Pure Land devotions stressed the importance of repeated repetitions of the nembutsu. The more frequently it was repeated, the greater the positive effect of the practice. Some people recited the nembutsu as often as 120,000 times a day.
The first organized sect which practiced solely Pure Land devotion was Yuzu Nembutsushu, which was started by Ryonin and which was active from 1124 to 1182.2 This sect encouraged the repeated recitation of the nembutsu, claiming that each person who chants it helps to purify not only himself, but all of society. Each person contains the entire universe, so purifying oneself also purifies the rest of the universe. This purification is caused by surrendering to Other-power, to the power of the universal Buddha. Although Ryonin gained over five hundred followers, Yuzu Nembutsushu did not became a major movement in the twelfth century.
Honen (1133-1212), on the other hand, started an extremely major movement. Honen entered a provincial Tendai monastery when he was nine, after his parents were killed in a territorial dispute. He studied at this monastery and at Mount Hiei, and was ordained when he was fourteen. He did not like the atmosphere on Mount Hiei, for the soldier-priests were rampaging regularly. When Honen was seventeen, he moved to a quiet section of the mountain where Tendai Pure Land meditations were taught. He studied there for twenty-five years. During this period he visited Nara, where he learned about other forms of Pure Land devotion: most notably those forms which stressed Other-power and the compassion of Amida.
Eventually, Honen decided that the visualization of the Pure Land advocated by Tendai was not sufficient. He left Mount Hiei and started his own sect. Honen stressed that what was important was faith in the compassion of Amida Buddha. He felt that in the current degenerate age of mappo, following specific rules of conduct did not make any difference in whether one reached the Pure Land after death. Practice could no longer lead to attainment of the Pure Land, so the only way to gain attainment was if Amida granted it to you. However, Honen's life contained a certain amount of contradiction, for while he said that following rules of conduct was not important, he always followed the monastic rules himself. Similarly, though he said that one should just have faith in Other-power, he thought that reciting the nembutsu acted as a purification, with each recitation washing away sin. This position definitely comprised a belief in self-power. Honen did not resolve these difficulties, leaving to his followers the task of clarifying his teachings.
Honen's sect grew tremendously popular. It gave people in an uncertain and chaotic age hope for a happy fate after death. The practice was simple enough that anyone could do it. Honen gained followers among the common people, among the aristocracy, and even among the samurai. His disciples tended to focus on the need for faith. They felt that acting morally was not important.
Eventually, Honen's Pure Land sect was formally opposed by the established temples, particularly those of the Nara schools. Although the issue did not come to a head until the beginning of the thirteenth century, resentments were brewing towards the new sect throughout the last part of the twelfth century. Part of the reason the established sects disapproved of Honen's sect was jealousy. The established sects were declining in importance just as this new sect was beginning to flourish.
This was not the only reason the old sects disapproved of the Pure Land sect, however. There was also the matter that Honen had not gained imperial approval for his sect, as was the custom. Instead, he had boldly preached his doctrine without any official authority to do so. This was considered a shocking sign of self-aggrandizement. In addition, bringing religion directly to the common people upset the control of the government over the masses.
