If the Original Vow of Amida is true, the teaching of Shākyamuni cannot be false. If the teaching of the Buddha is true, Zendō's (Shan-t'ao) commentary on the Meditation Sūtra cannot be wrong. And if Zendō is right, what Hōnen says cannot be wrong. So if Hōnen is right, what I, Shinran, have to say may not be empty talk.

Such, in short, is my humble faith. Beyond this I can only say that, whether you are to accept this faith in the Nembutsu or reject it, the choice is for each of you to make....

"If even a good man can be reborn in the Pure Land, how much more so a wicked man!"

People generally think, however, that if even a wicked man can be reborn in the Pure Land, how much more so a good man! This latter view may at first sight seem reasonable, but it is not in accord with the purpose of the Original Vow, with faith in the Power of Another. The reason for this is that he who, relying on his own power, undertakes to perform meritorious deeds, has no intention of relying on the Power of Another and is not the object of the Original Vow of Amida. Should he, however, abandon his reliance on his own power and put his trust in the Power of Another, he can be born in the True Land of Recompense. We who are caught in the net of our own passions cannot free ourselves from bondage to birth and death, no matter what kind of austerities or good deeds we try to perform. Seeing this and pitying our condition, Amida made his Vow with the intention of bringing wicked men to Buddhahood. Therefore the wicked man who depends on the Power of Another is the prime object of salvation. This is the reason why Shinran said, "If even a good man can be reborn in the Pure Land, how much more so a wicked man!" . . .

from Tannishō