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Founder of the
Jodo Shinshu (or True Pure Land) Buddhism in
Japan
Shinran Shonin (1173-1262)
was born at the close of the
Heian_period, when political power was passing from the imperial court
into the hands of warrior clans. It was during this era when the old order
was crumbling, however, that
Japanese Buddhism, which had been declining into formalism for several
centuries, underwent intense renewal, giving birth to new paths to
enlightenment and spreading to every level of society.
Confronting the religious monopoly of his time, Shinran reinterpreted
Pure Land teaching as the supreme expression and representation of the
truth of Buddhism.
Essentially Shiran said that since we are all defiled by greed, hatred
and delusion, we have no chance of gaining
enlightenment by ourselves, and that Buddhist practices such as
meditation are of little use. The
Pure Land School of Buddhism encourages its practitioners to rely on
the vow of the Buddha
Amitabha (Sanskrit,
Amida
Japanese) to save all beings from suffering. According to the sutras
Amitabha vowed to ensure that anyone who chanted his name would be reborn
in his Pure Land of Sukhavati (Sanskrit,
lit. = Happy Land) and once there would easily be able to gain
enlightenmnent.
Shinran's innovation in Pure Land Buddhism was to take this teaching to
its logical extreme. He taught that arising the faith in Buddha Amida is
the central matter, and that even the continuous chanting of "Namu Amida
Butsu", "I take refuge in Buddha Amida", is not necessary. When the faith
arises a deep spiritual awakening, called shinjin, takes place, severing
the practiser forever from birth and death. The advantage of the Path can
be experienced here and now. Arising of shinjin also assures the birth in
the Pure Land, and the attainment of enlightenment there.
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