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Shoshinge
The or ''The Hymn of True Faith'' was written by the founder of Jōdo Shinshū Buddhism, Shinran. It consists of an outline of the Pure Land teaching according to Shinran's personal interpretation. The structure is as follows: * Homage to Amida * Adoration to Amida and Shakyamuni Buddhas * Exhortation to take refuge in Amida * Teachings of the Patriarchs: # Nagarjuna # Vasubandhu # Tanluan # Daochuo # Shandao # Genshin # Hōnen * Exhortation The Shōshinge is followed by six verses from Shinran's Sanjō Wasan. The first six verses of the ''Jōdo Wasan'' (浄土和讃) section of the ''Sanjō Wasan'' (based on Donran's ''San Amida Butsu Ge''), are most frequently used but traditional temples work their way through the whole ''Sanjō Wasan'' on an annual basis. In the past Hongan-ji , also archaically romanized as Hongwanji, is the collective name of the largest school of Jōdo Shinshū Buddhism (which further sub-divides into the Nishi and Higashi branches). 'Hongan-ji' m ...
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Jōdo Shinshū
, also known as Shin Buddhism or True Pure Land Buddhism, is a school of Pure Land Buddhism. It was founded by the former Tendai Japanese monk Shinran. Shin Buddhism is the most widely practiced branch of Buddhism in Japan. History Shinran (founder) Shinran (1173–1263) lived during the late Heian to early Kamakura period (1185–1333), a time of turmoil for Japan when the emperor was stripped of political power by the ''shōguns''. Shinran's family had a high rank at the Imperial court in Kyoto, but given the times, many aristocratic families were sending sons off to be Buddhist monks instead of having them participate in the Imperial government. When Shinran was nine (1181), he was sent by his uncle to Mount Hiei, where he was ordained as a śrāmaṇera in the Tendai sect. Over time, Shinran became disillusioned with how Buddhism was practiced, foreseeing a decline in the potency and practicality of the teachings espoused. Shinran left his role as a ''dosō'' ("practice ...
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Shinran
''Popular Buddhism in Japan: Shin Buddhist Religion & Culture'' by Esben Andreasen, pp. 13, 14, 15, 17. University of Hawaii Press 1998, was a Japanese Buddhist monk, who was born in Hino (now a part of Fushimi, Kyoto) at the turbulent close of the Heian Period and lived during the Kamakura Period. Shinran was a pupil of Hōnen and the founder of what ultimately became the Jōdo Shinshū sect of Japanese Buddhism. Names Shinran's birthname was Matsuwakamaro. In accordance with Japanese customs, he has also gone by other names, including Hanen, Shakku and Zenshin, and then finally Shinran, which was derived by combining the names of Seshin (Vasubandhu in Japanese) and Donran ( Tanluan’s name in Japanese). His posthumous title was Kenshin Daishi. For a while, Shinran also went by the name Fujii Yoshizane. After he was disrobed, he called himself Gutoku Shinran, in a self-deprecating manner which means "stubble-haired foolish one," to denote his status as "neither a monk, nor a ...
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Pure Land
A pure land is the celestial realm of a buddha or bodhisattva in Mahayana Buddhism. The term "pure land" is particular to East Asian Buddhism () and related traditions; in Sanskrit the equivalent concept is called a buddha-field (Sanskrit ). The various traditions that focus on pure lands have been given the nomenclature Pure Land Buddhism. Pure lands are also evident in the literature and traditions of Taoism and Bon. Discussion In the Mahayana sutras, there are many pure lands. Bodhisattvas such as Avalokiteśvara and Manjushri would obtain pure lands after they attained buddhahood. In the ''Lotus Sutra'', Buddha's close followers such as Śāriputra, Mahākāśyapa, Subhuti, Maudgalyāyana and Buddha's son Rāhula would also have pure lands. The relative time-flow in the pure lands may be different, with a day in one pure land being equivalent to years in another. Pure lands have been documented as arising due to the intention and aspiration of a bodhisattva such as the c ...
