The Life of

Master
Shinran
 In Kyoto ①
around the end Life of Master Shinran
2 of 12th century
② Part 1
Entering
Mother, the
don’t Priesthood
die!

What a ④ ③ Lord
faint-
hearted Noritsuna,
thing Please look
to say. after
Matsuwaka
Maru.

⑤
Please
don’t leave
me alone,
mother!

⑦
Madam!

⑥
Mother!
⑨
This episode happened
when Master Shinran 3
(his childhood name: ⑧
Matsuwaka Maru) was
only eight years old. Mother!!

⑩
Since Master Shinran
had lost his father at
the age of four and
was raised only by his
mother, this was all
the more of a sad and
painful farewell.
4
⑪
Mother
......

⑬ Mother,
you
⑫ embraced
me gently
I can feel until
your warmth recently...
even now,
but you’re not
in this world
anymore...

⑭ ⑮
Where Where do
have you we go
gone to? after we
die?

⑯
Mother!
 ⑰
5
Next it
will be
my turn.

⑲
I’ll be the
⑱ next to
I’mvery
very die...
I’m
frightened…
fright-
ened…

⑳
... so I must
know what
will happen
to me in the
afterlife!
 ㉑
Having being surprised by the
6 storm of impermanence that
strikes everyone regardless of
age, Master Shinran entered
Shoren-In temple accompanied
by his uncle, Lord Noritsuna.

㉒ The head of the

temple at that
time was Jichin

㉓ He was a high priest who You are

only 9 years
managed the Tendai old and want
Center at Mt Hiei. to be a priest!
That’s
honorable.
㉔

㉕
Certainly
you will be
a respected
priest.
 7
However,
be advised,
the practices
are very
hard.
㉖ ㉗
I know
what’s
ahead
of me.

㉘ Then, will ㉚But it’s

Yes, you accept
of him, and a bit late
course. allow him today.
㉙ to enter the
order?

I shall
perform the 32
ceremony I am
tomorrow. most
grateful.
㉛

33
......
 What’s
umble
8
up,
Matsuwaka
Maru?
34

35
Hm?

36 At that moment,
Master Shinran
wrote a poem.

For him who counts

on tomorrow
Like for the fragile
cherry blossoms,
Tonight, unexpected winds
33
may blow
 9
37
38
Oh!
The
flowers,
now in full
bloom, will
scatter with
a single
gust of
wind.

40
Please,
don’t tell me
to wait till
tomorrow.
I want to be
39 initiated
I’ve heard today.
that human
life is more
fleeting
than the
cherry
blossoms.
 42
Are
10
you that
worried
about your
mortality?

41

Hmm....

43
44 I see.
Let’s
hold the
ceremony
immedi-
ately.

45 Make
prepara-
tions
right
away!
46
Yes,
sir!
 47 Thus, Master Shinran
entered the priesthood of
the Tendai Center at Mt. Hiei. 11

48
The Tendai Center
followed the practices
of the Lotus Sutra as
taught by Sakyamuni
Buddha. In order to
achieve enlightenment,
this group tried to
follow Buddhist
precepts and fight off
worldly passions.

Such asceticism
was so difficult that
the practitioners
were at risk of
losing their lives. 49
 Life of Master Shinran
Mt. Hiei
Part 2
12

Humans
are defiled
by evil
passions
and can
only
perform
evil.

This is why
Sakyamuni
Buddha said that
after they die,
all beings must go
to Jigoku,
the world of
suffering. Master Shinran

In my mind,
whirlpools of
desire swirl;
a blaze of anger
rages furiously.
Hatred and
jealousy are
coiled like
snakes within
me.
 What can
I do to rid 13
myself of these
fiery passions
and solve the
crucial matter
of my
afterlife...

...the
great
problem of
falling into
the world of
suffering after
death?
How…?

I have
no choice.
I must strive
to practice
the
Lotus
Sutra.
That
is all
I can
do.
 Master Shinran
* Footnote: a practice of walking around the mountain while paying visits to various sacred places for 1,000 days in total
entered the What kind of
priesthood of the ascetic practices
14 Tendai Center at were being
Mt. Hiei at the performed at
age of nine. Mt. Hiei?

One of the practices,

named 1000-day
circumambulation*,
has been passed An ascetic has to get
down until today. up before midnight
and walk on the trails
for 18 miles up and
down the mountain.

Meanwhile he pays
visit to about 300
sacred places and
performs certain
practices at each

During the first three years, he

engages in this practice 100 days a
year. During the next two years,
200 days in a row. In this period,
for 100 days, he performs grand
circumambulation.
After descending Mt.
Hiei, he must walk for
15
50 miles within 18 hours.
It’s a deadly practice.
He is not allowed to
give up even if it
rains, snows or
storms, or if he gets
sick.

If he breaks down on
the way, he must com-
mit ritual suicide with a
dagger, which he always
carries, according to the
rules of the mountain.

Many ascetics
committed
suicide during
the Edo period.

Since the inauguration of

the Tendai Center, for the
past 1100 years, the num-
ber of ascetics who have
accomplished this train-
ing is less than 300. Since
the end of Edo period,
only a little more than 10
people accomplished this.
It’s literally a deadly
practice.
 To solve the crucial mat-
ter of the afterlife, Mas-
16 ter Shinran put all his
energy into asceticism.
And he accomplished the
practice of Daiman,
which is much more
arduous than the 1000-
day circumambulation.
But…

…
Ah

No
matter
how much
I listen, no
matter how
hard I seek
the solution,
my dark mind
does not
clear up.

