Vol. 2, Issue 2

Jodo Shinshu International
The Promise
of Boundless
Compassion
A Buddhist Quarterly
Volume 2, Issue 2
2022

MISSION STATEMENT
Sharing with the world the deep and humbling joy of awakening to
Amida Buddha’s Universal Aspiration that enables each and every
person to live a spiritually fulfilled life.
ABOUT THE MISSION STATEMENT
This mission statement was articulated to convey a number of overarching
themes and goals that this founding committee wanted to share with its readers
through this quarterly journal. By introducing first-hand accounts of people
who have experienced the warmth of Amida Buddha’s embracing Compassion,
readers can be inspired by the message of Shinran Shonin, the founder of Jodo
Shinshu Buddhism.
Through these religious experiences and accounts from people around the
world, it is our hope to spread the message of Amida Buddha’s Great Aspiration
for all beings—despite race, color, creed, or any other divisions among us—to
awaken to a life of spiritual fulfillment. When we awaken to this message of
Amida’s universal embracement, each person can live in the here and now,
with a sense of profound self-reflection, joy, and hope that will lead one to live
in deepest gratitude for the Buddha’s benevolence.
We are excited to be a part of a movement that will spread a message of
unity and hope through Amida Buddha’s universal solidarity.
Namo Amida Butsu.

Volume 2, Issue 2, Published June 2022
Jodo Shinshu
International
A Buddhist Quarterly
IN THIS ISSUE
6 The Foundation of Shinran’s Faith: Supremacy of the Vow in the Tannisho
Dr. Alfred Bloom
12 Shinran’s Sources
Rev. Jérôme Ducor
16 Why Shin Buddhism? (Part Four)
Rev. John Paraskevopoulos
20 Simply Acceptance: Interview with Sheera Tamura
Rev. Dr. Takashi Miyaji
24 The Present Condition of Jodo Shinshu in Nepal
Rev. Uma Lama (Ghising)

Jodo Shinshu International is published quarterly by the
Jodo Shinshu International Office, a not-for-profit religious
corporation.
Volume 2, Issue 2.
Content copyright © 2022 Jodo Shinshu International Office.
No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in
any form or by any means electronic or mechanical, including
photocopy, recording, or any information storage or retrieval
system, without written permission.
Editors-in-Chief: Rev. Kodo Umezu, Rev. Ai Hironaka
Committee: Rev. Yuika Hasebe, Rev. Dr. Takashi Miyaji
Contributors: Dr. Alfred Bloom, Rev. Jérôme Ducor, Rev. Ai
Hironaka, Rev. Uma Lama (Ghising), Minako Kamuro, Rev.
Dr. Takashi Miyaji, Rev. John Paraskevopoulos, Sheera Tamura
Design & Layout: Travis Suzaka
Printing: Kousaisha, Tokyo, Japan
Support: Rev. Kiyonobu Kuwahara, Madeline Kubo
EXPLANATION OF CALLIGRAPHY
Looking back at the earth, one astronaut said, “We do not see any borders from space.” Here on
earth, we humans create borders where there are no boundaries, claiming “this is mine, not yours,”
and so, inevitably, there are conflicts. As a result, many vulnerable people are forced to weep and
tremble in fear. How sorrowful and pitiful this is.
But in Amida Buddha’s Pure Land there is no conflict, there are no such things as good or bad
values. It is the world of Enlightenment, of Nondiscrimination. Before becoming Amida Buddha,
the Bodhisattva Dharmakara, had long contemplated the welcoming of all sentient beings into the
Pure Land without any discrimination. This is “ 五 劫 思 惟 Gokoshiyui,” the “Five kalpas of profound
thought,” which is the calligraphy of this quarterly journal. Some say that a kalpa is equal to 4.32
billion years, it is beyond our imagination, we cannot conceive of how incredibly long five kalpas is.
The length of this time expresses how difficult it is to save all sentient beings. And it is
proportional to the depth of our personal desires. Namo Amida Butsu is makes us aware that it is hard
to be saved, and therefore it calls out that we are the aim of Amida Buddha’s salvation.
In the current conditions of conflict, which prevail in the world today, we say “Get rid of anything
that I don’t like’’ and “Let me get what I want at all costs.” We can see that the essence of human
beings has not changed since the time when the Bodhisattva Dharmakara was thinking about it. Even
if we seek peace, if it is peace based on human ego (self-centeredness), or peace that is convenient for
one individual, culture, or nation, it will create new conflicts in the process of seeking peace
Because of this era, I think it is important for the Wisdom and Compassion of Amida Buddha to
spread among the people’s hearts and minds. This Wisdom and Compassion always reminds us of the
depth and richness of each moment of life, which arises as we live together with people of different
values and ideas.
Namo Amida Butsu.
Rev. Ai Hironaka
Jodo Shinshu International Office
1710 Octavia Street, San Francisco, CA 94109, USA
www.jsinternational.org
Rev. Ai Hironaka is the resident minister of Lahaina Hongwanji Mission of Hawaii.
He was born in Hiroshima, Japan and attended Ryukoku University, majoring in Shin
Buddhism. He was previously assigned to the Hilo Betsuin, Aiea Hongwanji Mission,
and the Hawaii Betsuin.

Introduction
FEATURED ESSAY
The Foundation
of Shinran’s Faith:
Supremacy of the Vow in the Tannisho
By Dr. Alfred Bloom
As the background to my discussion of the “Tannisho,” I
want to comment on my experience with Shin Buddhism.
It will perhaps give some perspective on my interpretation
of “Tannisho” as well as other Buddhist texts. To begin
with, I was raised in a fundamentalist Christian
environment. I was a Baptist. In my teenage years, I
became an ardent believer. During the war I joined the
army and had the opportunity to study Japanese. At the
end of the war I went to Japan in the army of occupation
and was active in a Christian group of GIs.
We went to churches to give talks and help the youth
learn English so they could get jobs with the army and
also to save their souls. On one occasion, as I was speaking
the minister of the church compared my idea of Christian
grace with Amida. I was shocked when I heard it, since I
had been taught that Christianity was absolutely unique.
There could be nothing like it.
I returned from the army and went to seminary.
However, many questions had been raised in my mind.
I gradually came to understand that the fundamentalist
interpretation of Christianity was wrong and that
there were many more religious alternatives than just
Christianity. After going to two seminaries, I went to
Harvard Divinity School where I was again able to take
up the study of Japanese and learn more about Buddhism.
At that time, I got hold of a copy of Yamamoto
Kosho’s “Shinshu Seiten” and discovered that Shinran
should be the focus of my study. I received a Fulbright
scholarship and went to Japan for research. Eventually,
I completed my thesis and published the text “Shinran’s
Gospel of Pure Grace.” The title reflects the issue I had
6