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Nagarjuna
Nāgārjuna . 150 – c. 250 CE (disputed)was an Indian Mahāyāna Buddhist thinker, scholar-saint and philosopher. He is widely considered one of the most important Buddhist philosophers.Garfield, Jay L. (1995), ''The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way'', Oxford: Oxford University Press. Jan Westerhoff considers him to be "one of the greatest thinkers in the history of Asian philosophy." Nāgārjuna is widely considered to be the founder of the Madhyamaka (centrism, middle-way) school of Buddhist philosophy and a defender of the Mahāyāna movement. His ''Mūlamadhyamakakārikā'' (Root Verses on Madhyamaka, or MMK) is the most important text on the madhyamaka philosophy of emptiness. The MMK inspired a large number of commentaries in Sanskrit, Chinese, Tibetan, Korean and Japanese and continues to be studied today. History Background India in the first and second centuries CE was politically divided into various states, including the Kushan Empire and the Satavaha ...
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Vasubandhu
Vasubandhu (; Tibetan: དབྱིག་གཉེན་ ; floruit, fl. 4th to 5th century CE) was an influential bhikkhu, Buddhist monk and scholar from ''Puruṣapura'' in ancient India, modern day Peshawar, Pakistan. He was a philosopher who wrote commentary on the Abhidharma, from the perspectives of the Sarvastivada and Sautrāntika schools. After his conversion to Mahayana, Mahayana Buddhism, along with his half-brother, Asanga, he was also one of the main founders of the Yogacara school. Vasubandhu's ''Abhidharmakośakārikā'' ("Commentary on the Treasury of the Abhidharma") is widely used in Tibetan and East Asian Buddhism, as the major source for non-Mahayana Abhidharma philosophy. His philosophical verse works set forth the standard for the Indian Yogacara metaphysics of "appearance only" (''vijñapti-mātra''), which has been described as a form of "epistemological idealism", Phenomenology (philosophy), phenomenology and close to Immanuel Kant's transcendental ideali ...
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Tan-luan
Tánluán (, 476–542) was a Chinese Buddhist monk. He is credited by Hōnen as the founder of Pure Land Buddhism in China. He is also considered the Third Patriarch of Jōdo Shinshū, a popular school of Buddhism in Japan. Tanluan was originally a Buddhist scholar, but after becoming ill, he studied Taoism in order to seek the Elixir of Life. However, after an encounter with Bodhiruci, a Buddhist monk from India, Tanluan became a devotee of Pure Land Buddhism and burnt his Taoist texts.T'an-luan, Pruden, Leo (1975). A Short Essay on the Pure Land, The Eastern Buddhist, New Series 8 (1), 74-95 Tanluan later wrote his ''Commentary'' on Vasubandhu's ''Treatise on the Pure Land''. The commentary taught that the all beings could be reborn in Sukhavati, the pure land of Amitābha, through sincere nianfo Nianfo (, Japanese: , , vi, niệm Phật) is a term commonly seen in Pure Land Buddhism. In the context of Pure Land practice, it generally refers to the repetition of ...
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Tao-cho
Daochuo (, 562–645), was a Chinese Buddhist scholar of the ''Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra'' who later became an eminent scholar of Pure Land Buddhism. In Chinese Buddhist tradition, he is considered the second patriarch of Pure Land Buddhism while In Jōdo Shinshū, he is considered the Fourth Patriarch. Life and teachings Daochuo was born and raised in Bingzhou, Shanxi. According to legend, Daochuo visited the temple of Tan-luan in 609 and read an epitaph on the wall that venerated Tanluan. Daochuo was so impressed by this inscription that he took up the pursuit of Pure Land Buddhism over his previous studies, including nianfo and daily recitation of the ''Infinite Life Sutra'' (). Among Daochuo's contributions to Pure Land Buddhism was his distinction that there existed two Paths in Buddhism: the holy path (monastic practices leading to the purification of the mind) and the pure land path (relying on Amitābha's grace). He also linked the Buddhist concept of the Thr ...
