"An original and highly stimulating approach. Honen, the founder of the Pure Land sect, has been greatly underestimated and neglected in modern studies of Japanese Buddhism. Notable for making connections with Christian liberation theology and for establishing the social significance of the Pure Land movement, this book will make excellent reading in courses on world religion, Japanese religion, and religion and society."--Alfred Bloom, author of "Shinran's Gospel of Pure Grace

"Soho Machida's original, provocative study of Honen secures his place in Japanese intellectual history; and his bold advocacy of Pure Land practice forms a watershed in Japanese Buddhism, dividing the old and new, hierarchical and egalitarian, elitist and popular faith."--Taitetsu Unno

"Machida has thrusted Honen to his deserved place at the center stage of Pure Land Buddhist development. We are drawn closer to Honen as a person and a spiritual genius who not only established Pure Land as an independent tradition but also impacted the overall Japanese Buddhist ethos of his time. The Wests perception of Pure Land Buddhism has been forever transformed by this superb work."--Kenneth K. Tanaka, Musashino Womens University, Tokyo