Shin Buddhism: An Introduction

This is a simple and clear introduction to Shin Buddhism or Jodo Shinshu, a school of Japanese Buddhism founded by a priest named Shinran (1173-1263). Although the school has by far the largest number of followers in Japan led by the Honganji (East) and Hongwanji (West) Temples, and transported abroad by Japanese immigrants and became the basis of the Buddhist Churches of America, Buddhist Temples of Canada, Jodo Shinshu Brazil, and Pure Land Buddhism in Europe, it is not as well-known in the rest of the world as some other schools of Buddhism simply because of the lack of appropriate and readable pieces literature.

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About Takafumi Hirose

Takafumi (Taka) Hirose was born in 1948 as a son of a Shin Buddhist priest in a small village in central Japan. It is the tradition of Shin Buddhism in Japan for one particular family to take care of a temple generation after generation. Being the first son of the family, in accordance with the tradition, he entered priesthood at the age of nine, which is the youngest age permitted, and started his training to be a full priest.

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Excerpt

When we talk about the true teachings, the next question is: How can we tell whether certain teachings are true and others are not? And how can we tell whether certain deeds or acts are in accord with the true teachings? As you go through the Sutras, it does not say every time that such and such teachings are true and others are not.

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