Translator's Introduction

The Nyonin Ōjō Kikigaki—A Record of What Was Heard About Women’s Birth (女人往生聞書)—is a short doctrinal treatise composed by Zonkaku. As the introduction in the Seiten suggests, the text was written at the request of Kūshōbō Ryōgen, a monk associated with the Bukkōji branch of the tradition, and is listed among a cluster of works Zonkaku composed for him in either 1320 or 1324—the date remaining uncertain due to the absence of a colophon.

The text focuses on the thirty-fifth of Amida Tathāgata's forty-eight vows, known variously as the “Vow of Women's Attainment of Birth,” the “Vow of Transformation of Women into Men,” or the “Vow of Hearing the Name and Transformation of Women.” Its central question is at once doctrinal and pastoral: given that the eighteenth vow already pledges birth in the Pure Land to all sentient beings in the ten directions without distinction of male or female, why does a separate vow addressed specifically to women need to exist at all? Zonkaku's answer, drawing on the authority of Shandao (613–681) and mediated through Hōnen (1133–1212) and Shinran (1173–1263), is that the thirty-fifth vow is not logically redundant but arises from “the Tathāgata's great loving-kindness and great compassion:” precisely because women carry especially heavy karmic obstructions, Amida established a vow addressed to them explicitly, so that they should not succumb to doubt regarding their own salvation.

To make this case, Zonkaku first marshals an extensive catalogue of scriptural passages from eight texts—the Nirvāṇa Sūtra, the Sūtra of Contemplation of the Mind Ground, the Udayana King Sūtra, the Ratnakūṭa Sūtra, the Āgama Sūtras, the Mahāprajñāpāramitā Śāstra, and the Treatise on Mind-Only—all attesting to the gravity of women's karmic condition. He then elaborates on the doctrinal categories of the five obstructions and the three obediences, and surveys the exclusion of women from the major sacred sites of Japan—Mount Hiei, Mount Kōya, Tōdaiji, Kasagidera, Kinpusen, and Daigoji—as concrete evidence of the obstructions that the female body carries even within the defiled world, not to mention in the Pure Land of a reward-body buddha. The cumulative effect of this argument is deliberately overwhelming: by the time Zonkaku turns to the resolution, the reader has been made to feel the full weight of the problem that Amida's vow serves to address.

That resolution comes in two stages. The first is doctrinal: a citation from Shandao's Dharma-gate of Contemplation and Recitation (Kannen Hōmon), which states that, through the power of Amida's Primal Vow, a woman who recites the Name will—at the moment of death—immediately transform her female body into a male one, be received by Amida's outstretched hand, and awaken to the truth of “non-arising.” The second stage is Shinran's versification of this teaching in two wasan—one from the Hymns on the Pure Land, and the other from the Hymns on Eminent Monks—which render the doctrinal content, of both the vow text and Shandao's commentary into Japanese vernacular verse accessible to all. Together, as Zonkaku carefully notes, these two layers of commentary draw out the full intent of the thirty-fifth vow. The text then closes with a vivid narrative of Hōnen addressing a gathering of women—urging them to rely single-mindedly on the Primal Vow and not to grow weary of the nembutsu—which shows how the three Pure Land sūtras, together, form a mutually reinforcing argument in which women occupy a prominent, rather than marginal, position.

A significant philological issue runs beneath the surface of the text. As the Seiten introduction notes, and as the footnotes to this translation document in detail, almost none of the passages Zonkaku cites as evidence of women's karmic obstructions can be verified in the sūtras and śāstras to which they are attributed. The majority correspond instead to passages cited as scriptural quotations in Nichiren's writings (1222–1282). This strongly suggests that Zonkaku was drawing on a shared corpus of anti-female citations that had circulated in medieval Japanese Buddhist polemic, many of which originated in, or were popularised through, the Nichiren school's arguments about the Lotus Sūtra as the supreme vehicle for women's salvation through the paradigm of the Nāga Princess. As the Seiten introduction observes, this polemical background—a Shinshū response to the Nichiren claim that only the Lotus Sūtra opens the path for women—provides an important context for understanding why Zonkaku (and Ryōgen) felt it necessary to compose this text in the first place.