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Shan-tao
Shandao (; ja, Zendō; 613–681) was an influential writer for the Pure Land Buddhism, prominent in China, Korea, Vietnam and Japan. His writings had a strong influence on later Pure Land masters including Hōnen and Shinran in Japan. The Samguk yusa records him among the 3 monks who first brought Buddhist teaching, or Dharma, to Korea: Malananta (late 4th century) Indian Buddhist monk who brought Buddhism to Baekje in the southern Korean peninsula, Shandao (also spelled Sundo) monk who brought Buddhism to Goguryeo in northern Korea and Ado monk who brought Buddhism to Silla in central Korea. Buddhism, a religion originating in what is now India, was transmitted to Korea via China in the late 4th century. In Jōdo Shinshū, he is considered the Fifth Patriarch. Biography Shandao was born in what is now present Zhucheng. When he was young, he entered the priesthood and devoted himself to the study of the '' Infinite Life'' and ''Vimalakirti Sutra''s. One day, in the year 641, ...
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Genshin
, also known as , was the most influential of a number of scholar-monks of the Buddhist Tendai sect active during the tenth and eleventh centuries in Japan. Genshin, who was trained in both esoteric and exoteric teachings, wrote a number of treatises pertaining to the increasingly popular Pure Land Buddhism from a Tendai viewpoint, but his magnum opus, the , had considerable influence on later Pure Land teachers such as Honen and Shinran. In spite of growing political tensions within the Tendai religious hierarchy, and despite being one of the two leading disciples of the controversial Ryogen, 18th head of the Enryakuji Temple, Genshin and a small group of fellow monks maintained a secluded community at Yokawa on Mount Hiei solely devoted toward rebirth in the Pure Land, while staying largely neutral in the conflict. He was one of the thinkers who maintained that the nembutsu ritual, which was said to induce a vision of Amida, was an important hermeneutic principle in the Bu ...
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Hōnen
was the religious reformer and founder of the first independent branch of Japanese Pure Land Buddhism called . He is also considered the Seventh Jōdo Shinshū Patriarch. Hōnen became a Tendai initiate at an early age, but grew disaffected and sought an approach to Buddhism that anyone could follow, even during the perceived Three Ages of Buddhism, Age of Dharma Decline. After discovering the writings of the Chinese Buddhist Shandao, he undertook the teaching of rebirth in the pure land of Amitābha through nianfo or "recitation of the Buddha's name". Hōnen gathered a wide array of followers and critics. Emperor Tsuchimikado exiled Hōnen and his followers in 1207 after an incident regarding two of his disciples in addition to persuasion by influential Buddhist communities. Hōnen was eventually pardoned and allowed to return to Kyoto, where he stayed for a short time before his death. Biography Early life Hōnen was born to a prominent family in the city of Kume in Mim ...
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Sanjō Wasan
The Sanjō Wasan (三帖和讃) is a collection of three Japanese hymns written by Jōdo Shinshū founder, Shinran. Alternative English titles have been given such as the "Three Eulogies" and "Three Pure Land Poems." The Sanjō Wasan was formally designated a National Treasure of Japan. The text consists of the Jōdo Wasan (浄土和讃 Hymns of the Pure Land), Kōso Wasan (高僧和讃 Hymns of the Pure Land Masters) and Shōzōmatsu Wasan (正像末和讃 Hymns of the Dharma Ages). Jōdo Wasan The Jōdo Wasan is composed of 118 verses, classified as follows: *Prefatory Hymns (1-2) *Hymns Based on Gathas in Praise of Amitābha Buddha (3-50) *Hymns on the Larger Sutra (51-72) *Hymns on the Contemplation Sutra (73-81) *Hymns on the Amitābha Sutra (82-86) *Hymns to Amitābha Based on Various Sutras (87-95) *Hymns on Benefits in the Present (96-110) *Hymns on Mahāsthāmaprāpta (111-118) Kōso Wasan The Kōso Wasan is composed of 119 verses, classified as follows: *Nagarjun ...
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