DR. ALFRED BLOOM
been trying to solve since those army experiences. It was
my attempt to inform students of religion of the depth
and significance of Shinran’s teaching, which had not
been explored earlier in an academic fashion. Within the
last year, after 25 years, the book has gone out of print.
Nevertheless, it has fulfilled its task of making Shinran
known and now more scholars are taking up the study
of exploring the Shin tradition and publishing many
important works.
In the course of my explorations, I encountered the
“Tannisho” and against the background of my own
religious experience and training found it a remarkable
and deeply significant text for the understanding, not
only of Shin Buddhism, but of religion in general. It was
because of my interest in the “Tannisho” that I was able
to develop a series of radio talks sponsored by the Moiliili
Hongwanji temple in Honolulu, Hawaii, which eventually
became the small volume: “Tannisho: Resource for
Modern Living.”
While I was studying the book, I had an encounter
with a Japanese actor, Morishige Hisaya. You may be
familiar with him. I was at a dinner party. When I was
introduced as a University professor and student of Shin
Buddhism, he commented that he understood the Psalms
of the Old Testament but he could not understand the
“Tannisho.” As a more humorous retort, I responded that
I understood the “Tannisho” but I could not understand
the Psalms.
As I reflected on the exchange later, I began to realize
that there was a significant point in our conversation. He
had read the Psalms without anyone telling him that they
were profound expressions of religious faith. He simply
read the texts and reacted to their evident meaning as
he encountered the ideas. However, people for centuries
have been told that the “Tannisho” is very profound text.
When you tell someone that a book is profound, they will
naturally assume that they cannot understand it and thus
never read it. Or, if they read it, they will not be able to
respond to the meaning because they assume they do not
understand what they read.
Interestingly enough, Rennyo Shonin assumed
that people would understand it when they read it.
Consequently, he warned his followers not to read the
“Tannisho” until they were 40 years of age. That is,
too old to implement its religious perspective. As we
shall see, the “Tannisho” is a text of spiritual liberation.
Through the use of Pure Land teaching based in Shinran’s
understanding of shinjin or endowed trust, there is a
liberating spirit that pervades the text.
The ideal of spiritual liberation offered by this work
has made it enormously attractive and meaningful to
many modern Japanese seeking a basis for their lives.
Most notably, Kiyozawa Manshi made the book famous
in modern times when he rediscovered it after centuries
of obscurity. Kiyozawa ranked the “Tannisho” with
the words of Epictetus, the Greek stoic philosopher, and
the Buddhist Agamas, that is, the ancient Theravada
Buddhist Sutras. His emphasis was on liberation from
the self. However, the liberation from the self enables the
person to be firm and tranquil amidst the turbulence and
upheaval of the surrounding world. While not seeking,
necessarily, to change the external world directly, the
world transforms as the self transforms. Kiyozawa, in his
own way attempted to bring about religious reform and
the revitalization of Shinshu in the Meiji era. If taken
seriously, it can also assist in revitalizing our own Sangha.
7

FEATURED ESSAY - THE FOUNDATION OF SHINRAN’S FAITH
As a result of Kiyozawa’s efforts, the “Tannisho”
became widely known as a religious classic in the Shin
tradition. Since that time it has become a literary and
religious classic beyond the boundaries of the Shin sect.
It has been translated into many western languages
and, in effect, taken on a life of its own. Nevertheless, it
is not as widely known or studied in our own temples. I
encountered a temple president some years ago who said
he had never heard of it, despite years of activity in the
temple.
While it is not possible to go through the book
in detail here or to deal exhaustively with Shinran’s
teaching, I have developed several topics which I believe
focus attention on some important issues for religious
faith arising from the text. In this initial discussion, I
want to consider the Primal Vow as the foundation of
Shinran’s religious experience and thought. In the second
presentation, I will discuss the deeply personal character
of Shinran’s approach to religion. Subsequently, we
will look at the “Tannisho” as a manifesto of spiritual
Amida’s Primal Vow does not discriminate
between the young and old, good and evil;
true entrusting alone is essential.
liberation and finally the relevance of the “Tannisho.” In
this segment of our study I will summarize the religious
perspective or style of life of the “Tannisho” which is the
basis for its modern significance.
I. The Inconceivable Primal Vows
The “Tannisho” opens with a clear statement of the
foundation for spiritual liberation through the Primal Vow
of Amida Buddha. It states:
When the thought of saying the Nembutsu emerges
decisively from within, having entrusted ourselves to
the inconceivable power of Amida’s vow which saves
us, enabling us to be born in the Pure Land, in that
very moment we receive the ultimate benefit of being
grasped never to be abandoned.
Amida’s Primal Vow does not discriminate between
the young and old, good and evil; true entrusting
alone is essential. The reason is that the Vow is directed
to the being burdened with the weight of karmic evil
and burning with the flames of blind passion.
Thus entrusting ourselves to the Primal Vow, no other
form of good is necessary, for there is no good that
surpasses the Nembutsu. And evil need not be feared,
for there is no evil which can obstruct the working of
Amida’s Primal Vow.
(“Tannisho: A Shin Buddhist Classic,” Taitetsu Unno,
trans., Honolulu: Buddhist Study Center Press, 1984, p. 5).
8

DR. ALFRED BLOOM
This passage, with its flowing, lyrical style, is an eloquent
statement of the very foundation of Shinran’s teaching.
Though we speak of the Nembutsu as the central idea of
Shinshu, the Nembutsu is rooted in the Vow. Not enough
attention is paid to the understanding of the Vow as the
symbol and expression of the nature of spiritual reality.
When Shinran recounted his experience of faith through
his teacher Honen, he exclaimed: “How Joyous I am,
my heart and mind being rooted in the Buddha-ground
of the Universal Vow, and my thoughts and feelings
flowing within the dharma-ocean, which is beyond
comprehension” (Shin Buddhism Translation Series,
“The True Teaching, Practice and Realization of the
Pure Land Way,” Volume IV, Transformed Land, p. 616).
In the preface to the “Shoshinge” in the “Kyogyoshinsho,”
Shinran states:
The Vow on which true and real practice is based is
the Vow that all Buddhas say the Name. The Vow
on which true and real shinjin is based is the Vow of
sincere mind and trust. These are the practice and
shinjin of the selected Primal Vow....The Buddha and
land are the fulfilled Buddha and fulfilled land. All
of this is none other than the ocean of true reality or
suchness, the inconceivable Vow” (Shin Buddhism
Translation Series, Ibid., I, p. 159).
For Shinran, all of spiritual reality is the expression of the
Primal Vow. If we put this into modern terms, Shinran
is indicating for us that history is moved by a spiritual
dynamic, profound aspiration in which all beings seek a
higher realization and fulfillment of their lives. The Vows
are a power in things working for growth and creativity,
and for the transcendence of all limitations. Shinran
expressed this dynamic reality in the terms of Pure Land
teaching. The Vows represent aspects of the nature of
Amida Buddha as the Buddha of Eternal life and Infinite
Light (some mention can be made of the central Vows
in Shinran’s thought: 12,13,17,18,11,22; and for his own
experience, 19, 20).
Consequently, when Yuienbo, the compiler of the
“Tannisho,” arranged the quotations from Shinran that
he remembered, it is important that he prefaced them with
the recognition of the supremacy of the Primal Vow. It is
only through our constant awareness of the power of the
Vow in our lives that we can avoid the deviations or errors
which Yuienbo was attempting to correct within the early
Shin sangha. Briefly, let us consider this opening passage:
When the thought of saying the Nembutsu emerges
decisively from within, having entrusted ourselves to
the inconceivable power of Amida’s vow which saves
us, enabling us to be born in the Pure Land, in that
very moment we receive the ultimate benefit of being
grasped never to be abandoned.
This passage tells us that even before we actually recite the
Nembutsu verbally, the inconceivable power of the Vow
stirs our faith, and we are embraced in that moment by
the Buddha’s compassion. We will never be abandoned or
rejected. The assurance we have of final enlightenment
comes not from our feeble and unsteady, wavering minds
and hearts, but from the Buddha whose nature and
purpose is to bring all beings to enlightenment.
9

