct and in interactions with other Buddhist sects.
The clamour surrounding Hōnen's teachings dissipated for a time until 1207 when Go-Toba implemented a ban against exclusive nembutsu, stemming form an incident where two of his ladies in waiting converted to Jōdo Shū while the emperor was away. As part of the ban, Hōnen and some of his disciples were exiled, while the priests responsible for the conversion, Juren and Anrakubo, were executed. Hōnen is said to have responded:Fitzgerald, 119
== Exile and the Final Years ==
Hōnen was exiled to Tosa, but the movement in Kyoto had not thoroughly gone away. While in exile, Hōnen spread the teachings to the people he met - fishermen, prostitutes, and the peasantry. In 1211 the nembutsu ban was ultimately lifted, and Hōnen was premitted to return to Kyoto. In 1212, the following year, Hōnen died in Kyoto, but was able to compose the One-Sheet Document (Ichimai-Kishomon) a few days before he died.
== Character ==
Analysis of various historical documents by the Jodo Shu Research Institute suggests several obvious characteristics of Hōnen's personality:
* a strict master
* introspective and self-critical
* a bold innovator
* a critic of scholasticism
* a man more concerned with solving the problems of daily life rather than worrying about doctrinal matters
On the latter point Hōnen expressed unusual concern over the spiritual welfare of women. In teaching to 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:
== Doctrine ==
=== Writings ===
Hōnen's main document expounding his Pure Land doctrine is the Senchaku Hongan Nenbutsushū 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. The only other document from Hōnen is his last testament, the Ichimai Kishomon (一枚起請文) or "One-Sheet Document". Most of Hōnen's teachings are recorded by his disciples, or recorded later by Buddhist historians in the 14th century.
=== Quotation ===
Hōnen's teachings are briefly summarized in his final work, the Ichimai Kishomon (One-Sheet Document):
Hōnen's practical advice on practicing the nembutsu can be summed up in these two statements:
== Disciples ==
By 1204 Hōnen had a group of disciples numbering around 190,. This number is derived from the number of signatures found on , 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 the island of Kyūshū.
* 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 (1173-1262), 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.
* 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 Island in 1207.
* Rensei (1141-1208), formerly a samurai named Kumagai no Jirō Naozane.
* Kansai (1148-1200).
* Shinkū (1146-1228).
* Anrakubō (? -1207), executed during the purge of 1207.
* Jūren (?), executed along with Anrakubo in 1207.
A number of disciples went on to establish branches of Pure Land Buddhism, based on their interpretations of Honen's teachings.
==Notes==
== Additional References ==
* 
* Honen biography, notes on his work, and an image
* 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
* 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)
* 
Category:1133 births
Category:1212 deaths
Category:Japanese Buddhist monks
Category:Buddhist Patriarchs
Category:Pure Land Buddhism
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