Hon
Pr
Shot
My
mind
remains
completely
dark.
 Tortured by his
dark mind and
uncertain future, 17
Master Shinran
made a pilgrimage
to Osaka, to the
mausoleum of
Prince Shotoku
whom he had long
revered.

It was in 1191, when

Master Shinran was
nineteen years old.

I,
Shinran,
am defiled by
passions and
norable Is there tainted with
rince a way a evil.
toku… being like
me can be
saved?
18

Please,
guide Your
me. Highness

Master Shinran
prayed continuously
without sleeping
or eating for three
days. Finally,
he fell unconscious.

And then…
 19

Ngm …

s!

Hm?

Oh!

Oh!
Your
Highness!
Prince
Shotoku!
 Amida Buddha
20 endeavors to save
all mankind.
Japan is a suitable place
for true Buddhism to
You have only ten
flourish.
years of life
Listen carefully.
remaining.
Listen carefully
As your life ends,
to what I’m going
simultaneously,
to tell you now.
you shall be reborn
into the Pure Land.
Put your trust....
Put your trust in
the true Buddhist
teacher.

sim
y

Amida
Japan is Buddha
a suitable endeavors
place for to save all
true mankind.
Buddhism
to flourish.
 Listen
carefully.
You Listen carefully 21

have only to what I am

ten years going to tell
of life you now.
remaining.

!!
As your
life ends,
multaneously,
you shall be
reborn into
the Oh! Your
Pure Land. Highness!

Put
your trust. Your
Put your Highness!
trust in the Your
true Highness!
Buddhist
teacher.
 Bang
……
22

Oh

Ah
…

Oh,
was
it a
dream?

This is called the ‘reve-

lation through a dream
while in Shinaga’.

Only
ten
years
of life
remaining?
 Hmm 23
…

The
true
Buddhist
teacher?

Only ten years of life

remaining? The true
Buddhist teacher?
What do they mean?

Master Shinran had

no way of knowing
that these torturous
questions would
someday be an-
swered.
24

Mt. Hiei

You
have only
ten years
of life
remaining ... ...

Prince
Shotoku…

How many I have

years only a
and months few more
have years
passed of life
since then? remaining.
Life of Master Shinran 25
Part 3
The encounter with a mysterious woman

rustle
ustle
R

rustle
le
Rust
Driven by the harsh impermanence
of life, once again, Master Shinran
devoted himself to the relentless
practice of the Lotus Sutra.

Mr. rustle Mr.

tle rustle Shinran. Rust
le Shinran,
Rus Mr.
Shinran
… ...

rustle
Rust
le
tle rustle
Rus
26

Ah.
Whish

Oh,
no!
How
dreadful of
me to have the
image of that
woman come to
my mind while
thud I’m doing my
thud
Thud ascetic
practices!

This happened in front

of a Zen monastery as
Shinran was on his way
back from a town in
Kyoto.
 Mr. Shin-
ran! Mr. ...... 27
Shinran!

Hmm?

A woman?

Are you
the one
who
called
me?
 Please,
28 Mr. Shinran,
I have a
favor to ask
of you.

Forgive
me for
interrupting
Yes, it your
was I journey.
who A favor
called of me?
you.

Yes, Mr.
Shinran.
Excuse
me, where
are you I am
headed at returning
this time? to the
mountain
for
ascetic
training.

I must
do
something Mr. Shinran,
I beg of
to eliminate you. I am
my deeply
suffering. troubled.
 Please
take me
with you
to the 29
mountain
so that I,
too, can
do the
practices.

That
is
impossible.

As you
know,
ever since
Reverend
Dengyo
established
Mt. Hiei,
women
have been
prohibited
from
entering.

There is
no way that
I can take
you with me
to the
mountain.

Why,
Mr.
It makes Shin-
me so sad ran?
that even
you would
say such a
thing to
me.
 Tell me,
30 wouldn’t a
person as Huh?
great as The
Reverend Nirvana
Dengyo have Sutra?
read the
Nirvana
Sutra?
Yes, Mr.
Shinran.

ALL I’ve heard

that the
BEINGS
Nirvana Sutra
CAN teaches that
BE all sentient
SAVED beings are
Didn’t capable of
Sakyamuni being
Buddha saved.
teach that it
is possible
for all
beings
to be
saved?
And yet, I
wonder why
does the Bud-
dhism of this
mountain
discriminate
against wom-
en?
...
...
 Mr.
are you Shinran,
31
saying that
women cannot
enter because
they are tainted?
The greater one’s evil,
the greater the pity that
I simply is to be bestowed upon
cannot him. I’ve heard
understand that this is
why the Buddha’s
Buddhism compassion.
of this
mountain
rejects
women.

Well....
Mr. Shinran, Uh....
are there no
female birds
and animals
on this
mountain? If you are saying
that this mountain
will be tainted if
females enter,
then, this
mountain is
already tainted by
female birds
and animals.
 Why are only
human females
… prohibited from
32
... entering this
mountain while
females of other
species are
not?

Someday,
would you
please teach
Mr. the true
Shinran, Buddhism that
if I may saves all beings
ask of of this world
you. without
any
discrimina-
tion?

I’d like to lis-

ten to the true
Buddhism that
saves men
and women
without dis-
crimination.
 33

The
true
Buddhism!