FEATURED ESSAY - THE FOUNDATION OF SHINRAN’S FAITH
And evil need not be feared,
for there is no evil which
can obstruct the working of
Amida’s Primal Vow.
This affirmation is extremely important when we
survey the religious world. Most religions establish criteria
and requirements that must be fulfilled in order to attain
salvation. The degree of perfection demanded leaves
the majority of people doomed. It is the unconditional
compassion of Amida working in his Vow that brings
about our deliverance or final enlightenment not what
we do for ourselves. Understanding this perspective
transforms the nature of our religious life and the way
we relate to people. Knowing that the source of our
deliverance is in the Vow, we cannot be self-righteous or
put on an air of superiority. This is the basis of the dogyodobo
horizontal community that characterizes Shinran’s
relations to his disciples.
Amida’s Primal Vow does not discriminate between
the young and old, good and evil; true entrusting
alone is essential. The reason is that the Vow is
directed to the being burdened with the weight of
karmic evil and burning with the flames of blind
passion.
The second segment of this passage makes three important
points. The first is the universality of the Vow. In this
context he focuses on age and moral qualifications.
However, in the Faith Volume of the “Kyogyoshinsho”
he indicates that the Great Sea of Faith transcends age,
sex, economics, intellect, religion, morality, mode of
enlightenment, number of Nembutsu, or any human
distinction that may be invoked as a criteria to evaluate
another person’s faith. Shinran gives us the clearest
rejection of the judgmental attitude that tends to afflict
religious people and encourage hypocrisy.
The second issue is that entrusting alone is essential.
This is the central feature of Shinran’s teaching that
has made it famous over the centuries and distinctive
among Buddhist schools. Generally speaking, traditional
Buddhism in all its various forms has focused on practice
as the essential way to enlightenment, and particularly
meditation in some form, though also teaching the
preliminary character or importance of faith.
For Shinran, prior to all aspects of practice is the
character of the human spirit and mind. That is, what
people think they are doing and with what attitude their
actions are performed determines the character of their
religious perspective. If they think that religious actions
are based in their own ability to achieve good, they
misunderstand the power of the ego and ego-delusion
which leads to cloaking egoism in the guise of religious
effort. Faith-awareness makes it clear that whatever good
we do, has its root in the working of universal compassion.
Thus entrusting ourselves to the Primal Vow, no other
form of good is necessary, for there is no good that
surpasses the Nembutsu. And evil need not be feared,
for there is no evil which can obstruct the working of
Amida’s Primal Vow.
Shinran declares the total supremacy of the Primal Vow.
He states that “no other form of good is needed.” Nothing
is superior to the Nembutsu. This affirmation correlates to
the section “Tannisho” VIII where Shinran states that the
Nembutsu “is neither a religious practice nor a good deed.
Since it is practiced without my calculation, it is ‘nonpractice.’
Since it is not a good created by my calculation,
it is ‘non-good.’ Since it is nothing but Other Power,
10

DR. ALFRED BLOOM
completely separated from self-power, it is neither a religious
practice nor a good act on the part of the practicer.”
Here we should understand that for Shinran the
Nembutsu, as the conscious manifestation of shinjin,
endowed trust, arises spontaneously and freely. It is
without hakarai which indicates deliberateness,
calculation, devising. Hakarai is something done with
ego intention and therefore, being the kind of people
we are with raging passions and ego interest, all actions
become self-serving. Religion for Shinran could never be
obligatory or done merely for social reasons.
With the grounding in the Vow religious faith
becomes the natural expression of the human spirit,which
recognizes that there is something greater that embraces
our lives and gives them meaning and value. The value
and meaning of human existence is symbolized in Amida’s
Vows as the life of the universe realizing itself in the
dynamic life of nature and the yearning for spiritual
fulfillment in human life.
Just as there is no good that surpasses the Nembutsu
as the requirement for enlightenment, there is no evil
that can obstruct or hinder the fulfillment of the Vow in
bringing us to enlightenment. It is possible to view the
supremacy of the Vow in external or internal dimensions.
Externally, it suggests that no matter what opposition
followers of the Nembutsu may face, those opponents
cannot finally overcome the faith. Shinran himself faced
such challenges when he was exiled along with other
followers of Honen. Pure Land teaching was persecuted
for many years in Japan until it became a recognized
and accepted faith among all the other Buddhist schools.
While we do not face overt persecution, the cultural
environment within which we live threatens to undermine
religious commitment through ongoing secularization
and the allure of the material culture we have created
which makes religion merely a colorful decoration or
condiment to the salad of life.
Internally, no evil can obstruct the Vow or
Nembutsu, and no evil need be feared suggests that
we are never too evil to be embraced by the Buddha’s
compassion. There were people in Shinran’s day, who by
profession or other reasons, were continually committing
acts defined as sinful and impure in traditional
Buddhism. It was virtually impossible for such people
to receive the assurance that they would ultimately be
delivered. Warriors, prostitutes, butchers, merchants,
hunters were all in professions which traded on human
passions and created karma. The message of Pure Land
teaching, and particularly Shinran, declared that there
was hope for all. No one would be left out, because the
Buddha’s Vow had been fulfilled.
In the “Kyogyoshinsho,” Shinran illustrated
this fact by recounting the story of Prince Ajatasatru
who had committed what was the unforgivable sin in
bringing about his father, King Bimbisara’s death. He
symbolized the lowest, despicable evil. Yet, through the
Buddha’s compassion even he would eventually attain
Buddhahood. This hope liberates the human spirit to live
creatively and meaningfully in this world of suffering in
the spirit of gratitude and compassion for all beings.
In this opening passage, therefore, Shinran offers an
important alternative among the plurality of religious
paths in our time and an inspiring vision of universal
compassion that inspires hope, courage and commitment.
We must take this vision seriously for our individual lives,
as well as that of our sangha.
About the Author
Dr. Alfred Bloom
Dr. Alfred Bloom (1926-2017) was one
of the world’s foremost authorities on
the study of Shin Buddhism and left a
rich legacy for Buddhist seekers in the
West. He completed his doctoral studies
at Harvard in 1963 with a dissertation
on Shinran’s life and thought. Especially
remembered among his many books and
articles are his commentaries on Tannisho
and Shoshinge, as well as The Promise of
Boundless Compassion.
11

