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Media Kit
Shin Buddhism arises from the teachings of Shinran, a profoundly compelling spiritual authority of 13th century Japan. In contrast to monastic Japanese Buddhist traditions, which attracted the more learned and aristocratic elements of Japanese society, .Shinran. taught men in all walks of life to find solace and strength in Amida Buddha, a compassionate aspect of the Cosmic Buddha who renounced his own enlightenment until all men are saved through his power.
Though it has been in the West for over one hundred years, Pure Land and Shin Buddhism has been little known or understood among Western peoples. This book brings together a sampling of the resources available for the study of Shin Pure Land Buddhism through a variety of essays from important and influential journals, and so contributes to a greater understanding of Buddhism in general and this school of Buddhism in particular.
These essays demonstrate to people unfamiliar with Buddhist scholarship some resources that they would otherwise probably never see. The anthology reveals the serious intellectual and spiritual character of Pure Land teaching, while also enabling the reader to gain a perspective on its very real significance for modern society. The diversity of perspectives and views shown in these pages is a mark of vital religious reflection and shows Shin’s many dimensions as a living tradition capable of giving meaning to everyday life and of inspiring commitment to the service of humanity. The title Living in Amida’s Universal Vow indicates that Buddhism is for living, and is meant to suggest the pertinence of these writings to spiritual students and seekers who are not interested in dry scholarly analyses alone.
About the Author(s)
Alfred Bloom
Rev. Dr. Alfred Bloom (1926–2017) was one of the world's foremost authorities on the study of Shin Buddhism. He taught World Religions and Buddhism at the University of Oregon and the University of Hawaii and wrote many books and articles on Shin Buddhism and spirituality in general. Prof. Bloom was Dean at the Institute of Buddhist Studies, sponsored by the Buddhist Churches of America. He was an ordained Shin priest. About Dr. Bloom, the well-known Buddhist magazine Tricycle: The Buddhist Review said: “Bloom is widely regarded as one of the most important American figures of the past five decades in the Jodo Shin school of Buddhism.”Prof. Bloom's contributions to World Wisdom books include: UL REMOVED
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Reviews
- The number of immigrant and native-born Buddhists has grown enormously in the West in the past 50 years, with most media attention going to monastic and ascetic Zen or Tibetan traditions. The beliefs and practices of ordinary lay Buddhists is, however, little discussed. This collection of 21 scholarly essays, edited by Bloom (World religions and Buddhism, Univ. of Hawaii), is a step toward remedying our ignorance concerning, in particular, Shin Buddhism, often known as ‘Pure Land’ Faith, which came to the West from Japan. America now has numerous Shin temples, especially in Pacific Coast states. These essays are grouped under four topic headings: ‘Modern Shin Buddhist Thinkers,’ ‘Interpretations of Shin Buddhism,’ ‘Modern Issues in Shin Thought,’ and ‘Historical and Comparative Perspectives.’ Unlike Zen and similar ascetic methods, which stress systematic practice, Shin is faith-based, similar in some ways to Evangelical Christianity, and several essays explicitly compare the two faiths. Other essays address moral and social concerns of lay believers, e.g. family values and citizenship. Scholarly rather than casual in tone, this is recommended for academic libraries.
Library Journal (James F. DeRoche, Alexandria, VA)
- [This book] will provide material which will last a reader for a long time, demanding to be read and re-read.
from a review in Pure Land Notes: A Journal of Pure Land Buddhism
- Shin Buddhism is the largest school of Buddhism practiced in Japan…Nevertheless, it remains relatively obscure to many American practitioners. The dean of American Pure Land Buddhism, Alfred Bloom, professor emeritus at the University of Hawaii, helps to correct this omission with Living in Amida’s Universal Vow: Essays in Shin Buddhism. This impressive anthology contains works by important Shin scholars such as Suzuki, Kiyozawa Manshi, Kenneth Tanaka, and Taitetsu Unno, and includes many articles previously unavailable to the general reader….this anthology — the latest volume in World Wisdom’s Library of Perennial Philosophy — Alfred Bloom has once again made it major contribution to the study of the Pure Land way.
Jeff Wilson, Tricycle
- Living in Amida’s Universal Vow: Essays in Shin Buddhism (World Wisdom, 2004), edited by Alfred Bloom, is a collection of essays on a distinctive form of Pure Land Buddhism based on the teachings of Japanese masters Honen (1133-1212) and Shinran (1173-1262). Altogether, they provide a valuable introduction to Shin Buddhism and explore salient issues in Shinran’s thought, such as the role of language in ‘hearing the name’ of Amida Buddha, and the relevance of ethics of salvation is guaranteed by Amida’s vow. Leading scholars of Shin Buddhism, like Taitetsu Unno, Kenneth Tanaka and Dennis Hirota, offer theological reflections on the relevance of Shinran’s though for both contemporary and perennial issues.
