Paul B. Watt
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824856328
- eISBN:
- 9780824869038
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824856328.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Buddhism
This introductory chapter provides a brief historical background of the Shin Buddhist tradition. It pinpoints two Buddhist leaders who advocated an exclusive reliance on the celestial buddha Amida ...
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This introductory chapter provides a brief historical background of the Shin Buddhist tradition. It pinpoints two Buddhist leaders who advocated an exclusive reliance on the celestial buddha Amida for birth in his Pure Land at the beginning of the Kamakura period (1185–1333)—during a time of dramatic political, social, and religious change. These figures are Hōnen (1133–1212), the patriarch of the Jōdoshū or Pure Land Sect, and his disciple Shinran (1173–1262), who came to be regarded as the originator of the Jōdo Shinshū or True Pure Land Sect, or Shin Buddhism as it is often called in modern scholarship. This chapter also introduces Yasuda Rijin (1900–1982), a modern Shin Buddhist thinker whose work involved a “demythologizing” of the popular understanding of Shin Buddhism.Less
This introductory chapter provides a brief historical background of the Shin Buddhist tradition. It pinpoints two Buddhist leaders who advocated an exclusive reliance on the celestial buddha Amida for birth in his Pure Land at the beginning of the Kamakura period (1185–1333)—during a time of dramatic political, social, and religious change. These figures are Hōnen (1133–1212), the patriarch of the Jōdoshū or Pure Land Sect, and his disciple Shinran (1173–1262), who came to be regarded as the originator of the Jōdo Shinshū or True Pure Land Sect, or Shin Buddhism as it is often called in modern scholarship. This chapter also introduces Yasuda Rijin (1900–1982), a modern Shin Buddhist thinker whose work involved a “demythologizing” of the popular understanding of Shin Buddhism.
Paul B. Watt
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824856328
- eISBN:
- 9780824869038
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824856328.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Buddhism
The True Pure Land sect of Japanese Buddhism, or Shin Buddhism, grew out of the teachings of Shinran (1173–1262), a Tendai-trained monk. Shinran held that even those unable to fulfill the ...
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The True Pure Land sect of Japanese Buddhism, or Shin Buddhism, grew out of the teachings of Shinran (1173–1262), a Tendai-trained monk. Shinran held that even those unable to fulfill the requirements of the traditional Buddhist path could attain enlightenment through the experience of shinjin, “the entrusting mind”—an expression of the profound realization that the Buddha Amida, who promises birth in his Pure Land to all who trust in him, was nothing other than the true basis of all existence and the sustaining nature of human beings. Over the centuries, the subtleties of Shinran's teachings were often lost. Rituals developed to focus one's mind at the moment of death so one might travel to the Pure Land unimpeded, and an artistic tradition celebrated the moment when Amida and his retinue of bodhisattvas welcome the dying believer. Many Western interpreters tended to reinforce this view of Pure Land Buddhism. This book introduces the thought and selected writings of Yasuda Rijin (1900–1982), a modern Shin Buddhist thinker affiliated with the Ōtani, or Higashi Honganji, branch of Shin Buddhism. Yasuda sought to restate the teachings of Shinran within a modern tradition that began with the work of Kiyozawa Manshi (1863–1903) and extended through the writings of Yasuda's teachers Kaneko Daiei (1881–1976) and Soga Ryōjin (1875–1971). For them, and Yasuda in particular, Amida did not exist in some other-worldly paradise but rather Amida and his Pure Land were to be experienced as lived realities in the present.Less
The True Pure Land sect of Japanese Buddhism, or Shin Buddhism, grew out of the teachings of Shinran (1173–1262), a Tendai-trained monk. Shinran held that even those unable to fulfill the requirements of the traditional Buddhist path could attain enlightenment through the experience of shinjin, “the entrusting mind”—an expression of the profound realization that the Buddha Amida, who promises birth in his Pure Land to all who trust in him, was nothing other than the true basis of all existence and the sustaining nature of human beings. Over the centuries, the subtleties of Shinran's teachings were often lost. Rituals developed to focus one's mind at the moment of death so one might travel to the Pure Land unimpeded, and an artistic tradition celebrated the moment when Amida and his retinue of bodhisattvas welcome the dying believer. Many Western interpreters tended to reinforce this view of Pure Land Buddhism. This book introduces the thought and selected writings of Yasuda Rijin (1900–1982), a modern Shin Buddhist thinker affiliated with the Ōtani, or Higashi Honganji, branch of Shin Buddhism. Yasuda sought to restate the teachings of Shinran within a modern tradition that began with the work of Kiyozawa Manshi (1863–1903) and extended through the writings of Yasuda's teachers Kaneko Daiei (1881–1976) and Soga Ryōjin (1875–1971). For them, and Yasuda in particular, Amida did not exist in some other-worldly paradise but rather Amida and his Pure Land were to be experienced as lived realities in the present.
James W. Heisig, Thomas P. Kasulis, and John C. Maraldo (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824835521
- eISBN:
- 9780824870270
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824835521.003.0004
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Asian Studies
This section provides an overview of the Pure Land tradition and discusses its philosophical significance. Pure Land Buddhism was formulated in China in the sixth and seventh centuries, based on ...
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This section provides an overview of the Pure Land tradition and discusses its philosophical significance. Pure Land Buddhism was formulated in China in the sixth and seventh centuries, based on Indian scriptures that were interpreted according to indigenous Chinese thinking. Today, the name “Pure Land” is used to refer to either a line of Buddhist thinking or a cluster of Buddhist institutions. Buddhist practitioners can create a “sacred space” within their own mind when they attain the most advanced forms of meditation; when they dwell in that state of mind, they are similarly “dwelling in a pure land.” This section also presents translations of a variety of texts by Japanese philosophers from the Pure Land tradition, including Hōnen, Shinran, Kiyozawa Manshi, Soga Ryōjin, and Yasuda Rijin.Less
This section provides an overview of the Pure Land tradition and discusses its philosophical significance. Pure Land Buddhism was formulated in China in the sixth and seventh centuries, based on Indian scriptures that were interpreted according to indigenous Chinese thinking. Today, the name “Pure Land” is used to refer to either a line of Buddhist thinking or a cluster of Buddhist institutions. Buddhist practitioners can create a “sacred space” within their own mind when they attain the most advanced forms of meditation; when they dwell in that state of mind, they are similarly “dwelling in a pure land.” This section also presents translations of a variety of texts by Japanese philosophers from the Pure Land tradition, including Hōnen, Shinran, Kiyozawa Manshi, Soga Ryōjin, and Yasuda Rijin.
