Introduction
Here’s a question I received:
Q:
“Isn’t the concept of the Five Heinous Offenses (gogyaku-zai) meant to be a warning, a deterrent?
If you say, ‘Even evil people are saved,’ doesn’t that destroy the deterrent effect?”
■ A society held together by fear
In medieval Japan, especially during the Kamakura period, society was overshadowed by fear — natural disasters, wars, and epidemics. People’s lives were uncertain, and the dominant Buddhist schools maintained order through fear-based warnings:
- “You will be punished.”
- “You will fall into hell.”li>
Armed warrior-monks (sōhei) even used this fear as political leverage, marching with sacred palanquins and threatening the court with divine retribution. Fear wasn’t just a moral guide; it was a tool of power.
■ Hōnen’s guiding memory
Amid this, Hōnen Shōnin saw how exhausted people had become from living in constant fear.
He himself lost his father in war as a child. On his deathbed, his father told him:
“Do not repay hatred with hatred. Seek a path that transcends it.”
This deeply shaped Hōnen’s life.
After years of study on Mount Hiei, he grew disillusioned with the hypocrisy of monks who wielded strict precepts as tools of power.
“This way of ruling by fear will never end hatred or conflict.”
And so, he turned to the vow of Amida Buddha, offering a new way of hope.
■ “Even evil people are saved” — what it really means
The phrase does not encourage wrongdoing.
Rather, it speaks to those who are crushed by their own sense of sin:
- Those who feel hopelessly unworthy
- Those who despair that they cannot be saved
- Those who, upon hearing “Amida does not abandon even you,” are moved to tears
This is the heart of Akunin Shōki (“The wicked are the very ones best suited for salvation”).
It is not about destroying deterrence but about awakening people through compassion, not fear.
■ Conclusion
Fear may control people temporarily, but compassion transforms them.
Hōnen believed that only through Amida’s boundless compassion could people truly change.
For Japanese readers:
This story is also available in Japanese.
↓ 日本語版は（note）へ
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