This historical context also bears on how the text's most difficult material should be received today. The misogynistic rhetoric of the scriptural catalogue, and the portrait of women's everyday conduct in Section III, belong (as the Seiten introduction explicitly states) to a tradition of mistaken analogies concerning sexual difference rooted in ancient Indian social convention—a narrative that must be rejected. The doctrinal core that Zonkaku is ultimately defending, however, is precisely the opposite of what that rhetoric might suggest; namely, that the nembutsu of the Primal Vow encompasses all—without distinction of male or female—and that women, far from being excluded from Amida's compassion, are placed first among those it addresses. It is this affirmation—“joy within joy,” as Hōnen is quoted as saying in Section VIII—that the Nyonin Ōjō Kikigaki aims to make heard.

Finally, no colophon can be found that records the date of the Nyonin Ōjō Kikigaki. Two competing theories have been proposed by scholars, as summarised in the introduction to the text to the Seiten text: either 1320 (Gen'ō 2), when Zonkaku was thirty-one years old, or 1324 (Genkō 4), when he was thirty-four.

The case for 1320 rests on the testimony of two biographical sources. The first is the Zonkaku Ichigoki, a record of Zonkaku's own life composed in his own hand, which notes (in its entry for his thirty-first year) that Kūshōbō Ryōgen—the monk at whose request the Nyonin Ōjō Kikigaki was written—first came to visit him that year. At Ryōgen's request, Zonkaku composed and copied several dozen fascicles of sacred texts and presented them to him. The second source is the Kankōroku, compiled by the monk Jakuei in 1721 (Kyōhō 6), which provides a more detailed account of the same visit, and gives a specific list of the texts Zonkaku composed for Ryōgen on that occasion: the Jimyō Shō, the Jōdo Shin Yōshō, the Shoshin Honkaishu, the Haja Kenshō Shō, the Benjutsu Myōtai Shō, and the Nyonin Ōjō Kikigaki. If this list is accurate, then the Nyonin Ōjō Kikigaki belongs to the same fruitful period of creativity as these other texts, all of which were produced in 1320 in response to Ryōgen's requests.

The case for 1324 is based on somewhat different evidence. Zonkaku's own catalogue of pure land texts, the Jōden Mokuroku, lists the Nyonin Ōjō Kikigaki among the works composed at Ryōgen's request, but without specifying a date. However, several other texts in the same list—including the Jimyō Shō, the Jōdo Shinyō Shō, the Haja Kenshō Shō, and the Shoshin Honkai Shū—do survive with colophons, which consistently give the date of Genkō 4 (1324). Since these are the very same works that the Kankōroku groups together with the Nyonin Ōjō Kikigaki as products of Ryōgen's visit, the argument runs that all of them, including the Nyonin Ōjō Kikigaki, should be assigned the same date of 1324.

The tension between these two theories is not easily resolved. It is possible that the Zonkaku Ichigo Ki and the Kankōroku are correct in claiming that Ryōgen first visited Zonkaku in 1320, but that the composition of the texts he requested was spread over a number of years, with the Nyonin Ōjō Kikigaki completed only in 1324 alongside the other dateable works. It is equally possible that 1320 is correct for all of them and that the colophon dates of 1324 reflect a later revisions, or recopying, rather than original compositions. What is not in doubt is that the Nyonin Ōjō Kikigaki belongs to the early phase of Zonkaku's mature literary activity, produced in the context of his relationship with Ryōgen and the Bukkōji community. Accordingly, it stands alongside a group of closely related doctrinal texts composed in response to the same set of pastoral and polemical concerns.

I. Introduction: The Thirty-Fifth Vow

[621] The thirty-fifth of Amida Tathāgata’s forty-eight vows is known as the “Vow of Women's Attainment of Birth.” Sometimes, it is called the “Vow of Transformation of Women into Men,” or the “Vow of Hearing the Name and Transformation of Women.” The wording of this vow is as follows:

“If, when I attain buddhahood, there are women in the worlds of the ten directions who hear my name and rejoice in joyful faith, arouse bodhicitta, despise the female body, and at the end of their life once again take on the female form, may I not attain perfect awakening.”1

II. Why a Separate Vow?

Someone asks: In the eighteenth vow, the vow was made with reference to “sentient beings of the ten directions.”2 Therefore, the many good people, evil people, men, and women are all together included, with none excluded. Nevertheless, now there exists this separate vow, the meaning of which I have not yet grasped. If things are to stand as they do, then within the words of the aforementioned “sentient beings of the ten directions”3 of the eighteenth vow, are we to understand that women are excluded? If they are excluded, then the eighteenth vow does not embrace all beings. [622] But if they are not excluded and all are to be embraced, then it appears that the thirty-fifth vow serves no purpose. In what way should we understand this?