Please,
Mr.
Shinran,
I beg of
you.

What in
the world
was that
beautiful
woman?

Is she
an incarnation
of Buddha?
Or could
she possibly
be a
temptress?
 , flutter
er
Flutt Mr. Shinran,
34 why can I
not enter the
mountain?
Female
Caww animals
Caww are there.

If women
are tainted,
then they
are the ones
who should
be saved
first, aren’t
they?

clang
Is the
path to all
people’s
salvation
really on
this
mountain?
 35

No, is the
path to the
solution of
my crucial
matter of
the afterlife
really here?

The harder he tried to

devote himself to the
practice, the more he
suffered, unable to
purge the image of that
woman from his mind.
 Mt. Hiei
36

Wahaha!

Hey, shall
we go and Yeah!
unwind Everything’s
somewhere so rigid
tonight? and
uptight
here.

If I
He- don’t
he- drink,
heh I can’t
stand
it.
I can’t
take it if I
don’t fool
around
with
women.
During this period, in order to escape the
Minamoto clan’s ruthless pursuit, Taira 37
clan survivors took refuge as monks and Wa-
hid in the sanctuary of Mt. Hiei. haha-
haha!

Life of Master Shinran

The Decision to Part 4
Leave Mt. Hiei

During the day they behaved

like respectable monks. But
at night, they couldn’t forget
their past extravagances of
wine and women. They
sneaked out to the red light
districts of Gion and
Shimabara.
 I
38 shall
Argh. strictly obey
How the laws of
disgust- Buddhism
ing! even if I am
the only
one.
They may
fool the eyes
of humans,
but they will
never fool
the eyes of
Buddha.

...

Mr. Shinran,
Mr. Shinran…

Mr. Shinran,
Mr. Shinran…

Ugh,
no!
 Mr. Shinran,
Mr. Shinran…
39

Hmm?

g
Ban
Oh,
no!!

Mr. Shinran,
Mr. Shinran…

Mr.
Shinran

Mr.
Shinran
 Ahh,
40 that
was
fun!

You gotta
unwind
Hic every now Oh!
and then, Isn’t
don’t that
ya? Shinran?

Huh?
Oh... so,
is that the
Shinran
they call
the prodigy
of
Mt. Hiei?

Listen
here,
Shinran.

It’s good
to be serious, m
but how about N
taking a
break C
every now
and
then?
Oh,
no,
I....
 Why, a Even
good-looking you
fellow like you actually 41
oughta be like women,
surrounded don’t
by women you?
squealing, “
Mr. Shinran,
Mr. Shinran!”

Oh,
he’s
gone
red!
Looks
like I was
right on
the mark!

You are
always
I... I thinking of
don’t women,
.... aren’t
you?
You
must be.
No doubt
about it.
Come on,
tell us!

,
,
.
……
42

Wa-
haha-
ha!

Even the
prodigy of
Mt. Hiei
cannot defeat
his worldly Ah…
passions,
can he?

Oh,
what
is the
matter
Even though I am with
not embracing me?
her physically,
am I not always
embracing
her in thought?

And yet,
I... I’m so
conceited that
I feel that no one
else follows the
At least precepts as
their deeds well as I.
reflect their I look down
thoughts. on them.
Aren’t they ...
much more ...
honest than
I am?
 Having
a filthy mind, 43
I try to camouflage
it in order to deceive
Buddha’s eyes.
Indeed, I, Shinran,
am the
n g !
Ba
hypocrite.

...
...

Oh,
what should
I do? How
can I purge
my mind of
these filthy
thoughts?
 Oh,
why...
44 why can’t
my mind
become
calm like the
water in the
lake?

One
after
another,
thoughts I should
not think rise
unbidden to the
It is surface of my mind.
too My heart is aswirl
horrible. with ideas I should
not entertain.

Why
am I a
seething
cauldron
of anger
and
desire?

I
have
to do
something.
 45

Why can
I not see
the moon of
enlightenment
as clearly as
I can see the
moon in
the sky?

Foul
clouds
befog the
sky of my
mind.

Must
With I go to
this great my death
problem with a
at hand, mind so
I have no black?
time to
waste.

I must cast
aside all earthly
desires and
quickly find a
solution.
 Try as I will to quiet the waters of my
46
heart, the waves of thought continually
move; try as I will to achieve a mind bright
as the full moon, clouds of delusion
blanket it. If my next breath should stop,
I would fall into Hell. How can I indulge
myself in trivial socializing and wear
myself out with useless studies? Swiftly,
I must cast aside worldly desires and seek
liberation.
(From Panegy-

Is
there
no true
teacher who
… who is can guide
defiled by me,
passions Shinran…
and tainted
by evil?
 47

Master Shinran was

completely exhausted
and spirit-broken from
his search for a solution
to his dark mind.
After twenty years of
practices, Master
Shinran lost faith in the
Tendai-Lotus teachings.
Thus, he decided to
leave the mountain.

It was when Master

Shinran was 29 years old.
48
Zaaaa
Honpuku-ji (Zen Buddhist temple)
Katata, in Oumi Province

How is
Mr.Ho-
ju?

He still
has a ... ...
terrible
fever.

Going out
for alms un
this kind of
rain is not
good.
 49

①
Master Shinran was
completely exhausted
and spirit-broken from ②
his search for a solution He was twenty-nine
to his dark mind. Thus, years old.
he descended Mt. Hiei.

