Honen's One Sheet Document

On January 23, 1212, Honen wrote the One Sheet Document (Ichimai-Kishomon) at the request of Genchi, his close disciple...

"My O-Nembutsu is not a meditation that has been advocated by wise masters of China and Japan. My O-Nembutsu is not the meditation of Amida's name after mastering the profound meaning through studying it. My O-Nembutsu is just to recite Amida's name - Namo Amida Bu, Namo Amida Bu - without any other reason than faith that I will be received into his pure land of ultimate bliss without fail. Even the Three Minds and the Four Cultivations are all decisively enveloped in believing one will be received into his pure land by reciting Namo Amida Bu. If you hold to deeper knowledge besides the recitation of Amida Buddha's name, you will miss the compassion of the two honourable ones (Amida Nyorai and Shakyamuni Buddha) and you will be left out of the supreme vow of Amida Buddha. If you believe in my O-Nembutsu, even if you master the whole teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha, just recite Amida Buddha's name with all your heart, as though you had no knowledge and no intelligence at all"
He passed away two days later on January 25, 1212 at the age of eighty.

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