The CBE presents: Honen as Religious Revolutionary:
The Person Who Identified the Core Components of Japanese Buddhism
Guest Speaker:Dr. Mark Blum

“Why was Honen so influential among Buddhist thinkers who were Pure Land Buddhists and those who were not Pure Land Buddhists?…
Shinran insisted that he had nothing new to say because everything he knew he got from Hōnen. Hōnen made the same statement but his source of knowledge was   Shandao. What do these statements tell us about what each man saw as new, and the political context of the time, both among their in-groups and in the context of society as a whole?…”
What is the historical legacy of Hōnen in today’s world?           — Dr. Blum’s lecture outline (excerpts)

Topics Discussed:

1. Outline of Hōnen’s career
2. Why he became a celebrity whereas Shinran did not.
   a) what people loved about him
   b) what people hated about him
3. What are the “Core Components of Japanese Buddhism” that Hōnen identified? Why was he so influential among Buddhist thinkers who were Pure Land Buddhists and those who were not Pure Land Buddhists?
4. The meaning of the fact that neither Hōnen and Shinran show any intentions to create a separate Pure Land religious institution or denomination (kyōdan)?
5. Shinran insisted that he had nothing new to say b/c everything he knew he got from Hōnen. Hōnen made the same statement but his source of knowledge was Shandao. What do these statements tell us about what each man saw as new, and the political context of the time, both among their in-groups and in the context of society as a whole?
6. What was actually new in Hōnen? How do we distinguish Hōnen from Shandao?
7. What are the core issues that must be dealt with in studying Hōnen?
   a) his theory of nenbutsu
   b) the fact that he regarded Shandao as a buddha
   c) his refusal to condemn or reject any of his students
   d) why so many of his followers were lay people but he never veered from a monastic lifestyle.
8. What is the historical legacy of Hōnen in today’s world?
   
   

Recorded Feb 13th, 2021

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https://www.youtube.com/c/BCACenterforBuddhistEducation/

Websites:
https://www.buddhistchurchesofamerica.org/center-for-buddhist-education/

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Gassho.

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