Honen (1133-1212) believed that the invocation of Amida's name, Namu Amida Butsu, was the only sure hope of salvation. This invocation became known as the Nembutsu, a term which originally signified meditation on the name of Amida, but later meant simply the fervent repetition of his name.
The wife of the ex-Regent, Kanezane Tsukinowa, already converted to Honen's faith, asked him
some questions regarding the practice of Nembutsu. Honen replied as follows:
I have the honour of addressing you regarding your inquiry about the Nembutsu. I am delighted to
know that you are invoking the sacred name. Indeed the practice of the Nembutsu is the best of all
for bringing us to Ojo,1 because it is the discipline prescribed in Amida's Original Vow. The
discipline required in the Shingon, and the meditation of the Tendai, are indeed excellent, but they
are not in the Vow. This Nembutsu is the very thing that Shakya himself entrusted 2 to his
disciple, Ananda. As to all other forms of religious practice belonging to either the meditative or
non-meditative classes, however excellent they may be in themselves, the great Master did not
specially entrust them to Ananda to be handed down to posterity. Moreover, the Nembutsu has the
endorsation of all the Buddhas of the six quarters; and, while the disciples of the exoteric and
esoteric schools, whether in relation to the phenomenal or noumenal worlds, are indeed most
excellent, the Buddhas do not give them their final approval. And so, although there are many kinds
of religious exercise, the Nembutsu far excels them all in its way of Attaining Ojo. Now there are
some people who are unacquainted with the way of birth into the Pure Land, who say, that because
the Nembutsu is so easy, it is all right for those who are incapable of keeping up the practices
required in the Shingon, and the meditation of the Tendai sects, but such a cavil is absurd. What
I mean is, that I throw aside those practices not included in Amida's Vow, nor prescribed by
Shakyamuni, nor having the endorsement of the Buddhas of all quarters of the universe, and now
only throw myself upon the Original Vow of Amida, according to the authoritative teaching of
Shakyamuni, and in harmony with what the many Buddhas of the six quarters have definitely
approved. I give up my own foolish plans of salvation, and devote myself exclusively to the practice
of that mightily effective discipline of the Nembutsu, with earnest prayer for birth into the Pure
Land. This is the reason why the abbot of the Eshin-in Temple in his work Essentials of Salvation
(Ojoyoshu) makes the Nembutsu the most fundamental of all. And so you should now cease from
all other religious practices, apply yourself to the Nembutsu alone, and in this it is all-important to
do it with undivided attention. Zendo,3 who himself attained to that perfect insight (samadhi)
which apprehends the truth, dearly expounds the full meaning of this in his Commentary on the
Meditation Sutra, and in the Two-volumed Sutra the Buddha (Shakya) says, 'Give yourself with
undivided mind to the repetition of the name of the Buddha who is in Himself endless life.' And by
'undivided mind' he means to present a contrast to a mind which is broken up into two or three
sections, each pursuing its own separate object, and to exhort to the laying aside of everything but
this one thing only. In the prayers which you offer for your loved ones, you will find that the
Nembutsu is the one most conducive to happiness. In the Essentials of Salvation, it says that the
Nembutsu is superior to all other works. Also Dengyo Daishi, when telling how to put an end to the
misfortunes which result from the seven evils, exhorts to the practice of the Nembutsu. Is there
indeed anything anywhere that is superior to it for bringing happiness in the present or the future
life? You ought by all means to give yourself up to it alone.'
1 Rebirth in the Pure Land.
2 This refers to the passage in the Meditation Sutra which says: 'Buddha said to Ananda, "Preserve well these words. I mean to preserve well the name of the Buddha of Endless Life."'
3 Chinese Patriarch of Pure Land Sect.