FEATURED ARTICLE
Shinran’s Sources
Rev. Jérôme Ducor
Buddhism is one of the three world religions with a
universal vocation. Along with Christianity and Islam,
it claims to have a message that is addressed to all of
humanity. However, it differs substantially from the other
two religions on several points. For example, it refutes the
idea of a sovereign, judging and creating god. Another
major difference is that Buddhism no longer exists in its
country of origin. Born in India around the 5th century
BC, it disappeared from there following a slow decay that
ended with its elimination during the Muslim conquests in
the Indian subcontinent, as evidenced by the destruction
of the Buddhist universities of Nālandā and Vikramaśilā
in the late 12th century AD.
Another particularity of Buddhism is that it spread
peacefully, carried by its missionaries to the whole of Asia,
but only to Asia. Over the centuries, it spread further
and further eastwards, as far as Japan and Indonesia,
without ever crossing westwards to the Mediterranean
basin. Paradoxically, the very first Western knowledge
of Buddhism came from Christian missionaries in the
16th century. However, the real discovery of Buddhism
by the West came in the 19th century, not through the
action of Asian Buddhist missionaries but through western
philology. At that time, European scholars discovered the
links between the four canonical languages of Buddhism:
Sanskrit, Pali, Chinese and Tibetan. Only then could
the translations of the sūtras, i.e. the texts preserving the
sermons of the Buddha Śākyamuni, begin.
Author’s Note: My sincere thanks to Dr. Heleven Loveday for checking my English.
12

REV. JÉRÔME DUCOR
It is here that the paradox becomes stronger for most
specialists in these languages have oriented their work
towards the reconstruction of what would have been the
“original” teaching of the Buddha. Still, there is another
essential difference between Buddhism and the other
two universal religions. Unlike Christianity and Islam,
almost nothing is known about the first three centuries
of Buddhism. Its teachings only began to be written
down at the turn of the Christian era: first in Sanskrit on
the Indian subcontinent and in Pali on the island of Sri
Lanka, and then translated from Sanskrit into Chinese,
and later from Sanskrit into Tibetan. So that Western
Buddhist studies first consisted of comparisons of all these
sources in an attempt to identify a common background
that would have constituted the “original teaching” of
the historical Buddha in India, the country from which it
had disappeared.
From this perspective, anything outside the Indian
context was virtually discarded. Worse still, the idea
spread that the further away from the Buddha’s India in
time and geography certain forms of Buddhism were,
the more decadent they were. For example, Chinese
Buddhism was said to have been distorted by Taoism,
especially in Chan (Zen). Similarly, Japanese Buddhism is
said to have degenerated into a monotheism because of the
Pure Land tradition.
This bias, which fortunately began to disappear
some forty years ago, completely ignored the successive
contributions of dozens of great commentators who,
throughout the Far East, composed texts of great value,
some of which are even monuments of human thought in
the same way as their Indian counterparts.
The perspective of a Japanese disciple of the Buddha
is obviously quite different. For him or her, the passage
of Buddhism from India via China to the Japanese
archipelago does not constitute a degeneration but, on
the contrary, an exponential enrichment that culminates
in Japan. This awareness of being the custodian of such
a treasure is illustrated in particular by a work by a
contemporary of Shinran, the monk Gyōnen (1240-1321),
who composed a three-volume memoir: The Circumstances
of the Transmission of the Law of the Buddha in the Three
Countries (Sangoku buppō denzū engi).
Shinran (1173-1263) obviously fits perfectly into this
context. Original as it may be, his thought, with his
interpretation of the Buddhist teachings, did not arise
spontaneously from nowhere. It is the fruit of a long
maturation of his reading of the texts and his listening to
the masters he frequented, as well as the trials that marked
his life.
It is not known which masters may have influenced
him during the twenty or so years he spent in the Tendai
school, on Mount Hiei northeast of Kyōto, before his
decisive encounter with Hōnen (1133-1212), the founder of
the Pure Land school (Jōdoshū). Shinran himself would
claim that he was merely passing on the legacy of his
master Hōnen. But his own teaching proved sufficiently
original that he is retroactively considered the founder
of a school in its own right, the True Pure Land school
(Jōdo-Shinshū).
13

FEATURED ESSAY - SHINRAN’S SOURCES
What is called a “school” in Sino-Japanese Buddhism
must meet certain precise criteria. The subject may seem
somewhat technical, but it deserves to be addressed for
it is some of these criteria that allow us to grasp both the
richness of Shinran’s sources and the originality of his
own thought.
The first of these criteria is that of the text or set of
texts on which a school is based. Hōnen relied primarily
on the Sūtras of the Pure Land Trilogy (Jōdo-Sambukyō), which
includes the Sūtra of the Buddha Immeasurable-Life, the Sūtra of
Contemplations on the Buddha Immeasurable-Life and the Sūtra
of Amida.
Shinran kept the same texts but gave them a different
degree of importance between themselves. For him,
the most fundamental of all is the Sūtra of the Buddha
Immeasurable-Life, as this sets out the vows of the Buddha.
However, many other texts are also used by Shinran.
This can be seen in his seminal work, entitled
“Teaching, Practice, Faith and Realisation” (Kyō-gyō-shinshō).
This six-volume work is a vast anthology of quotations
covering over sixty texts. In addition to some fifteen other
sūtras, it includes the works of almost thirty masters of the
Three Countries: three of them are Indian, twenty are
Chinese and three are Japanese; to which should be added
three Koreans, who at the time were not distinguished
from the Chinese masters. Not all of these authors
belong to the Pure Land tradition, since there are also
representatives of the Mādhyamika, Chan (Zen), Tiantai
(Tendai) and Discipline (Ritsu) schools.
It should be noted that a characteristic of Shinran’s
sources is that they span a period of ten centuries: from the
archaic era of Chinese translations of some of these sūtras
in the 2nd century CE, to the contemporary period of
For [Shinran], the most fundamental of all is the Sūtra of the Buddha
Immeasurable-Life, as this sets out the vows of the Buddha.
Shinran himself for some Chinese masters, not to mention
Hōnen, his personal teacher. Another feature is that all
these texts are written in Chinese, the classical language
of Far Eastern Buddhism. This allows Shinran to move
seamlessly from one source to another, regardless of their
date or country of origin.
However, of all these masters, Shinran relied especially
on a selection of seven of them. These are the Indians
Nāgārjuna and Vasubandhu, the Chinese Tanluan,
Daochuo and Shandao, and the Japanese Genshin and
Hōnen, who are referred to collectively as the “Seven
Eminent Masters” (Shichi Kōsō). Nowhere does Shinran
explain this choice, but the importance of these seven
masters is especially evident in his Poem of True Faith
(Shōshinge) as well as in his Japanese Hymns on the Eminent
Masters (Kōsō wasan).
Shinran’s list is partly based on the one defined by
his master Hōnen. The latter had selected five masters,
all Chinese: Tanluan, Daochuo, Shandao, Huaigan and
Shaokang.
Huaigan was a disciple of Shandao, but Hōnen
himself acknowledged that his interpretations contradicted
those of his master on many points. As for Shaokang, who
was considered a reincarnation of Shandao, he did not
14

