Japanese Buddhist in the context of "Shinran"

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⭐ Core Definition: Japanese Buddhist

Buddhism was first established in Japan in the 6th century CE. Most of the Japanese Buddhists belong to new schools of Buddhism which were established in the Kamakura period (1185-1333). During the Edo period (1603–1868), Buddhism was controlled by the feudal Shogunate. The Meiji period (1868–1912) saw a strong response against Buddhism, with persecution and a forced separation between Buddhism and Shinto (Shinbutsu bunri).

The largest sects of Japanese Buddhism are Pure Land Buddhism with 22 million believers, followed by Nichiren Buddhism with 10 million believers, Shingon Buddhism with 5.4 million, Zen Buddhism with 5.3 million, Tendai Buddhism with 2.8 million, and only about 700,000 for the six old schools established in the Nara period (710-794).

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👉 Japanese Buddhist in the context of Shinran

Shinran (親鸞; Japanese pronunciation: [ɕiꜜn.ɾaɴ], May 21, 1173 – January 16, 1263) was a key Japanese Buddhist figure of the Kamakura Period who is regarded as the founder of the Jōdo Shinshū school of Japanese Buddhism. A pupil of Hōnen, the founder of the Japanese Pure Land movement, Shinran articulated a distinctive Pure Land vision that emphasized faith and absolute reliance on Amida Buddha’s other-power.

While Shinran trained as a Tendai monk on Mount Hiei, he lived much of his life as a married Buddhist teacher unlike other Kamakura Buddhist reformers, and he described himself as "neither monk nor layman". Shinran's major work, the Kyōgyōshinshō (Teaching, Practice, Faith, and Realization), is a systematic exposition and defense of Pure Land doctrine. Shinran taught that liberation arises from the entrusting mind (shinjin) awakened through Amida's compassionate power, not from any merit or power of one's own. His interpretation profoundly reshaped the course of Japanese Buddhism and continues to influence East Asian religious thought.

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