Japan: Portrait of the Buddhist monk Honen by Fujiwara Takanobu,12th Century

Japan: Portrait of the Buddhist monk Honen by Fujiwara Takanobu,12th Century

Honen (??, May 13, 1133 - February 29, 1212) was the religious reformer and founder of the first independent branch of Japanese Pure Land Buddhism called Jodo shu (???, 'The Pure Land School'). In the related Jodo Shinshu sect, he is considered the Seventh Patriarch. Honen 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. Honen gathered a wide array of followers, but also critics. The emperor exiled Honen and his followers in 1207, after an incident regarding two of his disciples, in addition to persuasion by certain influential Buddhist communities. Honen was eventually pardoned and allowed to return to Kyoto where he stayed for a short time before his death.

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3700 x 4788 px | 50.7 MB

31.3 x 40.5 cm | 12.3 x 16.0 in (300 dpi)