Reponse: Needless to say, the eighteenth vow of nembutsu birth—without distinction of male or female—embraces all. However, the fact that this [thirty-fifth] vow was additionally established represents the ultimate expression of the Tathāgata's great loving-kindness and great compassion. The reason for this is that women are burdened with hindrances, and their transgressions run deep. Were [this vow] not separately and clearly addressed to women, they would be liable to give rise to doubts [regarding their salvation]—and it is for this reason that this vow was specially established. This was precisely the considered judgment of venerable ones from the past.

III. Evidence for Women's Heavy Karmic Obstructions

Someone asks: What is the scriptural evidence that women are burdened with hindrances, and their transgressions run deep?

Reponse: The evidence for this in the sūtras and śāstras is abundant. We may cite a few examples in brief.

The Nirvāṇa Sūtra says: 

“Gather all the afflictions of men in the three-thousandfold world, and they amount to the karmic obstructions of a single woman.”4

Further, it says: 

“Women are like the Great Māra King, able to devour all people; in the present life, they create binding entanglements, and in the next life, they become enemies and adversaries.”5

[623] The Sūtra of Contemplation of the Mind Ground says: 

“Even if the eyes of all the buddhas of the three times were to fall upon the great earth, the women of the Dharmadhātu would never arouse the aspiration for buddhahood.”6

The Udayana King Sūtra7 says: 

“Women are the foremost among those who bring about evil and difficulty; binding, attaching, and pulling people through the gate of transgression.”8

The Ratnakūṭa Sūtra says: 

“A single glance at a woman is enough to lose the merit of one's eyes; even one should sooner look upon a great serpent than gaze at a woman.”9

The Āgama Sūtras say: 

“A single glance at a woman binds one to the karma of the three lower realms for a long time; how much more so a single transgression—for this, one will certainly fall into Avīci Hell.”10

The Mahāprajñāpāramitā Śāstra11 says: 

“The clear wind, though without colour, can still be caught; a viper, though it holds poison, can still be touched; taking up a sword and facing an enemy, one can still overcome them; but the female thief, who harms people, is difficult to restrain.”12

[624] The Treatise on Mind Only says: 

“Women are envoys from hell, permanently severing the seed of buddhahood; their outward faces resembles a bodhisattva, while their inner minds are like a yakṣa.”13

Although the passages from the sūtras and śāstras are numerous, we have set them forth in brief as above. Women who hear these passages will surely give rise to a sense of self-abasement, and will find it difficult to maintain any hope of birth. It is for this reason that the “Vow of Women's Attainment of Birth” is separately established. In light of this vow—when we once again contemplate the eighteenth vow (in the wording of “sentient beings of the ten directions”14)—we come to understand all the more clearly that it extends across male and female, without any distinction being made between good and evil.

In general, the depth of women's transgressions ought to be quietly contemplated and loathed. Even though it may appear plain to the eye that one does not commit great transgressions and the like, among the conduct that one commits while walking, standing, sitting, and lying down, and among the thoughts one thinks day and night, morning and evening, there is nothing that is not a transgressive act, and there is nothing that is not an evil cause.15 In the morning one faces the bright mirror and carefully arranges the adornment of blackened brows and, in the evening, one burns incense into garments, wishing the fragrance to be the most intense. One takes attachment as the substance of one's thoughts, and jealousy as the business of one's life. The mind that clings to oneself and envies others, without exception, becomes the agent of transmigration; the deeds of stroking one's hair or adorning one's appearance, all without exception, are the source of saṃsāric existence. Without changing one's mind [625] and without practising the Buddha-Dharma, how can the evil realms possibly be escaped? For this reason, Vinaya Master Daoxuan of the Southern Mountain,16 citing a sūtra, wrote:

“Wherever there are women in the worlds of the ten directions, hell is to be found there.”17 

How much more so are the five obstructions inwardly, and the three obediences outwardly, [to be seen among them].

