Read, reflect, pray
Hōnen’s One-sheet Testament
一枚起請文
Hōnen’s brief statement on the essentials of the nembutsu, centering on saying Namu Amida Butsu. Presented in its Pure Land context.
English meaning and source text
English meaning
About this English rendering
This site’s English rendering of the Japanese meaning guide, aligned with this edition. It is separate from the source words for recitation and is not an official liturgy. Sacred sounds are explained where possible, not given speculative literal translations. Historical beliefs, royal authority, illness and protection claims belong to the text; they are not present-day judgments, medical advice or guarantees of results.
It is not the contemplative nembutsu
discussed by many learned people in China and Japan, in which the Buddha’s form is pictured in the mind.
Nor is it a nembutsu recited only after study
and understanding of its meaning.
For birth in the Pure Land, there is nothing more intricate than reciting Namu Amida Butsu with the settled conviction that one will assuredly be born there.
The three hearts and four modes of practice are spoken of, but all are contained in the heart that trusts in birth through Namu Amida Butsu.
If one supposes there is some further hidden profundity, one departs from the compassion of the two honored ones, Shakyamuni and Amida, and from Amida’s original vow, this testament says.
Those who trust the nembutsu, even if they have thoroughly studied Shakyamuni’s lifetime teachings, should become as one who knows not a single character, like the unlearned nuns and lay renunciants described here, and simply recite without assuming the manner of a scholar.
I place the impressions of both hands as testimony. The Jōdo school’s settled heart and practice are exhausted in this one sheet. In my thought, Genkū’s thought, there is no other meaning whatsoever.
To prevent mistaken ideas after my death, I have written down my understanding.
Twenty-third day of the first month, Kenryaku 2: the seal of Genkū, also known as Hōnen.
Source text and reading aid
Roman letters are provided for 10 of 11 lines. Readings not fully supplied in the source are left without Roman letters.
How to use the Roman letters
Roman letters follow the kana displayed in this site’s Japanese reader; some readings are editorial additions documented on the Japanese page. These are a reading aid, not restored Sanskrit or a recording of a temple’s chanting. Historical spellings (such as wo, wi, we and ha used as a particle) are kept. Double vowels and repeated vowels mark the written kana; rhythm and pronunciation can differ by tradition.
You can simply read the meaning or sit quietly. No recitation is required. For a temple or shrine’s own recitation, follow that tradition’s published guidance.
唐土我朝に。
morokoshi wagachouni.
もろもろの智者達の沙たし申さるゝ、観念のねんにもあらず。
又学問をして。
mata gakumonwoshite.
念の心を悟りて申念仏にもあらず。
nenno kokorowo satorite mousunenbutsunimoarazu.
唯往生極楽の為には、南無阿弥陀仏と申て、疑ひなく、往生するぞと思ひとりて申外には、別の子細候はず。
tada ou jou gokurakuno tameniha, namuamidabutsuto moushite, utagahinaku, oujousuruzoto omohitorite mousu hokaniha, betsuno shisai sourahazu.
但し三心四修と申事の候は、皆決定して南無阿弥陀仏にて往生するぞと、おもふうちにこもり候なり。
tadashi sanjin shi shuto mousukotono sourouha, minaketsujoushite namuamidabutsunite oujousuruzoto, omofuuchinikomori sourounari.
此外におくふかき事を存せば、二尊のあはれみにはづれ、本願にもれ候べし。
konohokaniokufukaki kotowo zonseba, ni sonnoahareminihazure, hongannimore souroubeshi.
念仏を信ぜん人は、たとひ一代の法をよく〳〵学すとも、一文不知の愚鈍の身になして、尼入道の無智のともがらに同うして、智者のふるまひをせずしてただ一向に念仏すべし。
nenbutsuwo shinzen hitoha, tatohi ichidaino houwoyoku〳〵 gakusutomo, ichimonfuchino gudonno mininashite, amanyuudouno muchinotomogarani onajiushite, chishanofurumahiwosezushitetada ikkouni nenbutsusubeshi.
為証以両手印浄土宗の安心起行此一紙に至極せり、源空が所存此外に全く別義を存せず。
shounotameniryoushuinwomottesu joudoshuuno anjinkigyou konoisshini shigokuseri, genkuuga shozonkonohokani mattaku betsugiwo zonsezu.
滅後の邪義をふせがんがために、所存を記し畢。
metsugono ja giwofusegangatameni, shozonwo shirushi owannu.
建暦二年正月廿三日源空御判
kenryakuninenshougatsunijuusannichi genkuu gohan
Connected kami and buddhas
These connections include figures addressed, mentioned, or associated by tradition. They do not assign a universal recitation practice.
Sources and edition (1)
English explanations on this page were prepared by Inori no Mori from the cited text and its Japanese explanations. They are not an official translation or a prescribed liturgy.