The only difference in these two passages are “practice and shinjin” in the first passage and “shinjin” in the second. As they indicate, when we receive shinjin, we should rejoice at having been cultivated by the Buddha from the distant past. These quotations indicate that all the effort in receiving shinjin comes from Amida Buddha’s side. We cannot, however, say that the Venerable Master did not do anything about the shinjinhe himself received because of that.

The Venerable Master Shinran earnestly sought the way on Mt. Hiei for 20 years, from the time he was nine years of age. But he wrote the following in the Chapter on Transformed Land of his “Teaching, Practice, Faith and Attainment” regarding those twenty years of struggle on Mt. Hiei. This was, of course, after meeting Master Honen at the age of 29:

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

This passage announces that he abandoned the “sundry practices” that he had followed on Mt. Hiei and relied exclusively on the “Buddha-centered power” of the Primal Vow after meeting Master Honen.

Accordingly, there is no need for those of us who receive the Venerable Master Shinran’s teaching to repeat the sort of “difficult practices” that he performed with “self-centered effort” for 20 years. That is why, the Venerable Master Shinran secluded himself in Rokkaku Temple and was lead to Master Honen through the guidance of Shotoku Taishi (574 - 622 AD) in a dream. This is recorded in “Letters of Esshinni” (Esshinni Shosoku):

... And just as (the Venerable Master Shinran) had confined himself for a hundred days in Rokkaku Temple, he visited Master Honen daily for a hundred days, regardless of the difficulties, rain or shine. He heard that “good person” (yokihito, i.e., Master Honen) speak of the next life, that in order to escape the suffering of birth and death, only single-minded reliance on the Nembutsu is necessary...

Just as he secluded himself in Rokkaku Temple for a hundred days, the Venerable Master Shinran attended Dharma Talks given by Master Honen for a hundred days without missing a single day.