IV. The Five Obstructions and Three Obediences

As for what are called the five obstructions: first, one does not sit in the high pavilion as a Brahmā King; second, one does not enjoy oneself in the Sudarśana Palace as Śakra, Lord of the Devas; third, one does not hold sway in the sixth heaven as a Māra King; fourth, one does not possess the seven treasures and thousand sons as a Cakravartin; and fifth, one does not proclaim awakening at the eight junctures18 in the body of a buddha.

As for the three obediences [to which women are subject, they are as follows]: in childhood, one follows one's parents; in the prime of life, one follows one's husband; in old age, one follows one's children—these are they.

Therefore, in the words of Rakuten:19

“Let there not be birth in the body of a woman;

Where a hundred years of joy and sorrow depend upon others.”20

Haku, Collected Works

This suggests that, in all things, a woman cannot act according to her own will and that, throughout her entire life, she [is compelled to] obey others. Truly, through the unfolding of the twelve links of dependent origination—with these three obediences as the condition—[women] are not born in the buddha-lands of the ten directions. Through the root source of the one hundred and eight defilements, with the five obstructions as a cause, they are rejected by the eighty-thousand sacred teachings.

V. Hōnen’s Commentary

The ancestral master Genkū Shōnin of Kurodani treated this matter in detail within his Lectures on the Larger Sūtra. We shall set forth its broad outline so as to make known the gravity of women’s karmic obstructions and to demonstrate the determination of birth for women. The substance of his words is as follows.21

Excluded even from the high pavilion of Great Brahmā, [women] cannot look up at the clouds where the Brahmā assemblies and Brahmā ministers dwell. Cast down even from the soft and gentle floor of Śakra, Lord of the Devas, [626] they cannot play among the blossoms of the Heaven of the Thirty-Three. The rank of the Māra King of the Sixth Heaven, and the footsteps of the four kinds of Cakravartin22—the hope of birth there is permanently cut off, and not even their shadows fall there. In the transient domains of the heavenly and human realms, they barely even attain bodies that are wretched, impermanent, and subject to extinction. How much more so would they banish the thought of approaching a pure land of a reward-body buddha.

For this reason, the female body has been rejected throughout various sūtras and śāstras and has been expelled from place after place. Were it not for the three evil realms and the eight difficulties, there would be no direction in which to go; were it not for the six realms and the four modes of birth, there would be no form [for them] to receive. In this country of Japan, as well, in the precincts of revered sacred sites of miraculous efficacy—which are not to be treated lightly—all exclude women without exception.

First of all, Mount Hiei, the imperial votive of Emperor Kanmu,23 was founded by Dengyō Daishi.24 The great teacher himself established the ritual boundary, taking the valleys as boundaries and the peaks as borders, admitting no female form. On the peak of the One Vehicle, rising high and precipitously, no clouds of the five obstructions drift therein; in the valley of the One Taste, deep and full, no waters of the three obediences flow. The numinous image of Bhaiṣajyaguru—king of physicians—though heard of with the ear, is not seen by the eye [of women]; though women view the numinous site of the great teacher's ritual boundary from afar, they do not draw to gaze upon it up close.

Mount Kōya—the peak of the ritual boundary set by Kōbō Daishi25—is where the highest vehicle of Shingon flourishes. The moon-disk of the three mysteries, even though it is said to illuminate all, does not illuminate the darkness of women [who are seen] as unfit vessels. The wisdom-water of the five flasks,26 even though it is said to flow without distinction, is not poured upon the defiled and impure form of women. Even at these places, there remain such obstructions—how much more so in the case of the Pure Land path that transcends and surpasses the triple world.

Not only that, but [627] Tōdaiji—the imperial votive of Emperor Shōmu27—prohibits women from entering within its doors before its sixteen-jō28 Vairocana, even though they [may] venerate it from afar. 

Kasagidera was founded by Emperor Tenji.29 Before its five-jō30 stone image of Maitreya, even though women may look up high to worship it, there is still a prohibition on their ascending to the altar. 

Furthermore, at Kinpusen31 above the clouds, none but men may reach it and, within the mists of Upper Daigo,32 those who possess a female body do not proceed.

