Hōnen’s Position on the Possibility of Ōjō through Practices Other than the Nembutsu: “I Do Not Absolutely Deny the Possibility of Ōjō by Other Means”

Abstract

This paper is a part of a series of articles on the question whether Hōnen acknowledged in theory the possibility of ōjō (birth in the Pure Land) through practices other than the nembutsu. After a decade-long study based on texts written in Classical Chinese (kanbun) such as the Senchaku Hongan Nembutsu shū, the author has come to the final conclusion that Hōnen, although highly reservedly, admitted the possibility of ōjō through miscellaneous practices. The first half of this paper gives an overview of the study. In the latter part of the paper, it will be shown that an examination of texts written in Japanese (wago) has led the author to the same conclusion.