The Meaning Of Faith And Nembutsu In Jodo Shinshu Buddhism

This book is, as the title shows, an attempt to explain the meaning of faith and Nembutsu in accordance with the teaching of our school. I start my explanations with the Primal Vow of Amida Buddha because without it there would be no Jodo Shinshu. As Shinran said: "If Amida's Primal Vow is true, Shakyamuni's teaching cannot be false. If the Buddha's teaching is true, Shan-tao's commentaries cannot be false. If Shan-tao's commentaries are true can Honen's words be lies? If Honen's words are true, then surely what I say cannot be empty." Every Buddhist school has a lineage of transmission. Ours starts with Amida Buddha, then continues with Shakyamuni, the historical Buddha, the seven Masters, Shinran Shonin, Rennyo Shonin and any true teacher that came after them and was loyal to the Primal Vow. What all the representatives of our lineage said with one voice is that the Primal Vow is true and that it contains everything we need for our attainment of Buddhahood in the Pure Land of Amida. "Be in accord with the Primal Vow" is the motto of our school and this book tries its best to do just that - to be in accord with the Primal Vow, to turn people's minds toward the Primal Vow and make them follow exclusively the recquirements of the Primal Vow. May all beings who read it abandon the wrong techings of non-Buddhist paths and among the various Buddhist teachings and practices chose the one which represents the true reason for all Buddhas coming to this world - the Nembutsu of faith, the One Vehicle of the Primal Vow.

Shin is the uniquely Japanese flowering of the type of Buddhism known as "Pure Land." It originated in the thirteenth century with the charismatic and prophetic figure Shinran (1172–1263), whose interpretation of the traditional Pure Land teachings was extremely influential in his own lifetime and remain so today. In a period when Japanese Buddhism was dominated by an elitist monastic establishment, Shinran's Shin teaching became a way of liberation for all people, regardless of age, class, or gender. Although Shin is one of Japan's greatest religious contributions--and is still the most widely practiced form of Buddhism in Japan--it remains little known in the West. In this book, based on several lectures he gave in the 1950s, D. T. Suzuki illuminates the deep meaning of Shin and its rich archetypal imagery, providing a scholarly and affectionate introduction to this sometimes misunderstood tradition of Buddhist practice.

"The present text developed out of the notes of lectures that Dr. Shigaraki delivered at the Institute of Buddhist Studies in 1999. Those notes were originally published in Japanese as Shinshu no taii [The Essence of Shin Buddhism] in 2000."

The Kyogyoshinsho is the magnum opus of Shinran Shonin (1173ż1262), founder of the Jodo Shinshu school of Pure Land Buddhism. This work is a collection of three hundred and seventy-six passages from sixty-two sutras, discourses, and commentaries, with Shinranżs own notes and commentary, organized into a coherent and comprehensive explication of the Pure Land teaching.

This work combines the biography of the founder of Shin Buddhism with a detailed study of the complex development of the religion, from its simple beginnings as a small, rural primarily lay Buddhist movement in the 12th century to its rapid growth as a powerful urban religion in the 15th century.