How lamentable it is that—even though they are endowed with two feet—there are Dharma peaks that they cannot ascend, and Buddhist gardens they cannot visit. How humiliating it is that—even though they are endowed with two eyes—there are sacred sites they cannot see, and sacred images they cannot worship. In the mountains of thorns and brambles, and amidst the tiles and pebbles of this defiled land, there are obstructions even for [viewing] buddha images of plain clay and wood; how much more so with respect to the Pure Land adorned with treasures, and the Buddha of ten-thousand perfected merits.

For this reason, there is liable to be doubt regarding birth.33

Having held up this reasoning as a mirror in such a way,34 he explained that this vow exists separately, and then quoted and set forth the commentary of Preceptor Shandao's Dharma-gate of Contemplation and Recitation.35

VI. Shandao's Commentary

That commentary says:

“It is through the power of Amida's Primal Vow that, when a woman recites the Buddha's Name, at the end of her life her female body immediately transforms and she becomes a man. Amida extends his hand, bodhisattvas support his body,36 and he sits upon a jewelled lotus flower, following the Buddha to birth, entering the Buddha's great assembly, and awakening to non-arising.”37

Further, it says:

“As for all women, if they do not rely upon the power of Amida's Name and Vow, then—for a thousand kalpas, or ten-thousand kalpas, or kalpas as numerous as the Gaṅgā's sands—they will, in the end, be unable to transform their female bodies. Some among the ordained and lay say that women cannot attain birth in the Pure Land, but this is a false teaching, and it cannot be believed.”38 [628]

It is precisely the extraction of the suffering of women, and the giving of happiness to women, that is the sacred intent of the loving-kindness and compassion of the vow for the benefit of beings. 

These two layers of commentary39 together draw out the intent of the thirty-fifth vow and interpret it [accordingly]. This eminent ancestor, who attained samādhi, exerted his utmost effort and added elaborations to his commentary. This is something to be looked up to with the utmost reverence.

VII. Shinran's Wasan

In a Wasan of Shinran Shōnin,40 it says:41

“As Amida's great compassion is deep, 

Showing Buddha-knowledge unthinkable, 

He vowed that women can turn into men 

And that they too shall attain buddhahood.”

Further, it says:42

“Without trust in Amida's Name and Vow, 

Even if a myriad kalpas pass, 

As the five obstructions cannot be shed, 

How could the female body be transformed?”

The first wasan interprets the meaning of the vow in the Larger Sūtra, while the [second] softens and renders accessible the commentary in the Dharma-gate of Contemplation and Recitation. [629] That women's bodies, with their five obstructions, shall be transformed and they shall arrive at the buddha-fruit of ten-thousand merits—in light of the explicit words of sūtras and śāstras and in terms of the purport of the teachings of prior venerable ones—is a matter that permits of no doubt whatsoever.

VIII. Hōnen's Personal Address to Women

On a certain occasion, when many women had come into the presence of Kū Shōnin,43 he spoke to them as follows:

“Women such as these, unless they take refuge in Amida's Primal Vow and go to the Pure Land in the western direction, even across countless kalpas, it will be difficult to transform the female body and, across measureless ages, it will be difficult to attain buddhahood. From beginningless time until now, having received the female body, the fact that in all things they cannot act according to their own will, must be a cause for grief. Not only is the female body [unable to be] transformed in this way—sinking into the three evil realms and the eight difficulties, wandering through the six realms and the four modes of birth—the fact that one shall receive suffering and affliction without end, even if there were to be regret about this afterwards, who would come to save such a person?

“And yet, since one has encountered with reverence Amida Buddha's Primal Vow, recites the Name, and entrusts in the Universal Vow, at the moment when the breath ceases and the eyes close, the female body is transformed and one becomes male, [thus] departing this defiled land to be born in the Pure Land. At that very moment, one accomplishes birth in the Land of Peace and Provision, and receives measureless and boundless bliss for a long time—is this not joy within joy? For this reason, not growing weary of the nembutsu even in dreams, you should earnestly take refuge single-mindedly in Amida Tathāgata.”

Since he had so spoken earnestly and persistently about this at length, the women who were gathered in that assembly wrung out their sleeves in shame and remorse,44 as they let flow the tears of rejoicing.