Life of Master Shinran

Part 5 100 Days of Prayer
at Rokkaku-Do
 ③ In the town of
Kyoto
oo
50

Fw

④ Searching for a solution

to his crucial matter of the
after-life, Master Shinran
decided to practice the
100-Day Prayer to Guze
Kan’non bodhisattva at
Rokkaku-Do temple in
Kyoto.

⑤
Rokkaku-Do is a
temple which was
built by Prince
Shotoku.
 51
⑨ ⑦
Your You
Highness! have only
ten years
of life
⑧ remaining.
Put
your trust
in the true
Buddhist ⑥ Prince Shotoku’s
teacher.
revelation in the
dream 10 years ago

⑩
Prince
Shotoku…

⑪
Exactly ten years
had passed since it
was predicted that
he only had ten
years left to live.

⑫
Tormented by an
acute awareness of
his mortality and evil
nature, Master Shinran
was desperate to clear
his dark mind.
52
⑬ ⑮
Honorable Please,
Benefactor guide me
Kan’non to a true
Bodhisattva Buddhist
teacher.

⑭
My life is
coming
to an
end.

⑯
My life
is
ending.
 53

⑰
Please,
o Kan’non
Bodhisattva,
teach me
who the true
Buddhist
teacher is.

⑱ In spite of having practiced

the “100-Day Prayer”,
Master Shinran still
suffered due to his
dark mind.

⑲
Dazed, he left
the temple, and
wandered the
streets of Kyoto.
54

Shijo Bridge

⑳
Oh!
 55
㉑
Aren’t
you ㉒
Mr.
Shinran? Oh!

㉓ And
you’re
Mr.
Seikaku?

㉕
㉔
Seikaku Hoin was It really
is you,
Master Shinran’s ㉖
old Buddhist Mr.
It’s Shinran.
friend from his been
time on Mt. Hiei. quite
some
time,
hasn’t
it?

㉗ ㉘ I’m glad
㉙ that you
I heard
Thank look so
that you
you. well.
had left
the
mountain.
56 ㉛
... you
look a
little pale.
Are you
all right?

㉚ ㉜
But, Mr. ... Yes.
Shinran…

㉝ There is
nothing wrong
with me
physically,
㉞ but I am ailing
Mr. Seikaku, due to the
what have darkness of
you done to my mind.
solve the
problem of
your afterlife?

㊱
I, too,
suffered
for a long
time.
㉟
Mr.
Shinran,
 ㊲ After
57

leaving the
mountain, I
searched
desperately
for the way
to salvation.

㊳
Then, I met
Master
Honen of
㊴ Yoshimizu.
Master
Honen?

㊶ Yes.

I was saved
by Amida
Buddha’s Vow.
I learned of it
from Master
Honen.
 ㊷
58 Sakyamuni
Buddha
taught that in
㊸ this era, the age
㊹ ...through
of Dharma-decline,
Buddhist schools
one’s own like the Tendai sect
Amida power, cannot or the Shingon sect,
Buddha’s save anyone. which teach
Vow.... Only through that the way
Amida Buddha’s to salvation
Vow can is...
anyone be
saved.

㊺ Yes, ㊻ Amida Buddha

has vowed
through to save all
Amida beings without fail
Buddha’s – men, women,
the wise,
Vow. the foolish, all
without exception
– and grant them
absolute happiness.

For that
㊼ very
reason,
even
someone
㊽ as evil as
There is I could be
no one saved.
else as
fortunate
as I.
 59
㊾
㊿ Mr.
Shinran,
your
suffering
 can certainly
be eliminated.
Please,
Mr. Shinran,
you should
meet Master
Honen.

 Yes,
 please,
Mr. Seikaku.
Of Please,
course. take me to
Master
Honen.


We’ll
go to
him
now.
60  Thus Master Shinran,
who had been wondering
around in pitch darkness,
discovered the stream of
light that would end his
long and desperate quest,
and he headed for Master
Honen’s monastery in
Yoshimizu.
Yoshimizu in
Kyoto
① 61

Sakyamuni
Buddha’s
appearance
② in this
world was
solely
for the
purpose of
teaching
Amida
Buddha’s
Vow.

③
I, too, have
been saved
by Amida
Buddha’s
Vow.
Master
Honen

Life of Master Shinran Part 6

The Encounter with Master Honen

 ④
I entered
62
⑤and the priesthood
painful at the
practices age of 13.
of Mt. Hiei. For 27 years
⑥ In Kyoto and I endured
the difficult
None of Nara I studied
those the Buddhism
endeavors of Kegon and
solved my Hosso.
great problem
of falling into
the world of
suffering
after death.

⑦ I
descended
Mt. Hiei
in tears...

⑧ ... and went

to Kurodani.
I studied
and read
Sakyamuni
Buddha’s
⑨ sutras, which
number more
I searched than 7,000.
for a way Five times, I
that could read them.
save even
someone
like me.
 ⑩
⑪ In an
Finally, the
power of 63
instant, the pitch Amida
darkness of my Buddha
mind was elimi- reached
nated and I was me.
saved. Amida
Buddha embraced
me and granted
me a clear mind.
Amida Buddha
worked to save
me, and me
alone.

⑭ are ⑫
The
⑮
inde- ⑬ wonder,
scrib- the sur-
d able. prise, the
All I
could do magnifi-
. cence
was cry.

