United States or Barbados ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
So also is the rigid classification, so prominent in "the old sects," of all beings or pupils into three grades. As in Islam or Calvinism, all believers stand on a level. To Shinran, faith was the sole saving act. To rely upon the power of the Original Prayer of Amitabha Buddha with the whole heart and give up all idea of ji-riki or self-power, is called the truth.
The scriptures of other sects are in Sanskrit and Chinese, which only the learned are able to read. The special writings of Shinran are in the vernacular. Three of the sutras, also, have been translated into Japanese and expressed in the kana script.
Its central idea is that man is to be saved by faith in the mercy of the boundlessly compassionate Amida, and not by works or vain repetitions. Within our own time, on November 28, 1876, the present reigning Mikado bestowed upon Shinran the posthumous title Ken-shin Dai-shi, or Great Teacher of the Revelation of Truth. The Protestants of Japanese Buddhism.
This truth is the doctrine of this sect of Shin. In a word, not synergism, not faith and works, but faith only is the teaching of Shin Shu. Shinran, the founder of this sect in Japan, was born A.D. 1173 and died in the year 1262. Shall we call him a Japanese Luther, because of his insistence on salvation by faith only?
The religion of Buddha was introduced into Japan 581 A.D., and has exerted a most potent influence in forming the Japanese character. The Protestants of Japanese Buddhism are the followers of Shinran, 1262 A.D., who have wielded a vast influence in the religious development of the people both for good and evil. In this creed prayer, purity, and earnestness of life are insisted upon.
Singleness of purpose characterised this sect, which was often called Monto, or followers of the gate, in reference to its unity of organization, and the opening of the way to all by Shinran and the doctrine taught by him. Yet, lest the gate might seem too broad, the Shin teachers insist that morality is as important as faith, and indeed the proof of it.
In a word, the Shin sect believes in instantaneous conversion and sanctification. So, the old Buddhism prior to Shinran taught a phase of synergism, or the union of faith and works. Shinran, in his "Reformed" Buddhism, taught the simplicity of faith. So also in regard to the sacred writings, Shinran opposed the San-ron school and the three-grade idea.
But they did little or nothing to improve men's moral and spiritual condition, and the same is true of a multitude of arhats, devas, and other supernatural beings that go to make up a numerous pantheon. *Lloyd's Developments of Japanese Buddhism, "Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan," Vol. XXII; and Shinran and His Work, by the same author.
It says to the believer: 'The world is so very evil that you can not possibly reach to Buddha-ship here. Your best plan, therefore, is to give up all such hope and simply set your mind upon being born in Amida's paradise after death."* *Lloyd's Development of Japanese Buddhism and Shinran and His Work.
He married a lady of the imperial court, named Tamayori, who was the daughter of the Kuambaku or premier. Shinran thus taught by example, if not formally and by written precept, that marriage was honorable, and that celibacy was an invention of the priests not warranted by primitive Buddhism.
Word Of The Day