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Offerings to the order should be regarded as the practice of the perfection of generosity. But if faith is lacking, no matter what precious offering one may make to the Buddha or to one’s master, it will prove to no avail. Yet although one does not offer even a single sheet of paper or the smallest amount of money but in his heart is devoted to the other-power with deep faith, his attitude will be in accord with the true intention of the Original Vow. In all these deviations from the true faith by those who would intimidate their fellows under the pretense of upholding the Dharma, are they not themselves motivated by worldly greed?

Italics added) Letter III:2 reads: “Na-mu” means . . ” (italics added) Our position is that Rennyo adopted a phrase that was familiar to many of those attracted to his leadership of the Honganji Shin sect in the Hokuriku, bringing to it an other-power interpretation that was radically different from the customary understanding of the idea in the Pure Land tradition as a whole. For over half a millennium, Rennyo’s letters have served as holy texts for participants in the Shin sect. In traditional households, reading the letters and hearing them read daily has, along with the recitation of the Shōshinge, steadily nurtured and shaped Shin piety.

On an Epidemic 10. On the Present Age 11. On the Oneness of the Person [to Be Saved] and the Dharma [That Saves] 12. On Semimonthly Meetings 13. Reflections in Early Summer 14. On Our School’s Settled Mind 15. On Building [the Priest’s Quarters] at Ōsaka Fascicle Five 1. On Laymen and Laywomen Lacking Wisdom in the Last [Dharma] Age 32 74 75 75 77 78 81 82 83 85 86 88 89 90 92 93 96 97 99 101 102 104 105 107 109 110 112 115 115 116 116 117 119 119 121 Contents 2. On the Eighty Thousand Teachings 3.