PACIFIC WORLD - The Institute of Buddhist Studies

296Pacific WorldShinran’s follower Yuien, widely regarded as the compiler of the Tannishø.After Shinran, the commentaries and other writings of the subsequentheads of Honganji continued to be treated as sacred texts, but none haveattained the same status as Shinran’s own words, much in the same waythat the gospels have never been superceded by later interpreters inChristianity, and Jesus is regarded as the highpoint of Biblical religion overthe entire span of the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament, and subsequentChristian literature.There is, however, one other figure who is seen as crucial to the historyof Shin Buddhism in Japan, second only to Shinran, and that is Rennyo. Hewas the seventh-generation Abbot of Honganji, referred to as “the Patriarchof Revival” (Honganji ch¥kø no so), and is credited with establishingthe institutional base of Honganji, the organizational source of all of themajor Shin denominations in Japan and the West. His treatises, letters, andother writings have also been canonized as sacred scripture.In the twentieth century, additional commentaries have achieved considerableprominence, but for our purposes it is more significant to note that newhymns were composed using Shinran’s own words and set to Westerninfluencedmelodies. In addition, in 1921, letters by Shinran’s wife Esshinniwere discovered and made public, identifying her as his wife for the first time,and establishing her letters as part and parcel of the sacred canon.Canonical Texts: North AmericaAs missions were first established in the United States and eventuallythe semi-independent Hawaii Honganji, BCA, and BCC were created,Japanese priests were sent from Nishi Honganji and the other Shin denominationsin Japan to serve the American congregations. Eventually, most ofthe Japanese canon, including all of the above-mentioned sources, weretranslated into English. Earlier translations tended to be rendered insomewhat stilted English and Christian-influenced conceptions. Mostrecently, the critically acclaimed The Collected Works of Shinran, translatedby a team headed by Dennis Hirota, was issued by Nishi Honganji inJapan, and copies were distributed to all of the temples of the BCA. 3In the twentieth century, American Shin Buddhist hymns were at firstcommissioned by the Hawaii Honganji and BCA. The earliest hymns werein fact composed by Christian hymnalists and then later on by members ofNorth American Shin sanghas. Both the melodies and words reflect thesevarying influences. The early hymns could almost be mistaken for Christiansongs in terms of both lyrics and melodies. More recent hymns reflecta conscious intent to be more Buddhistic, although this itself remainsproblematic. No authoritative commentaries or works have yet beenwritten by American Shin scholars or priests, which is also generally the