Clearly, there was a change in the Venerable Master’s thought regarding entering the “‘true gate’ of the Nembutsu through ‘self-centered effort’” as expressed in his Kyogyoshinsho and the Jodo Wasanwhich were written before the age of 76, and the thought expressed in his Shozomatsu Wasan that he wrote after the age of 85. I believe a big influence in this change was the “self-centered effort” recitation of the Nembutsu that his son Zenran probably taught when the Venerable Master was 84 years of age, and which caused the Venerable Master to disown Zenran.

Reciting the Nembutsu through “self-centered effort,” is calculating to do “good,” which is completely contrary to the heart of the Nembutsu. Further, in Jodo Sangyo Ojo Monrui (Passages on “Birth in the Pure Land” through the Three Pure Land Sutras) which was written after the Venerable Master was 85 years of age, he wrote:

Those who rely upon the sacred vow that urges “recitation of the ‘name of the Buddha’ as the source of virtue” to enter the “true gate” ... try to be born in the Pure Land by transferring the merit gained from reciting the sacred name. In other words, (those who rely on the 20th Vow, i.e.,) those who, while reciting the “‘marvelously mysterious’ Name of the Buddha” that cannot be expressed in words nor thought of in the mind, attempt to be born in the Pure Land while harboring doubt regarding the efficacy of the sacred vow of Great Compassion. The result of this great evil, which is absolutely unpardonable, is imprisonment in the seven-jeweled jail which they cannot leave for five-hundred years.

As already mentioned, the Venerable Master in his Jodo Wasan seems to recommend birth in the Pure Land through the "true gate of the Nembutsu” (20th Vow), but it is clear that here he adamantly warns against such a position.

Further, in his Jodo Sangyo Ojo Mon-rui, the Venerable Master quotes the “text showing completion” (jojumon) of the 20th Vow (“true gate”) which does not appear in the discussion of the 20th Vow in his Kyogyoshinsho. What is referred to as the “paragraph on ‘womb-like birth’ and ‘transformative birth’” (taikedan) in the Larger Sutra is quoted in the Kyogyoshinsho as being the “text showing completion” of the 19th Vow (“essential gate”). That same text is quoted in the Jodo Sangyo Ojo Monrui as being the “text showing completion” of the 20th Vow, and is used to criticize the “‘true gate’ of the Nembutsu” (20th Vow).

The change in the Venerable Master’s position regarding the “‘true gate’ of the Nembutsu” (20th Vow) as he got on in age can be seen from the above.

In the Chapter on Transformed Land of his Kyogyoshinsho, the Venerable Master wrote:

I, Gutoku shuku Shinran, abandoned the sundry Acts and took refuge in the Primal Vow during the 1st year of Kennin (1201 AD).

As can be determined from the above, the Venerable Master met Master Honen and “took refuge in the Primal Vow (the 18th Vow)” in the year 1201. That was when he was 29 years of age.