Because words such as 'the multitude who are deeply sinful' and 'unenlightened people who are confused with delusions' appear often in "Senchaku Hongan Nenbutsu Shu" and "Kurodani Shonin Gotoroku," at the base of Honen's ideology there is a deep despair in the sinfulness and foolishness of the multitude including himself, and he uses that as the starting point for exploring the path to deliver the multitude who are unenlightened.
法然の思想の根底には、『選択本願念仏集』や『黒谷上人語灯録』などには、「罪悪深重の衆生」「妄想顛倒の凡夫」などという表記が数多く見られるように、まず自分を含めた衆生の愚かさや罪といったものへの深い絶望があり、そこから凡夫である衆生の救済への道を探り始めている。