REV. JÉRÔME DUCOR
leave any strictly doctrinal work but was rather recognized
for his popular liturgical innovations. Thus pruned of
Huaigan and Shaokang, the list of the Five Patriarchs
of the Pure Land only includes Tanluan, Daochuo and
Shandao for Shinran.
Of these, Hōnen declared that he “relied entirely on
Master Shandao alone”. In fact, Hōnen’s founding of the
Pure Land School was even intended to do nothing more
than give independence to Shandao’s teaching, which
holds in three main points:
1°
2°
3°
birth in the Pure Land of Amida is an achievement of
the highest order;
the most ordinary beings can nevertheless be born there;
the practice that enables them to realise this
apparently contradictory goal lies in the vocal
nembutsu alone, i.e. the pronunciation of the name of
the Buddha Amida, which is both easy and excellent,
because of the merits of this Buddha synthesised in
his name according to his vows.
This equation is essential: it characterizes what Hōnen
calls “the Shandao tradition” to distinguish it from the
interpretations of the Pure Land held by other schools
of Buddhism.
Shandao had had Daochuo as his master, from whom
Hōnen retains in particular the division of all Buddhist
teachings into the “method of the Way of the Saints” and
the “method of the Pure Land”.
As for Tanluan, of whom Hōnen seems to have
known little more than the very beginning of his famous
Commentary on Vasubandhu’s Treatise on the Pure Land, his
entire work will be of capital importance for Shinran. It
is, moreover, on the basis of Tanluan that Shinran added
the two Indian masters Nāgārjuna and Vasubandhu to
his list, for Tanluan’s Commentary opens with an important
reference to Nāgārjuna’s definition of the “easy practice”
of faith as distinct from the “difficult practices”. This
association of Vasubandhu and Tanluan by Shinran
is reflected in his very name : “Shin” in “Shinran” is
the second character of Vasubandhu’s Chinese name,
which is pronounced “Seshin” in Japanese, while “ran”
is the second character of Tanluan’s name, pronounced
“Donran” in Japanese.
Finally, as for the two Japanese masters in Shinran’s
list, Genshin was the one whose work allowed Honen to
rediscover Shandao; Shinran would also draw from it
doctrinal notions important enough to include Genshin in
his list. Finally, Hōnen fits in quite naturally as Shinran’s
personal teacher.
In a forthcoming series of articles, we shall examine in
more detail the teachings of each of the Seven Eminent
Masters who constitute one of the main sources of
Shinran’s teaching. In this way, an attempt will be made to
appreciate what Shinran has inherited from these masters
and what his personal spiritual deepening has contributed
specifically to the True Pure Land school.
About the Author
Rev. Jérôme Ducor
Rev. Jérôme Ducor is the minister in
charge of the Shingyôji temple (Geneva).
He has been teaching Buddhism at
McGill (Montreal) and at the universities
of Geneva and Lausanne, besides being
the curator of the Asia Department at
the Geneva Museum. He is the author of
various Buddhist publications, including
a translation of Tanluan’s Commentary
and his own book, Shinran and Pure Land
Buddhism.
15

The practice of Dharma consists in having kindness, generosity,
truthfulness, purity, gentleness and goodness increase among the people.
FEATURED ESSAY
– King Aśoka
Why Shin
Buddhism?
PART FOUR (OF FOUR)
By Rev. John Paraskevopoulos
In the final part to this series of short essays, we will explore
how Shinran’s vision of reality is applicable to us in everyday life
and the way in which its teachings can enrich our existence—
even when our daily circumstances are fraught and distressing.
In doing so, it should become clear as to what Jōdo Shinshū
isn’t, as much as what it is, given the host of misconceptions
that often plague it.
It has frequently been remarked that Shinran’s outlook on
the world was quite severe and that he tended to neglect social
issues. Indeed, the Pure Land tradition, as a whole, has been
accused of not being sufficiently concerned with the problems
of this life. This is hardly a fair or accurate criticism but, in any
case, Rennyō would retort that we’re nowhere near concerned
enough about the more important matter of the next life either.
In the Dhammapada, we are reminded to:
Overcome anger by peacefulness; overcome evil by good.
Overcome the mean by generosity; and the person who
lies by truth.
16

REV. JOHN PARASKEVOPOULOS
Even in our Pure Land scriptures, we find plain wise advice
regarding how to treat others:
People of the world, parents and children, brothers and
sisters, husbands and wives, and other family members
and kinsmen, should respect and love each other,
refraining from hatred and envy. They should share
things with others, and not be greedy and miserly, always
speak friendly words with a pleasing smile, and not hurt
each other.
(Sutra on the Buddha of Immeasurable Life)
Of course, there is nothing remarkable or original about such
guidance but this doesn’t make it any easier for us to put into
practice! Needless to say, Shinran would concur with these
sentiments. However, his solution to the predicament of our
human condition was to neither ignore manifestly obvious
cases of injustice nor to rush out and hastily ‘change the world’
on a whim. Rather, it was to first transform our own hearts
and minds, without which no amount of worldly activism will
make any enduring difference. In one of his letters, he states:
Formerly you were drunk with the wine of ignorance
and had a liking only for the three poisons of greed,
anger and folly but, since you have begun to hear of the
Buddha’s Vow, you have awakened from the drunkenness
of ignorance, gradually rejected the three poisons and
have come to prefer, at all times, the medicine of Amida
Buddha.
Notice that Shinran suggests that it’s only through a living
encounter with the Dharma that we can undergo a shift in
our habitual orientation. In other words, we assume a new
way of being in the world that is determined by something
other than the darkness of our disordered desires (bonnō).
This requires the intrusion into our hearts of the timeless,
which doesn’t have its origin in our thoughts, feelings or
ego. Elsewhere, Shinran says:
When people’s trust in the Buddha has grown deep,
they…seek to stop doing wrong as their hearts moves
them—although earlier they gave thought to such things
and committed them as their minds dictated.
That which makes us want to manifest good will and concern
towards others is none other than the working of the Primal
Vow that seeks the liberation of all beings. This spiritual force
is the embodiment of pure unconditional benevolence which
is given to us when we entrust in it. It ought to be clear that
we cannot bring about this virtuous attainment ourselves
(and then proudly take credit for it) if we’re really honest
about our limitations. Hōnen once remarked:
Upon introspection, I realize that I have not observed a
single Buddhist precept or succeeded in the practice of
meditation…In addition, the mind of the common man
is easily distracted, confused, vacillating and unable to
concentrate…Without the sword of undefiled wisdom,
how will we extricate ourselves from the fetters of karma
and harmful passions?
This is our reality as bombu, ordinary people who flounder
in the ocean of samsāra. How can we expect to ‘reform’
others, whom we may regard as stupid or wicked, when
we haven’t got our own house in order, being full of
17

