Hōnen

Hōnen was a Japanese Buddhist monk who founded the Jōdo (Pure Land) school in Japan. He taught that in the degenerate age, salvation is available to all through the simple, sincere recitation of the Nembutsu (Namu Amida Butsu), regardless of social class or prior attainment.

Hōnen's teaching democratised Buddhism: liberation was no longer the preserve of learned monks but available to all who sincerely called on Amida Buddha's name. His Senchakushū was the first original Buddhist text composed in Japan and became the founding document of Japanese Pure Land thought.