SHINRAN

Shinran (Zenshin, Shakk? 1173–1263) was a Pure Land Buddhist teacher of medieval Japan and founder of the J?do Shinsh? (Shin Buddhism) tradition. His teachings focused on faith (shinjin) in conjunction with the practice of the nenbutsu, invoking Amida (Amit?bha) Buddha's name, as the basis for birth in the Pure Land, where he believed Buddhist enlightenment is immediate. Shinran considered the Buddha's power, rather than human effort, to be the motive force behind all true religious practice and behind enlightenment itself. The Shinshu, in accord with Shinran's own example, broke with the Buddhist tradition of clerical celibacy, and allowed priests to marry and have families. Three centuries later, Shinran's modest following grew into a huge and powerful Buddhist school headed by Honganji in Kyoto, which originated at his gravesite.

Shinran spent the first twenty years of his career as a Tendai monk on Mount Hiei, but in 1201, after a hundred-day religious retreat at the Rokkakud? chapel in Kyoto, he abandoned monastic life and became the disciple of H?nen (1133-1212). In 1207 Shinran was banished to Echigo province (present-day Niigata prefecture) in a general suppression of H?nen's Pure Land movement that occurred after provocative behavior by certain followers. Shinran never saw his teacher again, and for over twenty-five years he lived away from Kyoto. The last two decades of this period were spent in the Kanto region (around modern-day Tokyo), where Shinran became a peripatetic Pure Land teacher. His marriage occurred shortly before, or soon after, his banishment. Shinran continued to dress in Buddhist clerical robes and shaved his head as priests do, even while living with his wife, Eshinni (1182–ca. 1268), and their children.

The gist of Shinran's teaching is that Amida Buddha has vowed to bring all living beings to enlightenment, and the power of his vow surpasses any religious practice humans can perform. Thus, the consummate religious state is single-hearted reliance on Amida, or faith. This faith is none other than the Buddha operating in a person, rather than a person's own created mental condition. The nenbutsu, likewise, is an act initiated by Amida, as well as an extension of him in the world. When people hear Amida's name it awakens them to his grand vow, and when they intone the nenbutsu their practice coalesces with Amida's compassionate activity. The upshot of this teaching is that Amida's saving power extends to everyone without differentiation: clerical or lay, male or female, good or evil. In fact, evildoers are a prime object of Amida's vow (akunin sh?ki).

Shinran returned to Kyoto in the early 1230s. By that time he had completed a preliminary draft of his magnum opus, Ky?gy?shinsh? (Teaching, Practice, Faith, and Attainment). He spent the rest of his days in Kyoto, but remained in touch with his Kanto followers through letters and occasional visits on their part. In old age he dedicated himself to study and writing, completing his Ky?gy?shinsh? and composing a variety of other Buddhist works, including wasan hymns. His wife and most of their children moved to Echigo in the 1250s to live on property she inherited. But Shinran remained in Kyoto with their youngest daughter Kakushinni (1224–1283), who looked after him in his last years. He died in Kyoto in 1263, chanting Amida's name and surrounded by followers. Many revered him as an earthly manifestation of Amida Buddha or of Kannon (Avalokite?vara) Bodhisattva.

See also:Japan; Kamakura Buddhism, Japan; Nenbutsu (Chinese, Nianfo; Korean, Y?mbul); Pure Land Buddhism; Pure Land Schools

Bibliography

Bloom, Alfred. Shinran's Gospel of Pure Grace. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1965.

Dobbins, James C. J?do Shinshu: Shin Buddhism in Medieval Japan (1989). Reprint, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2002.

Hirota, Dennis, et al., trans. The Collected Works of Shinran, 2 vols. Kyoto: Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji-ha, 1997.

Keel, Hee Sung. Understanding Shinran: A Dialogical Approach. Fremont, CA: Asian Humanities Press, 1995.

Ueda, Yoshifumi, and Hirota, Dennis. Shinran: An Introduction to His Thought. Kyoto: Hongwanji International Center, 1989.

James C. Dobbins