After reading Shandao's Commentary on the Amitāyus Contemplation Sūtra, Hōnen devoted himself to attaining birth in the pure land of Amitābha through the practice of "recitation of the Buddha's name" (Jp: nembutsu) and to spreading this teaching among all classes and people.

From then on, Hōnen lived his life as a monk, and at thirteen, ordained to study at the primary Tendai temple of Mount Hiei near Kyoto.

[5] During this time, Hōnen was deeply affected by the contrast between the suffering of the common people and the lives of elite Buddhist monks and their ornate temples.

[6] He was particularly struck by the following passage:To recite intently and exclusively the name of Buddha Amitabha while walking, standing, sitting, or lying down, without regard for the length of time; to engage without cessation in the recitation of nembutsu for life: This is called the rightly established practice because it is in accordance with the essential vow of Buddha Amitabha.

[7][6] This commentary persuaded Hōnen to believe that nembutsu (ch: nianfo, the faithful recitation of Amida Buddha's name), was all one needed to enter Amitābha's pure land and attain Buddhahood.

[8][9] Hōnen relocated to the district of Ōtani in Kyoto (the capital of Japan at the time), where he began to teach the simple recitation of the nembutsu to crowds of laymen and women, establishing a considerable following.

[1] Hōnen's teaching attracted all sorts of people, including merchants, fortune-tellers, robbers, samurai and other elements of society normally excluded from Buddhist practice.

[12] The increasing popularity of his teachings drew criticism from noted contemporaries as Chikai, Myōe and Jōkei among others, who argued against Hōnen's sole reliance on nembutsu as a means of rebirth in a pure land.

[13] In 1190, Hōnen was granted the great honor of being invited to give a series of lectures on the Pure Land sutras at the national temple of Tōdai-ji in Nara.

The second charge was that Hōnen placed the most lowly layperson on equal footing with the wisest monk, rendering the entire monastic establishment as useless.

This ban was sparked by an incident where two of Hōnen's most prominent followers held a nembutsu retreat which was attended by various figures, including two court ladies.

[25] The Japanese Jodo Shu Research Institute describes Hōnen's personality as a "strict" but "bold innovator" who was "introspective and self-critical" and "concerned with solving the problems of daily life rather than worrying about doctrinal matters".

In teaching them, regardless of social status (from aristocracy to prostitutes), he particularly rejected the significance of menstruation; which wider Japanese religious culture considered to cause spiritual defilement.

Ku Amida Butsu of Hosshō-ji, though less intelligent, contributes in leading the people to the Pure Land as an advocate of the nembutsu.

[27] Among his most direct successors was Shinran (1173–1263), the founder of Jōdo Shinshū (True Pure Land School), who emphasized absolute reliance on Amida’s grace, rejecting the necessity of repeated nembutsu recitation as a self-powered practice.

[28] Ippen (1239–1289), another Pure Land reformer, took Hōnen’s teachings in a different direction, promoting ecstatic recitation and proselytizing through the Ji-shū movement.

Hōnen's main work expounding his Pure Land doctrine is the Senchaku Hongan Nenbutsushū (Collection of Selections on Nenbutsu and the Original Vow, 選択本願念仏集, Senchakushū for short), written in 1198 at the request of his patron Lord Kujō Kanezane (1148–1207).

His doctrine centers on attaining rebirth in the pure land through a personal connection with Amida Buddha and a reliance of his other power (tariki).

In contrast to the traditional Buddhist emphasis on achieving nirvana through individual effort, Hōnen focuses on reciting Amida’s name (nembutsu), a simple faith based practice that offers liberation to all types of people.

This short text containing the core of Hōnen's teaching states that the nembutsu is not a kind of meditation, nor does it require studying or understanding.

Reciting the nembutsu and believing in birth in the Pure Land naturally gives rise to the three minds (sanjin) and the four modes of practice (shishu).

If the Original Vow required wisdom and great talents, there would be no hope of that birth for the foolish and ignorant at all; but the wise are few in number, while the foolish are very many...  We conclude therefore, that Amida Nyorai, when He was a priest by the name of Hozo (Dharmakara) ages ago, in His compassion for all sentient beings alike, and in His effort for the salvation of all, did not vow to require the making of images or the building of pagodas conditions for birth into the Pure Land, but only the one act of calling upon His sacred name.

[38] Thus, the main reason that the Buddha chose the nembutsu as the supreme practice was that most people were poor, uneducated, unwise and forced by circumstances to violate the precepts (for example, for fishermen and so on).

[1] Thus, while other schools of Buddhism organized their doctrinal classifications based on which sutra or teaching they believed was the most profound, Hōnen focused on the universal ease and accessibility of the nembutsu as the criterion for it being the highest practice.

This is because, for Hōnen, the nembutsu contained within it Amitabha Buddha's bodhicitta (mind of awakening), and all of his merits and enlightenment, as well as the entire Buddhist teaching (the three truths).

Hōnen cautioned against the mistaken belief that birth in the pure land depends on the sheer number of times one recites the nembutsu or other self efforts.

This genuine reliance on Amida’s power leads to the establishment of unwavering faith, ensuring rebirth in the Pure Land.

[42] Hōnen described this essential faith using Shandao's concept of the triple mind (sanjin), which are necessary for attaining birth in the pure land.

(T. 2608, 83:18c-19a)[41] Because of his reliance on a single simple practice, Hōnen's teaching was widely criticized as "exclusive" and as neglecting basic Buddhist ethics and bodhicitta.

Second, Hōnen emphasized how, even if individuals enter the pure land while still filled with defilements, these will be eliminated upon arrival through Amida's grace.