⑯
Please, it is
urgent. Each
of you, listen
and be saved
by Amida
Buddha’s
Promise.
 ⑰ However
intelligent or
foolish a man
64 is, he will
saved the
instant his
doubt of
Amida’s Vow
⑱ has been
Please, totally
eliminated.
listen
intently, until
you are
saved by
Amida
Buddha’s
Vow.

⑲
This is
all for
today.

Namu
⑳ Amida
Butsu.
Namu
Amida
Butsu.
 ㉑ ㉒
My I am 65
name is honored
Shinran. to meet you,
sir.

㉓ So,
you’re Mr.
Shinran.
I’m glad
you have
come.

㉔ Master.
I sought
salvation for
㉕ 20 years at
I, Shinran, Mt. Hiei, but still,
am full of I have not solved
desires and my crucial
anger and envy. matter of
Is there any the afterlife.
salvation for
someone such
as me?

㉖ ㉗ I suffered
on that
Mr. Shinran,
you practiced mountain
at Mt. Hiei for 27
for 20 years. years
practicing
the Lotus
Sutra,
 ㉘
66 but it was
futile; the
Lotus
Sutra didn’t
lead me to
salvation.

However,
㉙ unlike the
Lotus Sutra,
㉚ Amida Buddha’s
Vow promises
Listen
to save priests,
intently
laymen, men,
to Amida
women, even
㉛ Buddha’s
Vow.
the worst of the
It is certain. evil without fail.
There is a
world where
you’ll be
granted a
Clear Mind
and Absolute
Bliss.
 ㉜
Please, swiff ㉝ 67
Master.
Will you Yes.
guide
me?

㉞ At this point,
Master Shinran’s
most intense search
for the solution to
his dark mind began.
fsh He continued in
hh earnest through
hh wind, rain and snow.

㉟ And so…
68

㊱
“In the year 1202,
I, Gutokushaku Shinran,
abandoned zogyo and took
refuge in Amida’s Vow.”
(Teaching, Practice, Faith, Enlightenment)

㊲
Master Shinran thus was
saved by Amida Buddha’s
Vow in the year 1202,
at the age of 29.
㊳ Ah, how hard it is, even in many life-
times, to encounter the strong power
of Amida’s Vow! How hard it is, even 69
in myriad aeons, to obtain faith that ㊷
is true and real! Anyone blessed with
this faith cannot help but rejoice at If this life
the benevolent work­ings [of Amida]
since the distant past that have too had ended
brought it into being. Had I remained without my
covered by the net of doubt in this dark mind*
life as well, I should have had to keep clearing, for
wandering, lost, through vast aeons. endless ages to
come I should
㊶ have gone on
suffering.
This is
absolutely due
to Amida’s great
saving power
that embraces
all. I am
overwhelmed
with deepest
㊵ gratitude.
Ah…
how
wonderful!
The life of joy
that I,
Shinran,
sought for
so long,
through
many lives
and aeons,
is now *dark mind ---- the root cause of
mine! suffering. It is also called the net
of doubt or the doubting mind
70

㊴
How genuine, the true words of
Amida that embrace us and never
forsake us, the absolute doctrine
that is surpass­ingly wonderful!
Listen and believe without hesitation
or delay. (Teaching, Practice, Faith,
Enlightenment)

㊸
It is real!
It is true!
Amida’s
Vow is
not a lie.
 ㊹
71
I must
㊺ hurry to tell
everyone
let them this truth,
know that
this vast,
shoreless
world of
the mind
exists!

㊻ Namu
Amida
Butsu,
Namu
Amida
Butsu…
 ㊼ Master Shinran thus attained Absolute Happiness.
He passed away in 1262, at the age of 90.
During the intervening years, Master Shinran
72
taught mankind the only way to salvation,
that is Amida Buddha’s Vow, always with
this determination in mind:

㊽ The grace of Amida’s Great Compassion,

I must repay, though I work myself to the
bone.
The grace of the Teachers who led me I
must repay, though I wear myself to bits.
 Life of Master Shinran
73
Part 7 Master Shinran’s Street Preaching

①
In 1202, at age
29, Shinran met
the priest Honen
and was saved
by Amida’s Vow.
Soon afterward,
he became
Honen’s disciple.
 ② Honen was a man of
supreme intellect ― an
74 incarnation of Seishi
(Mahāsthāmaprāpta, the
bodhisattva of wisdom),
it was said.
Master
Honen

③ Of his more
than 380
disciples,
Shinran
excelled in
studies and
in evangelical
zeal.

④It was around the time when

the battle between the
Minamoto clan and the
Taira clan drew to an end
and the shogunate was
established in Kamakura.
 ⑤ People
were tired
of war and
yearned 75

for peace.

Everyone!

⑦
Hmm?

⑨
The only
Buddha
who can
⑧ truly save
us is Amida,
Listen, the master
everyone! of all
Buddhas.
76

⑫
What’s
that?
⑪
⑩ Oh.

⑬
What’s
Listen, the
everyone! fuss?

⑭
Everyone!
⑮ For what
Why is it purpose
that we were we
have to go born and
on living are we
even amid living?
great pain?

⑯
Um…

⑰
Come
to think
of it…
 ⑱
⑲ Yes,
Sakyamuni
77

… isn’t life like taught

a sea in which that life is
human beings suffering …
suffer wave
after wave of
distress?

⑳
Like a
sea?

