Myōhen (1142–1224) cultivated his Pure Land faith by following the teaching of the exclusive (senju) nembutsu practice promoted by Hōnen (1133–1212). He believed that one should recite the nembutsu as many times as possible, and considered sincere mind (shijōshin) to be the most crucial of the three minds explained in the Kanmuryōjukyō. However, realizing himself the difficulty of maintaining sincere mind, he advocated entrusting in the Twentieth Vow, which guarantees birth in the Pure Land after the next life (jungoōjō). He also considers saying the nembutsu with scattered mind (sanshin) to be the sufficient cause for birth. Although he himself was able to reach samādhi by reciting the nembutsu, he instructed disciples that the samādhi experience is a by-product of nembutsu and not a cause for birth. An Amida triad picture-scroll (Amida sanzon ezō), preserved in Myōhen's resident temple, Rengezanmai-in, has often been considered proof that Myōhen also practiced visualization of the Pure Land; but more likely it was hung behind the Amida statue, facing in the opposite direction, to enhance circumambulating nembutsu practice. Although Myōhen participated in the minimum required official religious services as a resident monk on Mount Kōya, Hōnen’s disciples respected him as a scholarly devotee of Hōnen’s exclusive nembutsu practice.
