Honzon

Honzon (本尊, "fundamental honored [one]"), sometimes referred to as a Gohonzon (ご本尊 or 御本尊), is the enshrined main image^[1] or principal deity^[2] in Japanese Buddhism. The buddha, bodhisattva, or mandala image is located in either a temple or a household butsudan.^[3]

The image can be either a statue or a small scroll and varies from sect to sect. It can be a singular image or a group of images; the honzon in the main (hondō) or treasure (kondō) hall of the temple can be for that particular hall or the entire temple complex. Sometimes honzon is the central image (chūson) of a cluster of three (sanzonbutsu) or five (goson) images.^[4]

The physical creation of an icon is followed by a consecration ceremony (known as kaigen, literally 'opening the eyes' or 'dotting the eyes'). It is believed this transforms the honzon into a 'vessel' of the deity which in its own right has power.^[5]

^ Harding, John S., ed. (2012). Studying Buddhism in practice. London: Routledge. p. 82. ISBN 9781136501890.
^ Sharf, Robert H. (2001). Living images : Japanese Buddhist icons in context (Orig. print. ed.). Stanford, Calif.: Stanford Univ. Press. p. 3. ISBN 9780804739894.
^ Borup, Jørn (2008). Japanese Rinzai Zen Buddhism : Myōshinji, a living religion ([Online-Ausg.]. ed.). Leiden: Brill. p. 8. ISBN 9789004165571.
^ http://www.aisf.or.jp/jaanus/^{[permanent dead link]}
^ Boldrick, Stacy; Brubaker, Leslie; Clay, Richard (2013). Striking images, iconoclasms past and present. Farnham [u.a.]: Ashgate. p. 43. ISBN 9781472413673.

[1] Harding, John S., ed. (2012). Studying Buddhism in practice. London: Routledge. p. 82. ISBN 9781136501890.

[2] Sharf, Robert H. (2001). Living images : Japanese Buddhist icons in context (Orig. print. ed.). Stanford, Calif.: Stanford Univ. Press. p. 3. ISBN 9780804739894.

[3] Borup, Jørn (2008). Japanese Rinzai Zen Buddhism : Myōshinji, a living religion ([Online-Ausg.]. ed.). Leiden: Brill. p. 8. ISBN 9789004165571.

[4] ttp://www.aisf.or.jp/jaanus/^{[permanent dead link]}

[5] Boldrick, Stacy; Brubaker, Leslie; Clay, Richard (2013). Striking images, iconoclasms past and present. Farnham [u.a.]: Ashgate. p. 43. ISBN 9781472413673.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]