㉑ ㉒
Whenever Indeed,
a war erupts, we have
our houses ceaseless
are burnt and waves of
the fields
are de- suffering
stroyed. in life.
㉓
Nevertheless
㉔ we don’t
That’s want to die.
right. I wonder
what we
㉕
are living So our life
for. is called
the sea of
suffering or
the sea that
is difficult
to cross.
78 ㉖
㉗ The
The sea sea of
that is suffering ...?
difficult to
cross ...

㉘
Yet we
were not
born to
suffer; that
is not why
㉙ How can
we do away we live.
with suffering
and cross life’s
sea of tribulation
with all cheer and
happiness?
That’s of utmost
importance,
isn’t it?

㉛ ㉚ ㉜
Listen, There is
everyone! That’s a great ship
impossible. that will bear
us cheerfully
across life’s
ceaseless
suffering.
 ㉝ ㉞ 79

Amida’s inconceivable
Vow is a great ship that We are living
? in order to
carries us across the sea
that is difficult to cross, board this
and his unimpeded light ship and live
is the sun of wisdom that in eternal
destroys the mind of happiness.
darkness.
(Teaching, Practice,
Faith, Enlightenment)

㉟ Amida’s Vow
eradicates the
darkness which
㊱ is the root cause
and happily of human
across life’s suffering and is
sea of a great ship on
endless which all are
waves of borne cheerfully
tribulation.
 ㊳
80 Getting
on board
㊲ the great
ship?
Our What
purpose does that
of life is mean?
to get on
board
this
ship.

㊴
It is to have one’s
darkness of mind
eliminated, and
know the joy of life
that exults,
“How glad I am to
have been born
human!”

㊵
The root ㊹
㊶ cause of
suffering? To meet with a true master
Darkness is difficult above all else;
of mind? the endless wheel of
suffering comes only
from the doubting mind.
㊸ ㊷ ----Hymns on the Masters
I don’t I’ve never
doubt heard of
it. such
things.
 ㊺
It is very hard to
find someone who
81
can teach the true
message of
Buddha ---- that
the source of
human suffering
is the darkness
of mind
(the doubting
mind).

㊻
Ah, how
㊼ fortunate
I, Shinran,
Master am!
Honen saved
me from
imminent
peril.

㊽
Huh.

㊿
㊾ The only
Listen, Buddha who
everyone! can eliminate
our dark mind
and save us
is Amida,
the original
buddha.
82 
Please,
everyone
listen to the
Vow of
Amida
Buddha.


Hm?


Ah,
that
man
is…
 83

Yes …
I met
 him
Tamahi, once.
do you
know
that
man?


I see.

His
name,
I think,
is
Shinran.


Mr.
Shinran,
 if I may
Would you ask of
please teach you.
true Buddhism
that saves all
beings of
this world
without any
discrimination?
 
One of
84
 Honen’s top
Oh, so disciples,
that’s they say.
Shinran. Well, well.


Mr. 
Shinran… ... ...
Yoshimizu, Kyoto

85

At Yoshimizu
monastery, more
and more people
came to hear
Master Honen
speak on
Buddhism.
Mingled with
the commoners
were samurai
and noblemen.

Regent Kujo
Kanezane
was one of
the faithful
devotees
who were
listening to
Buddhism
eagerly.

Regent Kujo Kanezane

86
Life of Master Shinran ①
Thank
part 8 Marriage you again
for your
invaluable
teachings.
②
I honor
your deep
bond with
Amida
Buddha.

Master Honen

③
I am not
worthy
of such
praise.

④ ⑤
Tell me, ...wasn’t
Master... your disciple
Shinran once
the “prodigy
of Mt. Hiei”?
 ⑧
⑥ I too
expect 87
Yes. great
And... things of
him.

⑦...since
coming
here, he’s
shown the
same
devotion.

⑨
I see.
⑩
Master,
there’s
something I
need to ask
you.

⑪
Ask
anything
you wish.
 ⑬
88 ⑭
...Then,
⑫ I leave Get
it in ⑮ Shinran
I understand. here.
your
hands. Yes,
master.

...
...

⑯
Master, is
there
anything I
can do for
you?

Master Shinran

⑰ Yes...
This will
surprise
you, but
Shinran…
⑱
...have
you ever
thought
of
marrying?
 89
⑳
I,
⑲ ah...

Hm?
M-marrying?

㉑
Regent Kujo
Kanezane
was just here.
He wants you
㉒ to marry his
daughter.
The
Regent?

㉓
Her
name is
Tamahi.

㉔
The lady
Tamahi?
90

㉖
㉕
I She’s
know the one
her! I saw at
Akayama
monastery.

㉗ Oh, they
are the
Regent
and his
daughter,
Lady
Tamahi. ㉙
㉘ So
that’s
Lady
who
Tamahi?
she is
…

㉚
Ah, I
must
see her.
㉛
I must
meet with
her, to
tell her of
Amida’s
Vow!
㉜
Do you 91
know
her?

㉝ ㉞
Yes.
She … We met
once.

㉟
Good.
That
㊱
simplifies
She seems things.
to have
special
feelings for
you.

㊲ ㊳
What Yes,
do you I’d like to
say? marry
her,
 ㊴
92
but … won’t ㊵
it cause Mm?
trouble for
you and the
others
here?

㊶
You’re already
under attack for
teaching people
to believe only
in Amida. Won’t
this add fuel to
the fire?

㊷
Don’t ㊹
worry
about All that
me... matters
is your
own
resolve.