FEATURED ESSAY - WHY SHIN BUDDHISM?
Without wisdom, we are lost and blind. In such a state, we become
slaves to our binding desires, severed from what is ‘true and real’. This
can only create subjective distortions of reality in which we project our
fears in a posture of denial.
unacknowledged hatred ourselves? In the torrid culture
wars that are tearing apart societies at the moment, how
many of the self-proclaimed ‘virtuous’ can sincerely claim
they’ve observed the following injunction in a true spirit of
compassion towards those with whom they disagree?
For hate is not conquered by hate; hate is conquered by
love. This is the law eternal. (Dhammapada)
And let us not forget that compassion doesn’t mean just pity
(which is often condescending) but the capacity to ‘suffer with’
others in their anguish and adversity. Before doing anything
else, we need to take refuge in the unhindered light and life
that is Amida, so that we may be given the Buddha-mind
necessary to ‘dispel the long night of ignorance’ as Shinran
describes our plight. This is shinjin and the deeper reality that
sustains it which, according to Reverend Wasui Tatsuguchi
(b.1930), is:
The one and only foundation upon which we are enabled
to find a purpose greater than our own petty self-interests,
a meaning beyond the mere satisfaction of our selfish
physiological and psychological drives. It is that which
saves us from ego-centrism. It transforms primitive desire
into a desire that is universal.
Without wisdom, we are lost and blind. In such a state, we
become slaves to our binding desires, severed from what is
‘true and real’. This can only create subjective distortions of
reality in which we project our fears in a posture of denial.
Such spiritual myopia imposes—often violently—our
benighted views onto others; beliefs that are no less toxic
than those we deem to be ‘heretical’ or politically incorrect,
especially when they’re fuelled by anger and hostility. The
Australian Shin poet Harold Stewart (1916-1995) made the
following astute observation:
The ultimate aim of Buddhist doctrine and method is to
enable us to transcend our humanity, not wallow in it.
For sufficient unto our own egotistical self and ignorant of
our innate Buddha-nature, we remain trivial and pitiful
things…The conscious effort to be good or do good, is
foredoomed to failure because, no matter how cleverly
disguised by mankind’s talent for personal deception
or public hypocrisy, it is really motivated by the vested
interests of the self and inadvertently betrays a lack of
faith in any power higher than the human.
It is very important to understand this point. A society
populated by flawed and confused human beings, who are
usually lacking in self-awareness, can never be transformed
into a paradise of saints. Stewart goes on to say that:
18

REV. JOHN PARASKEVOPOULOS
Buddhism does not share modern Western man’s restless
and aggressive attitude of self-assertion, an extroverted
optimism scarcely supported by the actual conditions of
worldly existence.
This is echoed by Marco Pallis (1895-1989), the Anglo-Greek
scholar of Tibetan Buddhism who became drawn to Jōdo
Shinshū towards the end of his life:
The pathetic hope, fostered by the mystique of ‘progress’,
that by a successive accumulation of human contrivances,
samsāra itself will somehow be, if not abolished,
permanently tilted in a comfortable direction is as
incompatible with Buddhist realism as with historical
probability.
It is crucial, therefore, that we begin to put first things first.
What we need is an objective light to be cast into our hearts
so that the stormy clouds of resentment, greed and delusion no
longer impede our vision of the bright blue sky of truth. This
is not to say that our bonnō is eliminated; indeed, it becomes
even more vivid because we see our reckless passions for
what they really are when exposed to us by Amida’s working.
This realization needs to be faced unflinchingly. Even
though the encounter with our ‘shadow’ self can be very
confronting, it need not be dispiriting or melancholy.
Paradoxically, it’s also an occasion of deep joy as we come
to appreciate that the awareness that makes us see what
we really are as unillumined beings—in all our potential
malice and cruelty—is the same insight which reveals that
we’re ‘always grasped, never to be abandoned’ despite our
wayward and unruly natures.
Rennyō says that this leads to a happiness that makes
one ‘dance with joy’; an elation, he tells us, that is more
than we can bear because it’s accompanied by a faith that’s
indestructible like a diamond (kongōshin), along with the
unshakable confidence that one has joined the ranks of
those who are assured of attaining Nirvāna.
Any good that we wish to do in the world will be a
natural expression of the mind given to us by the Buddha.
Our efforts to embody this joy in our relations with others
may often fall short of perfection but our motivation will,
spontaneously and without calculation (hakarai), be infallibly
grounded in a desire to help others in a spirit of good will,
kindness and concern. This is what Shōkū (1177-1247), a
follower of the Seizan school of Jōdo Shū, meant when he said:
As soon as we realise our weakness in doing good, real
goodness is performed.
In the end, we cannot divorce an aspiration for the sacred
from our altruistic impulses. They form a bond that is
mutually sustaining, which ensures an integrated life of
moral wellbeing and spiritual health. In the words of Myōzen
(1167-1242), another follower of Hōnen:
You may not go to great lengths to aid others but, if you
truly aspire to part from samsāric existence, there is
certain to be appropriate benefit for every other being.
About the Author
Rev. John Paraskevopoulos
Rev. John Paraskevopoulos is a
Jodo Shinshu priest from Australia.
His publications include Call of the
Infinite, The Fragrance of Light, and
Immeasurable Life.
19

Sheera: Hi, my name is Sheera Tamura and I currently go
to Seattle University. Next year, I will pursue a Master’s
degree at the University of Washington studying social
work. Currently, I’m an intern for a nonprofit organization
called Asian Counseling and Referral Service, where I
co-facilitate a youth program called “Pathways to Our
Future.” We help immigrant and refugee high school
students who are primarily of Chinese American descent,
learn about professional job skills and civic engagement.
Growing up, I wasn’t particularly raised Buddhist. My
mother and grandparents are Buddhist. I actually went
to a Christian Elementary School, Catholic Middle
School, and then a Buddhist High School called Pacific
Buddhist Academy. I was exposed to different religious
traditions. Eventually, my mom told me that she wanted
me to choose my own path and find a religion that I can
live by. At Pacific Buddhist Academy, I learned about
the Buddhist teachings and got more involved with the
temple community in Hawai’i. That’s when I really chose
Buddhism to influence my lifestyle.
Miyaji: What got you interested in Buddhism?
Simply
Acceptance
Interview with Sheera Tamura
Rev. Dr. Takashi Miyaji
Sheera: It was the community; being able to learn about
the lessons of the Buddha but also being able to implement
what I learned into community service. For example,
I really appreciate the aspect of dana, or selfless giving.
Through our youth groups, we would go out and do beach
cleanups, or various service projects not only with the
temple community, but with other communities as well.
(Left) 2018 Pacific Buddhist Academy Hawai’i’ Island Gratitude Tour
acknowledgments. Hilo Hongwanji.
20