IX. Conclusion: The Three Pure Land Sūtras and Women

In general, among the forty-eight vows of the Larger Sūtra, first the “Vow of Women's Attainment of Birth” is established to especially save them. Then, in the Contemplation Sūtra, Queen Vaidehī is taken as the right recipient and the path of nembutsu birth is expounded for her sake. [630] Finally, in the Amida Sūtra, “sons of good family and daughters of good family” are mentioned together, thus demonstrating that those with the capacity for the nembutsu extend across both male and female.45 Therefore, while the compassion of the Tathāgata causes all sentient beings in general to receive its benefit, it is particularly women who are placed first; and, while the karmic affinity for the Pure Land extends broadly across all the classes of beings in the ten directions, it is above all women who are taken as the foundation.

For this reason, in the three countries of India, China, and our own Japan,46 among the women who have recited Amida's Name, accomplished birth, and become avaivartika bodhisattvas,47 those recorded in biographies and the like are countless. Therefore, those who aspire—in this present life—to transform the female body and who, without fail, train on the path to buddhahood should single-mindedly entrust in the world-transcending Primal Vow and single-mindedly recite Amida's Name.

Endnotes

1. Larger Sūtra, fascicle 1; paraphrase.

When citing Chinese, Zonkaku follows up with very faithful translations into Japanese, commencing with “The essence of this passage is...” Since the wording of these translations into English will be exact duplicates of the translations from Chinese, they are omitted.

2. Larger Sūtra, fascicle 1.

3. Larger Sūtra, fascicle 1.

4. This passage is not from the Nirvāṇa Sūtra. It is found only in several works of Nichiren, e.g., “An Essay on the Title of the Lotus Sūtra” (1266). 真蹟遺文 (Autograph Manuscript), Nichiren-shū, 現代宗教研究所 (Gendai Shūkyō Kenkyūjo), https://genshu.nichiren.or.jp/documents/post-2285/id-2285/, p. 399.

5. While this reflects themes found in various sūtras, it is, again, not in the cited text. It cannot be located in any of Nichiren’s works.

6. Once again, this is not found in the Nirvāṇa Sūtra, but is found in the works of Nichiren (e.g., Autograph Manuscript, p. 341). Nichiren cites the 銀色女経 (Silver Woman Sūtra), T179, but that text does not contain anything that resembles this passage.

7. Paraphrase.

8. T332.72a. Whether this is found in the works of Nichiren remains unclear.

9. Not in the Ratnakūṭa Sūtra, but cited by Nichiren as a passage from the Avataṃsaka in his Annotated Lotus Sūtra, fascicle 7.95 (https://genshu.nichiren.or.jp/documents/post-2080/id-2118/).

10. Not in the Āgama Sūtras, but, again, cited by Nichiren as a passage from the Avataṃsaka in his Annotated Lotus Sūtra, fascicle 7.96 (https://genshu.nichiren.or.jp/documents/post-2080/id-2118/).

11. Fascicle 14, paraphrase of the first chapter.

12. T1509.166a. Whether Nichiren cites this is not certain.

13. Not in the named treatise, but again cited by Nichiren as a passage from the Avataṃsaka in his Annotated Lotus Sūtra, fascicle 7.94 (https://genshu.nichiren.or.jp/documents/post-2080/id-2118/).

14. Larger Sūtra, fascicle 1.

15. Zonkaku does not indicate the subject of this argument. Second sentence, here, can clearly be understood to apply to both men and women. A few of the following sentences appear to apply more strictly to women.

16. Daoxuan (596–667; J. Dōsen) was a leading figure in the Nanshan branch of the Chinese Vinaya school, one of three major Chinese traditions focused on monastic discipline. A native of Dantu, he received ordination in 615 under Zhishou (567–635) at a monastery in the capital. He subsequently settled on Mount Zhongnan, where he collaborated with the renowned translator Xuanzang on precept texts and monastic biographies. In 664 he completed a major cataloguing work on Buddhist scriptures, and also cooperated with the monk Daoshi (d. 683) of Ximing Temple on the production of Vinaya literature. Because of his long association with Mount Zhongnan, the Vinaya lineage he represented came to be known across East Asia as the Nanshan school; he was posthumously honored with a ceremonial title. His five principal Vinaya treatises—covering monastic procedure, the karma ritual, the precept text, supplementary Vinaya meanings, and matters pertaining to nuns—exerted a lasting influence on the transmission of Buddhist discipline throughout the region.

