Founder or eminent monk
Hōnen Shōnin
法然上人
After studying on Mount Hiei, Hōnen taught senju nenbutsu, the exclusive practice of reciting the nenbutsu with faith in the original vow of Amida Buddha. Based at Yoshimizu in Kyoto, he conveyed the teaching to people regardless of their social standing, and he is revered as the founder of the Jōdo school.
This page is written with care for the relationship between revering Hōnen Shōnin and reciting the nenbutsu to Amida Buddha.
English pages are the site’s own translations of its Japanese pages. The sources cited are in Japanese. 日本語で読む
Opening the path of the nenbutsu
Chion-in presents Hōnen's arrival at the teaching of senju nenbutsu in 1175 as the founding of the Jōdo school. The one to whom the nenbutsu is directed is Amida Buddha, and Hōnen is the founding teacher who conveyed that teaching.
Source: 浄土宗総本山 知恩院
Conveying the path of salvation beyond social standing
People of many different positions visited his hermitage at Yoshimizu. Chion-in describes Hōnen's life as having opened the path of the nenbutsu widely to people, not only to those able to pursue difficult scholarship or severe practice.
Source: 浄土宗総本山 知恩院
After exile, words left in his final years
Exiled in 1207, Hōnen returned to Kyoto in 1211. The Ichimai Kishōmon, which he set out just before his death, is treasured as a text that conveys the teaching of the nenbutsu concisely.
Source: 浄土宗総本山 知恩院
A calm figure with prayer beads in hand
Portraits of Hōnen include one in which he wears a kesa the color of pale ink and sits on a raiban (worship platform), holding prayer beads. On this site, based on those features, he is drawn with a quiet expression.
Source: 福井県
Related shrines and temples
Related kami and buddhas
Sources (in Japanese)
- 浄土宗総本山 知恩院「法然上人とお念仏」（2026-10-15 確認）
- 福井県「絹本著色 法然上人像」（2026-10-15 確認）