REV. DR. TAKASHI MIYAJI
Miyaji: Is there an aspect of the temple that you really enjoy?
Sheera: What I really like is just being able to be the
next generation of preserving the temple and the history.
The different generations who come to the temple are
connected by Buddhism, but at the same time, I think
times are progressing. Values within the generations of this
community are changing. The new generation can really
find comfort in learning from the older generations, but
also begin to build their own pathway. One example is the
issue of Black Lives Matter. That might not be something
that the older generation would be able to identify with
strongly, but I think the younger generation is much more
keen about this issue.
Miyaji: Is there something a Jodo Shinshu minister said that
really stuck with you?
Sheera: Well, I’m adopted from China. When moving to
the mainland, it made me really reflect upon my identity
being a Chinese Japanese American. The commonly used
Buddhist and Japanese phrase “okagesama de (through all
of the causes and conditions)” really comes to mind. As an
adoptee there were times when I didn’t feel like I belonged
in certain spaces. It’s kind like not feeling whole within
certain spaces. However, Buddhism really allowed me to
recognize that people will accept me for who I am, with
all of my flaws, challenges, as well as times of happiness.
When Buddhists say, “My suffering is your suffering, my
happiness is your happiness,” I really take that to heart
because that reminds me that, in the end, we’re all really
interconnected with each other and that we all really rely
on each other.
For example, many of my cousins were Christian.
I remember, during Thanksgiving, my mom would ask
me to say a prayer for our whole family. I never knew
what to say. As a Buddhist, do I say, “Dear God,”? But
in the end, this made me realize that, in a way, religion
is not something that has to be rigidly defined. It can
just be there to support each other, and allow us to
have gratitude. I think this way of thinking comes from
Buddhism.
Miyaji: I think that’s really interesting. Many times people get
hung up on labels and concepts, where they say, “truth has
got to be like this, it has to speak in this way. The savior has
to look this way!” However, that kind of thinking can create
a lot of animosity between groups of people. Have you ever
been told that you’re going to hell?
Sheera: I was told that if I don’t believe in God, then I
may never reach heaven. Or if I do something bad, all I
have to do is pray and ask God to forgive me. Actually,
I think that’s what drew me away from Christianity.
Because with Buddhism, there’s simply acceptance. For
me, it’s important to accept and really reflect upon one’s
mistakes. But that doesn’t mean that I should forget
those mistakes. When one reflects upon one’s mistakes, it
allows that person to grow. Buddhism just felt much more
personal to me and much more authentic.
Miyaji: Actually, in Pure Land Buddhism, too, historically
there was this understanding that if one says the sacred
name “Namo Amida Butsu” enough times, an individual
can wipe away evil karma. But our founder, Shinran Shonin,
explains that is not the significance of saying the name.
(Above) 2018 Pacific Buddhist Academy
Baccalaureate Service with my parents
(Sheree Tamura and Melvin Tanaka) and
Bishop Eric Matsumoto and past Kyodan
President, Pieper Toyama.
(Above) 2019 Seattle Betsuin Senior YBA
College Night.
21

INTERVIEW - SHEERA TAMURA
Instead, the sacred Name simply allows one to recognize
and be reflective of one’s actions, and to see that the self
is not a perfect being. That is what the Nembutsu teaching
allows one to do. It gives a person the strength to be able to
reflect on oneself in a truly honest way.
Are there any Buddhist principles that might inform you
and how you deal with your line of work, or what you want
to do in your career?
Sheera: Something that has really helped me within my
line of work is being able to listen more, being able to give
space to other people to share their thoughts. I think we
live in a world right now where it’s so easy to talk. It’s very
easy to impose one’s view onto others. But a part of being or
feeling included is also receiving. Buddhism really allowed
me to take a step back and humble myself, in a sense, so
that I’m able to listen as much as I’m able to contribute.
Miyaji: I agree, I think that’s a really important point. Many
people are just waiting for their turn to speak, they’re not
really listening to the other person. Buddhism does get us
to see that other people should have their input and that
it is important to have the balance of give-and-take in any
relationship.
Sheera: Yes. You’re never going to really understand
somebody’s suffering if you don’t take a step back to listen.
Listening is so important to me, and I think Buddhism
really influenced that.
(Top left) Nishi Hongwanji. Kyoto, Japan.
(Top right) Hawaii Federation of the Junior
Young Buddhist Association (Jr. YBA) 61st
Statewide Convention in Hilo, Hawaii.
22

REV. DR. TAKASHI MIYAJI
Miyaji: If there was someone who was interested about
Buddhism, and they don’t know anything about it, what’s
one of the things that you would tell them that you found to
be beneficial in this religion?
Sheera: Buddhism feels like a lifestyle to me. I may not
go to temple every week, but that doesn’t mean I’m less
of a Buddhist than somebody who does go to temple
every week. This teaching really allows one to take the
teachings and what I learned at my own pace. It shows
up in one’s day-to-day life. It isn’t the case that one feels
like a Buddhist only in the temple. It’s how one embodies
the values and teachings when interacting with others,
through compassion and empathy, that reveals this
religion in a person. That is something I would tell the
person who is interested in Buddhism.
Miyaji: Is there a question you might want to ask a minister?
Buddhism doesn’t give one a laundry list of things that one
must or must not do in order to be a “good Buddhist.” This
religion does not say that you have to vote in this way or
that in the next election. It will not say that everyone must
be pro-life or pro-choice. Instead, Buddhism will ask the
question, “What do you think you need to be in order to live
according to the principle of absolute truth”?
But we must keep in mind, where there is the freedom
to choose for oneself, there is at the same time, the
responsibility that one must bear in the decisions that the
individual makes. In order to be a Buddhist, one has to find
his or her ethics. “What is the proper way for me to live as a
Buddhist”? This is something that each and every Buddhist
has to figure out for him or herself. This religion is not going
to shove a specific way of life down your throat. Finally,
Buddhism tells us through the principle of karma that the
freedom to choose and the responsibility for those actions
go hand-in-hand.
About the Author
Sheera: In light of what is going on in the news right
now, I wonder what is Buddhism’s take on abortion and
women’s rights?
Miyaji: Yes, that just came up on the news about the
Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade possibly being overturned.
Well, I can’t claim that what I am about to say is what all
Buddhists think. There is definitely not a consensus as far as
the Buddhist position on this issue. But I think that a women
should have the right to make a decision that best fits her
situation.
I don’t think Buddhism will go to the extent of taking a
stance on one side or the other, that is, pro-life or pro-choice.
But that’s where the individual has the freedom to decide.
Sheera: I think this religion gives you that freedom to
choose what is the right decision for you to make.
Miyaji: Indeed. I think it should be a matter of choice for the
woman to decide for herself what she needs to do. This is a
difficult decision. However, she should know that whatever
decision she makes, both her and her child are embraced in
the light of Amida Buddha’s Great Compassion, regardless
of what course of action was to be taken. This is something
that we as Jodo Shinshu Buddhists must not forget when
faced with this difficult discussion.
Sheera: I think Buddhism is so powerful, it’s message
is so real. Whatever path we may take, we are always
supported and embraced by the Buddha.
Rev. Dr. Takashi Miyaji
Rev. Dr. Takashi Miyaji is an assistant
professor for the Institute of Buddhist
Studies in Berkeley, California and
a Kaikyoshi minister of the Buddhist
Churches of America.
23