17. The Method of Abstention and Contemplating the Purity of the Mind, fascicle 1, T1893.824a.

18. Eight key episodes in a buddha’s life, from his birth through to his final passing into nirvāṇa (Sanskrit: aṣṭa-lakṣaṇa). While different sources present varying lists, a broadly accepted version runs as follows: (1) descent from Tuṣita heaven; (2) entry into his mother's womb; (3) birth from his mother's side; (4) renunciation of worldly life at age nineteen (or twenty-five); (5) the subduing of Māra and overcoming of mental afflictions; (6) the attainment of awakening after six years of asceticism; (7) the first turning of the wheel of the Dharma; and finally, (8) his entry into nirvana.

19. Bai Juyi (772–846; J. Haku Kyo'i), the Tang poet, popularly known in Japan by his literary name 樂天 Rakuten in Japanese pronunciation. His given name is provided in the Seiten after the quote as “Haku.”

20. This is an exerpt from Bai Juyi’s Taihang Road, which uses the image of perilous mountains and dangerous river gorges to argue that nothing is more treacherous than the human heart. Through the voice of a wife abandoned—despite her unchanged devotion—the poem laments the instability of affection and the suffering of women whose fate depends on others. This personal complaint becomes an allegory for political life: just as husbands betray their wives, rulers abruptly turn against loyal ministers. The commentary underscores that the true danger in life lies not in natural obstacles, but in the vicissitudes of human affection.

The original line quoted in Chinese is:

人生莫作婦人身，

百年苦樂由他人。

21. What follows is a rough paraphrase by Zonkaku.

22. These are Cakravartins who are ranked by how many continents they conquer (from one to all four), and in terms of the following metals: iron, copper, silver, and gold.

23. Reigned from 781 to 806.

24. Lived from 767 to 822, the founder of Mount Hiei’s temples and transmitter of Tendai to Japan.

25. More commonly known in English as Kūkai. Lived from 774 to 835; the founder of Shingon and the temples on Mount Kōya.

26. Used in abhiṣeka initiation.

27. Reigned from 724 to 749.

28. Approximately 48 metres.

29. Reigned from 668 to 671.

30. Approximately 15 metres.

31. The holy term for the sacred mountain at Mount Yoshino.

32. The hill behind Daigoji in Kyōto.

33. Here ends the paraphrase of Hōnen’s comments.

34. That is, a mirror for reflection; that is, causing one to reflect deeply on a matter; also in the sense of a stern critique.

35. Lived from 613 to 681. His work, cited here, is the 觀念法門, T1959. For a translation, see Zuio H. Inagaki, trans., Shan-tao's Kannenbōmom: The Method of Contemplation of Amida (Kyoto: Nagata Bunshodo 永田文昌堂, 2005).

36. Changing the gender pronouns to reflect the transformation.

37. In the original text, this is followed by Hōnen’s translation of the Chinese, which appears in the source text on which Zonkaku is relying. The passage is also quoted by Kakunyo in his Supplementary Illustrated Biography of an Ancient Worthy: The Kurodani Shōnin Genkū.

38. Dharma-gate of Contemplation and Recitation. This quote is a paraphrase.

39. The first affirms the transformation of women into men, and the second refutes the denial of women's birth.

40. Hymns on the Pure Land, v. 60.

41. The following two verses are rendered into English in decasyllabic verse.

42. Hymns on Eminent Monks, v. 64.

43. An abbreviation for Genkū or Hōnen.

44. The sleeves are wrung out because they are soaked with tears.

45. Here, the three Pure Land sūtras are shown to form a progressive and mutually reinforcing argument: the Larger Sūtra (the vow), the Contemplation Sūtra (the teaching expounded for a woman), and the Amida Sūtra (the universal capacity of the practice) together comprise a complete soteriological framework that encompasses women unconditionally at every level. This tripartite structure mirrors the traditional Jōdo Shinshū principle of kyō-gyō-shin-shō (教行信証: “teaching, practice, faith, realisation”) and reflects Zonkaku's carefully developed doctrinal architecture throughout the text.

46. For Japan, Zonkaku says “waga chō” (わが朝) i.e., “our court,” or “the land of our court.”

47. That is to say, “irreversible” bodhisattvas. Zonkaku uses the Chinese transliteration here, so the Sanskrit is used in English.