A Work of Educational Philosophy through the Literature on Wholehearted Recitation of the Name of Amida in the Final Instruction from St.Honen to St.Genchi

I have chosen a subject related to the standpoint of educational philosophy for my contribution to the educational group of the Research Institute of Bukkyo University in order to take advantage of academic research to solve current educational problems. As a means to approach this theme, I have selected the Kurotani edition of the Ichimai-kishomon (One Sheet of Document) attributed to Honen and dated January 23, 1212. Since Honen is only the attributed author, there has been textual criticism of this letter that can present us with a lot of problems. In order to study these problems, we must first take a close look at the textual criticism. To reconsider the basis of each point of textual criticism, we must try to find counter-evidence by investigation from the standpoint of educational philosophy and by using critical methods based upon experiments. Although further research may be able to provide us with such counter-evidence, this letter has been established as a legitimate research subject by a philosophically critical approach. In this paper, (from the standpoint of educational philosophy), I would like to interpret the context of the instruction orally transmitted from Honen to Genchi. The following are the main points of my discussions. 1) The Ichimai-kishomon (One Sheet of Document) is a letter to be left behind and is not an oath. 2) The statement that the seal was written by St.Honen could be interpreted that to mean that only the seal was written by Honen. 3) The cursive style inscription Gesho "r1:" can be read by tracing the signature with the difference in ink darkness as a clue. 4) Holographic experiments have proven that Genchi may have written the attached letter with his left hand. 5) The idiosyncratic way of writing represents the stress, speed, and tone of voice of Honen's speech. It was an incorporeal legacy to the disciple who was allowed to receive the orally transmitted instruction. 6) The reason why I think that this instruction is a discourse is that there seems to be a conversational relationship between Honen's instruction and Genchi's postscript. As the rhetoric of Genchi's postscript indicates, while nenbutsu and ojo appear three times respectively in the shorthand record of the instruction, Genchi also used genku( = St.Honen) three times to express his wish of genku nenbutsu ojo. Honen's signature in response to the wish corresponds to r1:. 7) Thus, Honen's signature is a critical element for the oral transmission of instruction from the master to the disciple through discourse. From the correlation between Genchi's request and the attachment accompanied to the postscript written in faint ink to indicate urgency, we can speculate on the master-disciple discourse. Honen responded to Genchi's postscript correctly with the most benevolent attitude and in the smallest number of words necessary and brought about Genchi's response to his words, as can be seen from Genchi's request. 8) Genchi's request supports the first half of the Ichimai-kishomon (One Sheet of Document), the history of the self-directed education, by revising the training method in the sacred way and concentrating on the cause and the effect of the Pure Land. It also supports the latter half, the guidance of the first half, by giving priority to the welfare of other people. 9) By attaching the postscript in which Genchi mentions genku, Genchi expresses his wish for his master to ascend to the highest level in the Pure Land. By doing so, he spontaneously participates in the instruction. 10) What precisely expresses Honen's response to his disciple's wish is his signature, in which the essence of his self-educational history is concentrated. This essence provides a foundation for a transcendental concept of life and death. 11) The visible presentation of Genchi's determination detonated by his master's signature is his oath supported by the voluminous list of those who wish to be initiated. It is Genchi's creative response to Honen for his wish to spread the movement of saving those in pain by transforming oneself and guiding all beings. Therefore, the death of the respected master Honen, represented by the final instruction, serves as factors to improve the master-disciple relationship and to promote the spontaneous participation of the disciple. The final instruction marks the actual death of the master