Honen - Reformist of Buddhism Japan some 800 years ago

 

Honen - Reformist of Buddhism Japan some 800 years ago     Sand Craft at Entrance of Honen-yin Honen was a reformist of Buddhism Japan some 800 years ago. Yin means house in Japanese. Here Higashiyama at eastern Kyoto area, Honen and his disciples strived hard for reformist of Buddhism in the Middle Ages of Japan some 800 years ago. Honen realized that Nenbutsu, the recitation of Buddha Amitabha's name, was the only way to Jodo, the Pure Land of Buddhism.  He was exiled by the establishment but finally returned to Kyoto a few months before his death 1212.