The or ''The Hymn of True Faith'' was written by the founder of

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 ( ...

Buddhism,

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 ...

. It consists of an outline of the

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 ). Th ...

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 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 ...

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 ...

# Tanluan # Daochuo #

Shandao 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 Samg ...

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 tre ...

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 ...

* 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' may also refer to any one of several actual temple bu ...

temples chanted the ''Shōshinge'' and ''Wasan'' daily at 6am, but some Jōdo Shinshū temples now reserve the ''Shōshinge'' for special holidays due to its length. The Shōshinge can take up to 30 minutes to chant in its entirety. In Higashi Hongan-ji there are 10 styles of chanting the Shoshinge and in Nishi Hongan-ji 5. Only two or three styles are used regularly. The everyday style is fast, light and monotone whereas the formal styles are often slower, higher toned and more rhythmical.

External links

The Shoshinge and Wasan sung by the ministers of the Honpa Hongwanji in mp3 format.

Buddhist music Works by Shinran Buddhism in the Kamakura period {{Japan-reli-stub