Shinran

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Shinran ( Shōnin Shinran; 1173–1262). Founder of Jōdo-shin-shū, a major school of Japanese Buddhism, a pupil of Hōnen. When Hōnen was exiled in 1207, Shinran rejected the necessity of monastic rules and residence. He married and fathered children. He was pardoned in 1211, and began to establish a community of followers. His belief that the buddhas and bodhisattvas fulfil their commitments and vows to help all in need led him to reject all ‘ways of effort’ (jiriki) and to rely on ‘the power of the other’ (tariki; see JIRIKI), concentrated on the Buddha Amida. Not even repeated calling on Amida's name (nembutsu) was strictly necessary: one plea sincerely meant will bring Amida's help. He spent the remainder of his life working on his Kyogyo-Shinshō (True Teaching, Practice and Realization of the Way).

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