Holly Gayley, Buddhardharma: Practitioner’s Quarterly
- Because the message of Shinran reflects his deep honesty concerning human existential realities, and because these are the very basis of true enlightenment, the intellectuals of our day should be attracted to his teachings.
Rev. Koju Fujieda, retired from Fukui Medical University
- This volume is an excellent collection of both classic and contemporary essays on the Shin Buddhist tradition by noted Japanese and Western scholars.
Duncan Ryuken Williams, Professor of East Asian Buddhism at the University of California, Irvine
- In this volume of essays, the Path of an increasingly emerging Shin Buddhism is discussed and presented from a wide range of different perspectives. It does so with a thought provoking originality and in a way that renders them existentially relevant to these critical times. The efforts of its editor, Dr. Alfred Bloom, and the respective contributors have resulted in a work that will contribute—no doubt in a pivotal way—to the growing number of Western publications on Shin Buddhism.
Reverend Tetsuo Unno, Minister, Buddhist Churches of America
- Reading this wonderful book, we come to understand that the Pure land is within ourselves, and that the west is not a direction. In the realm of pure faith, other-power and self-power are reconciled like the two sides of a coin. This book should help to clear up any misconceptions shin Buddhism.
Sojun Mel Weitsman, Berkeley Zen center
- I am greatly impressed by this excellent work by Dr. Alfred Bloom. … [He] has selected some of the most important essays from the works of modern Shin scholars, providing a glimpse of what future developments of Jodo Shinshu tradition may be like. As an historian of Japanese Buddhism, I am particularly impressed that the publication of this collection of essays, based on the solid foundations of academic studies, is possible in America after only a little more than one hundred years since Shin Buddhism arrived there. As a Shin follower living in Japan, I am deeply touched by the fact that readership within American Buddhist communities has grown so much as to demand the publication of such an excellent work.
Zensho Asaeda, Ryukoku University, Kyoto
- Living in Amida’s Universal Vow provides readers a good opportunity to learn about Pure Land Buddhism as taught by a lay tradition that claims the largest following of any Japanese sect. These essays indicate some new directions to Western Buddhism as it continues to develop as a lay practice.
Norman Waddell, Otani University, Kyoto, Japan
- Living in Amida’s Universal Vow reveals some key aspects of the extraordinary breadth and profundity of Shin Buddhism, exemplified by a well chosen sampling of the thought of leading Shin Buddhist scholars and clergy over the past century. This book is both inspiring and thought-provoking. It presents penetrating essays, many of which have hitherto only been available in Japanese. This book provides a real contribution to the understanding of what in the West is still a relatively little-known branch of Buddhism, Jodo-Shinshu (or Shin Buddhism). Jodo-Shinshu is perhaps the most popular and widespread form of Buddhism in Japan, where it originated 800 years ago. This book presents Shin Buddhism from a truly modern and intellectually well-founded perspective. Shin Buddhism, ostensibly the ‘easy path’ of Buddha Dharma, constitutes in reality a challenge to experience life in a fundamentally compassionate and fully authentic way. This book presents readers with the profundity of the Nembutsu path of ‘Deep Hearing,’ or responding to the call of the boundless compassion and unsurpassed wisdom of Amida Buddha’s universal vow to rescue us from our lives blinded by consuming passions. It will provide insight to the educated reading public as well as a wealth of information useful not only to Buddhist students but also to students of Eastern culture and comparative religion at the collegiate and graduate levels.
Dr. Richard St. Clair, Founder of the Boston Shinshu Buddhist Sangha
- The essays in [Living in Amida’s Universal Vow] provide us with a broad and in-depth perspective of Shin Buddhism. Contributors range from those who lived a century ago to those who are very active in the present time, from Buddhist scholars to Christian theologians, and from ardent believers to critics who speak from a more detached standpoint. The essays are relatively short and highly readable Many of them were originally written in Japanese, but the English translations are of superb quality..
Professor Toshikazu Arai, Soai University, Osaka, Japan, and author of Lectures on Tannisho
- ” Shin, the Buddhism of the heart, is the most popular form of Buddhism in Japan but it is still the least known in the West. This valuable collection of previously published articles, of interest to specialists and nonspecialists alike, will help to establish Shin in the English speaking world.
Roger Corless, Professor of Religion, Emeritus, Duke University
