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Summary
I will discuss “Tannisho,” a book in which Shinran’s words appear frequently in the travels of “Kaido yuku” (On the Road).
Tannisho” is said to have been written by Yui En, a disciple of Shinran Shonin, after his death, in order to correct the distorted and different teachings of the founder of Jodo Shinshu. The first part is a direct speech of Shinran Shonin’s teachings, and the second part is a rebuttal by Yui En of the heretical theories and objections to the “status quo” that became the teachings of Shinran Shonin.
Shinran’s teaching is a more popular and generalized version of the Jodomon teaching of Senshu-Nenbutsu, which was initiated by Honen. The term “Oujo” refers to the process of studying difficult Buddhist scriptures and interpretations and finally attaining enlightenment and going to the Pure Land where enlightened beings, buddhas, and nyorai (buddhas) exist, and practicing to attain such a state is called “bodhisattva practice. However, if such a life of rebirth is possible only for a few extremely learned monks and practitioners with the self-discipline to endure hardships, then it is absolutely impossible for ordinary people to attain such a life.
The teachings of the Pure Land school, as written in the “Three Pure Land Sutras” (Mu-Ryoh Sutra, Kan-Mu-Ryoh Sutra, and Amitabha Sutra), are based on the wish of Amitabha Buddha to become an enlightened “Buddha” when he was still in his bodhisattva training, and state that “Until all sentient beings attain true enlightenment and attain true rebirth, I, too, will become an enlightened Buddha. By taking absolute refuge in the words of the vow, “I, too, will not become Buddha (buddha = buddha = buddha = buddha = buddha = buddha) until all people (sentient beings) become truly enlightened and attain true rebirth,” the Buddha is saying “Namu Amida Buddha” (then pronounced “Namo Amidabutsu” but now pronounced “Namo Amidabutsu” as Namuamidabutsu”), which is pronounced “Namuamidabutsu. The phrase “Namu Amidabutsu” (pronounced “Namoamidabuchi” in those days, but now pronounced “Namuamidabutsu”), which became “Namuamidabutsu” or “Namuamida” with an accent. (Namu means “I take refuge.” Sanskrit = Brahmanic. (Namu is derived from Sanskrit = Sanskrit.)
Shinran Shonin’s teaching goes even further than Honen Shonin’s Jodo-shu teaching that all one has to do is simply to call out “Nam-Mu-Amida-Butsu” (meaning “Amida Buddha”). This is a way of devoting oneself only to the salvation of “Namu Amida Butsu,” which transcends general morality and ethics, such as doing good deeds and not doing evil deeds.
Therefore, Shinran Shonin personally practiced to eliminate these taboos against the teachings of “carnivorous marriages,” which were taboo for Buddhist monks at that time, i.e., eating meat of animals and fish, and marrying a woman.
Shinran Shonin left behind a major work, “Kyogyoshinsho,” which summarizes the teachings of “Jodo Shinshu,” a sect of Buddhism that takes absolute refuge in the “Hongan” of Amida Nyorai. He also taught his disciples in a simple tone of voice to praise the “Wasan,” a colloquial form of praise that was the essence of the Buddhist scriptures, and to teach them the “Shoki-jin Shoki” (theory of the righteousness of the wicked) and other doctrines of the Jodo Shinshu sect. He taught the teachings that would become the foundation of Jodo Shinshu. This remains as “Tannisho,” and the oldest text that has been handed down today was transcribed by Rennyo, who is said to be the founder of the Jodo Shinshu sect.
The “Tannisho” in the Kobunsha Classics New Translation Collection will be a translation of these texts into the Kansai dialect as follows.
The most ancient texts were transcribed by Rennyo, the founder of the Jodo Shinshu sect, and are translated into the Kansai dialect as follows. It is a very foolish thing to try to take back the faith given to us by Amida Nyorai Buddha with the face that it is ours.
In the Kansai dialect of Tannisho, one gets the sense that Shinran and Yui En are there and speak directly to us. In Shaku Tetsuzo, also mentioned below, it is said that the language of religion is essentially in the “narration” and that the narration has the property of becoming embodied. He states that by reading these words aloud as one’s own, they will emerge and help us in our lives, for example, at the moment when we feel we are in a desperate situation.
The next book to be introduced will be “Tannisho” on NHK qoo minutes de Meisaku.
This is a philosophical/ideological interpretation of Tannisho as a “thought of other power” by Tetsuzo Shaku, a specialist in religious thought.
According to Shaku, Tannisho is full of sharp and cutting golden words and proverbs that cut right to the heart of a person’s reality, and has the power to turn the image of religion and Buddhism that people had vaguely held until then on its head. It is said that he has fascinated many intellectuals.
Such intellectuals include, for example, Kitaro Nishida, who told people at the end of World War II that he could live as long as he had “Rinzai Roku” and “Tannisho,” and Ryotaro Shiba, Takaaki Yoshimoto, Shusaku Endo, Takeshi Umehara, and many others who fell in love with Tannisho.
In the modern era, Japanese intellectuals were exposed to philosophies and ideas from the Christian cultural sphere, where the sense of “original sin,” the idea that people are born with sins, was deeply embedded, but there was not much of this nature in past Japanese thought or religion. However, while past Japanese thought and religion did not have such qualities, thinkers and philosophers from the Meiji era onward discovered that Shinran’s thought had a view of sin that could work hand in hand with Western modern intellect.
It is also stated that not only intellectuals but also ordinary people can use Tannisho as a guideline for their lives.
In this book, interpretations of Tannisho are divided into the following four parts
- Looking at the Shadow of Humanity
- The Mystery of “Tannisho
- Don’t let those without faith read it
- Shinran and his thought
- Nenbutsu shinsho (Let us believe in death and rebirth)
- There is no beginning or end to this mercy
- Shinran had no disciples
- Keep staring at your own shadow
- Only the wicked can be saved
- The greatest paradox of Shinran’s thought is the “bad person’s righteousness theory
- Nembutsu is the work of Amida Buddha
- I am saved because I cannot be happy
- Let go of “Hashikari” (the desire to do things one should not do)
- Nembutsu is the Buddha’s cry
- Between Lostness and Salvation
- The Tannishi-hen to Correct the Meaning
- Zou Aku Muge” and “Senshu Kenzen
- Doing whatever it takes under certain circumstances
- Yui En, a unique narrator
- The road that never seems to clear up
- Concerning conversion, the frontier, and offerings
- Tannisho” as a “limiter
- What is Religion for Human Beings?
- Faith is One
- What is the “Testament of Importance”?
- Shinran, for the sake of Shinran alone
- The device of “religious rites
- Why is Tannisho still being read?
- The Record of Exile and Religion
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