Takamaro Shigaraki (, 1926 – 26 September 2014) was a Japanese

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

philosopher A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...

and priest within the

Honganji-ha Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji-ha (official name), commonly called Honganji-ha, is a Japanese Buddhist organization. It is a sub-sect within Jodo Shinshu. Its head temple is Nishi Hongan-ji is a Jōdo Shinshū Buddhist temple in the Shimogyō ward of ...

branch 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 ( ...

. Shigaraki is widely regarded as one of the most influential Buddhologists of the

in the 20th century. Shigaraki was born in Hiroshima in 1926. The former president of

Ryukoku University is a private university in Kyoto, Japan. It was founded as a school for Buddhist priests of the Nishi Hongan-ji denomination in 1639, and became a secularized university in 1876. The university's professors and students founded the literary m ...

spent his career studying

Pure Land Buddhism Pure Land Buddhism (; ja, 浄土仏教, translit=Jōdo bukkyō; , also referred to as Amidism in English,) is a broad branch of Mahayana Buddhism focused on achieving rebirth in a Buddha's Buddha-field or Pure Land. It is one of the most wid ...

. He was on the faculty of Ryukoku University, Kyoto, Japan, since 1958. He tried to clarify a contemporary meaning of Buddhism through looking into Shinran’s thought from a perspective of

existentialism Existentialism ( ) is a form of philosophical inquiry that explores the problem of human existence and centers on human thinking, feeling, and acting. Existentialist thinkers frequently explore issues related to the meaning, purpose, and valu ...

. Shigaraki has been influenced by

Paul Tillich Paul Johannes Tillich (August 20, 1886 – October 22, 1965) was a German-American Christian existentialist philosopher, religious socialist, and Lutheran Protestant theologian who is widely regarded as one of the most influential theologi ...

. He died of chronic respiratory failure, on 26 September 2014.getnews.jp retrieved 28th Sept 2014
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Select bibliography

* ''A Life of Awakening. The Heart of the Shin Buddhist Path. '' Translation by David Matsumoto. Hozokan Publishing, Kyoto, 2005 * ''Sogar der Gute wird erlöst, um wie viel mehr der Böse. Der Weg des buddhistischen Meisters Shinran.'' Übersetzt und mit einem Vorwort versehen von Volker Zotz. Kairos Edition, Luxembourg 2004, * ''Jōdokyō ni okeru shin no kinkyū'' (Studie über den Glauben im Reinen Land Buddhismus) 1975 * ''Gendai shinshū kyōgaku'' (Gegenwärtige Shin-Lehren)) * ''Bukkyō no seimeikan'' (Die buddhistische Sicht des Lebens), Kyoto, 1994 * ''Shinran ni okeru shin no kinkyū'' (Studie über den Glauben in Shinrans Denken), Kyoto, 1995 * ''Shinran shisō o ikiru'' (Leben aus Shinrans Denken), Kyoto, 2003 * Kyoto, 2008

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shigaraki, Takamaro 1926 births 2014 deaths People from Hiroshima 20th-century Japanese philosophers Buddhist writers Japanese scholars of Buddhism Buddhist existentialists Japanese Buddhists Jōdo Shinshū Buddhist priests Existentialists