In his article "Critique of Original Awakening Thought in Shôshin and Dôgen" Tamura Yoshirô writes:
This could make you think, that hongaku thought is not significant anymore, but the text continues:Later on, the affirmation of Original Awakening
thought was abused to the point that, at the end of the
Middle Ages, things like the Altar Society of Refuge in
Mystic Lore (Genshikimyôdan) originated with the intention
of praying for the fulfillment of one’s worldly cravings for
sensual gratification and possession. Against these abuses,
Myôryû Jizan (1637-1690) and Reikû Kôken (1652-1739)—the
latter especially in his Byakujahen (Chapters of Refuting
Unorthodoxy; text preserved at Otani and Taishô Universities)
of 1868—unleashed vigorous attacks. This, it is said,
signaled the end of Original Awakening thought.
Does this mean, that it is still important for contemporary Tendai as a philosophy?However, these people directed their critique against that one particular
manifestation of Original Awakening thought, without
rejecting it as a philosophy.