FEATURED ARTICLE
The Present Condition
of Jodo Shinshu in Nepal
Rev. Uma Lama (Ghising)
Nepal is known as the homeland of Shakyamuni Buddha but the largest
religion is not Buddhism. It is the second largest religion. According to the
census in 2001, 10.74% of the population practiced Buddhism, but decreased
to 9% by 2011. Though most people in Nepal are Hindu, Buddhist influences
are pervasive in most aspects of Nepali culture. Nepalese people who practice
Buddhism are mainly from Tibeto-Burman ethnic groups like Sherpas,
Tamangs and Bhotia people from the mountain areas along the border with
Tibet. In many areas, Hinduism has absorbed Buddhism to a large extent, but
the two religions have many shared deities and temples.
24

Now, as you may know, Nepal has become an
attractive place for Tibetan and Western Buddhists to
study Buddhism. Before Western people were fascinated
with Himalayan Buddhism more than the locals, so it
was kind of centered towards western people. For local
lay people it was very difficult to have an opportunity to
hear Buddhism, but over the last few years things have
been changing. Renowned Tibetan Buddhist masters are
offering initiations, conducting seminars and teaching
sessions focusing local inhabitants. Slowly, the teaching
has been spreading to them. We can find serious local
Dharma practitioners participating in these initiations
and seminars very actively. Recently, reading Tibetan
dharma texts is very popular among the elderly who did
not attend school. People are much aware of preserving
Buddhist culture and taking part in building monasteries
and reading dharma text. There are said to be over
1,200 Buddhist temples in Nepal, some going back as
far as 2,000 years. In addition to the Kathmandu Valley,
monasteries can be found in many of the mountain districts
that border Tibet to the north and India to the east.
For those interested in learning about Buddhism,
there are numerous monasteries and institutions.
Currently, Vipasana meditation offers a 10-day silent
retreat which is gaining popularity. Yoga, meditation,
reiki, and short courses in Buddhism are also available.
In this situation it is very challenging for us help people
understand the Jodo Shinshu teaching because it is very
new to Nepalese people. We are still in our first 16 years
of introducing Jodo Shinshu. During these 16 years of
tenure, eight people have become Jodo Shinshu ministers.
The majority of ministers are female from Nepal. Three
of them are male and two of them are Indian. When it
comes to registered members, there are more than 500
in total. All the people who became registered members
of our temples came from connections through learning
Japanese language and social work. Because it began with
language learning and social work, most of the members
are young. We were not able to capture the attention of
elderly people, but have now begun to provide our temple
as a retreat center for those Tibetan Lama’s who don’t
have a permanent place. Once a month they organize
meditation and we collaborate with them to organize
Buddhist ceremonies such as Buddha Jayanti (Vesak
Day). By doing this we have created the opportunity to
introduce Jodo Shinshu to more people. We hope these
activities will teach people about Jodo Shinshu temples
and that the lay-people oriented nature of Jodo Shinshu
can be helpful to them.
Gassho.
About the Author
Rev. Uma Lama (Ghising)
Rev. Uma Lama (Ghising) is the President of the Hongwanji Buddhist Society
of Nepal. She attended seminary school at Chuō Bukkyō Gakuin and earned
her MA in Shin Buddhism from Ryukoku University. She is the first woman
from Nepal to be ordained as a Jodo Shinshu priest.
People are much aware of
preserving Buddhist culture
and taking part in building
monasteries and reading
Dharma text.
25

EDITOR’S POSTSCRIPT
Thank you very much for reading the fourth issue of the Jodo Shinshu
International Quarterly Journal. I would also like to express my deepest
appreciation to the contributors for this journal.
I am not sure if you noticed, but beginning from the second issue there was
a change of paper quality and size compared to the first issue. For the first issue,
we used a printing company based in the United States, and for the second
issue, we used a company based in Japan. The United States is one of only a few
countries that do not use the global standard measurement which is known as
the metric system. Because of this, the US standard of measurement is different
from the majority of the world, yet I have heard that many people in the US feel
that the world should convert to the US standard.
I think this is like the way we live today. Each individual has one’s own
standard for everything. It is very difficult for us to acknowledge and accept
others’ standards.
Prince Shotoku (574-622), who is regarded as the founding father of
Buddhism in Japan, said in the Seventeen Article Code of Conduct for the
Government Officials as follows.
“You shall be free of anger, as well as wrath. You shall not be angry at
another who is different from you. Each person has their own mind, and
each mind has its own way.
What another person thinks to be right, I may think to be wrong. What I
think to be right, another may think to be wrong.
But I am not a saint; the other person is no fool. We are both just common
mortals. How can we tell what is really right or wrong?
Both the other person and I are sometimes wise and sometimes foolish, just
as an earring loop is endless.
Therefore, you should reflect upon your own faults, even when another
becomes furious with you. You should consult with others, even when you
think you are right.”
(A free rendering)
As I reflect on this, I realize it is so true that each of us has a strong
attachment to our own thoughts and views. Each of us is trying to do
“something good” to make this world a better place. However, we do not have
outside eyes to see our own limitations and follies. Prince Shotoku, being guided
by the Buddha’s teachings, was able to understand the conditions of people,
so he strongly urged everyone to take refuge in the Three Treasures, Buddha,
Dharma and Sangha.
I hope that through reading this journal, you will also be guided by
Buddha’s teachings and will be inspired to take refuge in the Buddha, Dharma,
and Sangha. I hope this gives you an opportunity to find out how the True
Essence of the Pure Land Way, known as Jodo Shinshu, can be the light in each
of our lives.
Rev. Kodo Umezu
Rev. Kodo Umezu is a retired minister and former Bishop of
the Buddhist Churches of America who currently serves as the
President of the Jodo Shinshu International Office.
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Jodo Shinshu International Office