㊸
...or them.
 93

㊻
㊺
In
that I accept
case
… gladly.

㊼
Shinran.
You know
㊽ well
that...
...Amida’s Vow
makes no
distinction
between
priests and
laymen.
㊾
But in the
Tendai and
Shingon sects,
where salvation
rests on one’s own
㊿ power, it is taboo
for a priest
Rest
to marry.
assured,
they will attack
us for this,
and so will
the public.
 
94
I am
prepared.


If it helps
people to see
the truth that
Amida saves
all people just
as they are, I
won’t mind.


I
won’t.


Very
 well.
Don’t
forget that
resolve!
 95

 For a priest
to openly
take a wife...

 ...was seen as a grave

offense, back then, in
Buddhist circles and
in society at large.
96


Yet Master
Shinran was
undeterred.


It was when he
was 31 years old.

To be continued
 -clop
The town of ① Clop
Kyoto
97
Those
w w disciples of
w
He
Honen are
too big for
their
britches.

③ ② I hear Among ④
What an they’re them
eyesore attracting a Shinran
they are! number of is the
people. worst.

⑤ Didn’t he ⑦
go and Doesn’t
marry the he know
regent’s the strict
daughter? precepts of
Buddhism?

⑧
⑥ What a
corrupt
He’s out monk!
of his
mind.
 Life of Master Shinran
o !
o ⑨
98

Wo
Part 9
Harsh Criticism and Persecution We’ll fix
him in the
name of
Buddha!
⑩
Oh!

⑪
At the age of
31, Master
Shinran
openly took
a wife.

⑫
It was an unprecedented
act which everybody
took as immoral.

⑬
It naturally unleashed a
wave of criticism from
the Buddhist circle and
the society at large
Yoshizaki in Kyoto
Master Shinran’s ⑭
99
residence Departure
time!

⑮
Tamahi,
Master Shinran Princess Tamahi

⑰
When we
arrive, Master
Honen will
⑯ give us a
sermon,
Yoshimizu however tired
isn’t far he is.
from here,
but the
going will
be difficult.
100 ⑲
Yes.

⑱
Let’s
not
miss
a word!

㉒ ⑳
Let’s Hey,
see what I heard that
he looks a monk who
like! That ㉑ has a wife is
sex-crazed in this
Oh, it’s
monk! carriage.
the corrupt
monk,
Shinran.
 ㉔
㉓ Are you
insane? 101
Hey, you You sex-
depraved crazed
monk! monk!

㉕
S-Stop
it,
please.

What! ㉖
You
meat-eating,
married
corrupt
monk!

㉗
Afraid to
show your ㉘
face?
Aiiieee!
 ㉚
㉙
102
Shinran,
enemy of
Stop Buddha,
it! come out!
Make
way!

㉛
I’ll fix
you, in
the name
of
Buddha!

33 36
Are you
all right? What
32 35 nerve!

Master What?
Shinran!

34
Hey, let
us by.
 37
Don’t
monkey
around 39
with Mmm!
me.
40
Ah!
38
I used to
be head 41
samurai in Another
the battle of no-good
Minamoto fellow!
clan and
Taira clan.

43
Now you
must
listen:

42
Tamahi,

45 But if
Buddhism
doesn’t save
those people
44 who eat meat
and get
Such married, no
one will be
Self-power saved.
Buddhism as
Tendai or
Shingon
prohibit eating
meat and
marriage.
104

46
However,
Amida’s Vow
saves everyone
— priests and
laymen, men
and women —
just the way
they are.

47
The purpose of
Shakaymuni
Buddha who
conveyed
Buddhism was
to clarify Amida
Buddha’s Vow
alone.

49
In the
face of all I
owe Amida,
48 being called
names is
Now more nothing.
than ever, I
must go on
teaching this
truth.
 51

I will
105
follow
you.

50
I
understand.

52
Very
well.

53 Wherever Shinran went,

people heaped abuse on
him, but his resolve was
unshakable.
106

54

Listen,
everyone!
The only
Buddha who
can truly
save us is
Amida, the
master of all
Buddhas.

What are Don’t

55 you saying? be so
That the narrow-
buddhas minded!
and gods 56
we worship
are no
good?

57

58
Listen
Believe only carefully!
in Amida
Buddha!
This is the
conclusion of
the complete
sutras of
Sakyamuni.
 59
“Believe
only in 107
Amida, the
60 Buddha of
Infinite
I’m not Life”
making
this up!

61 63
What are Listen,
you talking every-
about, sex one…
maniac!

62
There
you go,
corrupt
monk!

65 In later ages, his

teachings became
known as Ikko-shu,
or the “single-minded
school.”
64
Shinran’s emphasis on
this principle ―
belief in Amida alone
―never wavered.
 Yoshimizu

108

Master Honen

66
Slowly, believers in
true Buddhism
increased.
 67

109
That
Shinran...

68 Honen’s
follower Shinran is
a real troublemaker.
After studying the
Lotus Sutra with us on
Mt. Hiei for 20 years,
now he slanders
Buddhism. He says,
“The Lotus Sutra
cannot save us.”
It’s outrageous!

70 71 He’s
Now it’s causing
a big an uproar
issue in at Mt.
Mt. Hiei Koya,
too.
69
He’s an
unbearable
guy.

73
72 He’s
He calling on
himself people to
violates
Buddhist forsake all
law-he’s bodhisattvas
married and and Shinto
he eats gods.
meat.
 75
We
110
must
put a
74 stop
to it!
But people
are listening 76
to his crazy
talk. Yes,
Honen’s something
followers are must
increasing. be done.

77
The
sects of
78 Nara will
not lie
down.
Shinran...

79

...just wait
and see,
 Life of Master Shinran 111
(This episode is depicted in Part 4 of the Animated Movie on Master Shinran.)

① After moving
to the Kanto
region from
Echigo Province,
he established a
home in Inada.
But he never idled
his time away.

② He was fervently
active in sharing
Buddhism, and
he was always
on the move. The
range of his
work was very
broad.

③
On November
i s t le
wh
27th one year,
Master Shinran
went to the
north-eastern
part of Hitachi
Province to share
Buddhism.
112

④
Master Shinran ⑤
and his disciples
got lost in a We can’t
snowstorm make it to
which started at Inada now.
nightfall.

⑥
That looks
like a house
over there.
⑦ Shall I ask
for a night’s
It is too lodging?
late at
night, I’m
afraid.

⑧ ⑨
But in this
Anyway,
blizzard, why not
we’ll freeze ask?
to death.

⑩ There
seems
little
choice.
 ⑪
The owner of
this house was
113
Hinozaemon.

⑬ ⑫ He was originally

hic
born in Kyoto, the
Hey, capital of ancient
bring me Japan, but was
sake! deceived by
someone and got
exiled to Hitachi
Province due to a
false tip.

⑭
Consequently he
became ill-natured,
and had deep
distrust of people. Even after he was
⑮ pardoned he didn’t
return to Kyoto out
of defiance. He made
⑯ his living through
Dear, hunting and other
I think such things.
you’ve
had
enough.
 ⑱
114 Who
could it
an g be, in all
Ba ng b this
snow?

⑰
Hm?

⑲
⑳ Brr, it’s
Sorry cold.
to trouble Who’s
you so late there?
at night,
ma’am,
but we’re
lost in the
snow.

㉑ ㉓
We’d like Under
to ask a the eaves
night’s or in the
lodging. barn
— any
shelter
will do.
㉒
Goodness,
you must
be —
 ㉔ ㉖
115
Say no! Priests?
Okane! Heck no!

㉕
But
they’re
priests.

㉗
But look
at this
㉘ snow. ㉙
Never You know
mind. very well,
Let there are
‘em go no houses
somewhere nearby.
else.

Shut
㉜
up! Could you
at least
provide
㉚ shelter
for our
master?

㉛
You get
back
into the
house!
 ㉝
116
I said
no!
I hate
㉞ priests!
Begging
pardon,

㉟ but
could you
please
at least
shelter
our ㊱
master? We
apologize
for
troubling
you

㊲
so late
at night.

㊳ ㊴
So you’re Yes. I
the one am the
they call source
“master”? of all this
trouble.
 ㊵
Come 117

again?
㊶
You make
me sicker ㊷
a n g
when you
pretend Get B
to be out!
virtuous.

㊸ ㊺
Get going
Oh! or I’ll beat
Master! you to
death!
Damn
㊹ priests.
What
are you
doing?

㊼
Oh!

㊻
Damn
you!
 ㊽ ㊾
h!
How Ouc
dare
you!

㊿
Let go,
damn
you!


Saibutsu-bo,
there will
be no
violence.


Yes,
Master.


How
dare you
attack
me?


Get
out!
  
... ...
Master,
119
are you
hurt?


I am so
 sorry.

What a
cold-hearted
man!

i s t le
wh


 It’s
snowing
Who could harder.
blame him?
He was just
settling down
to bed.
 Master Shinran and two of his disciples became lost in the
blizzard while they were sharing Buddhism in Hitachi
Province. They asked the hunter Hinozaemon to provide
120
them with shelter, but were harshly rejected.

③ ②
Huh?
Here?

①
Let’s
rest right
here.
Master Shinran

Life of Master Shinran ④

(This episode is depicted in Part 4 of the Animated Movie on This will
Master Shinran.) do fine.

⑤
And
here’s a
pillow.
 121

⑥
W-wait
a
moment.

s t l e
w hi

i s t l e
w h
 hic
⑦
122 Damn
it
all.

⑧
Hinozaemon
Who
do they
think
they
are?

⑨ ⑪ ⑩ Okane,
I’m turning
So
Thanks to in.
soon?
them, I
can’t even
enjoy my
sake.

⑫
I wonder
where
they’ve
gone. ⑬
Never
mind.
Who
gives
Okane
a damn!
 123
⑭
Rats!

⑮
.... ...

⑯
You
must
be
cold.
⑰
124

Not I,
Master, ⑱
but you!
No...

⑲
Cold though you may
be, fill my sleeves, oh
western wind:
This is my desire, for
you blow from the
land of Amida.

⑳
Namu
Amida
Butsu.
Namu
Amida
Butsu.
 125

㉑
Master...

㉒
How
㉓
beautiful. When I think of
all I owe to
Amida Buddha,
this is nothing.

㉕
Master...

㉔
Master!
126

㉖
Hinozaemon...

㉗
There ㉘
Go out
is a holy now and
man hear his
resting at teachings,
your
gate.

㉙
or you
will fall
into the
world of
endless ㉚
suffering.
!
 ㉜ ㉛ 127

What is it, ... ...

dear?

㉝
I just
had a
strange
dream.

㉞
You
did?
㉟
Yes, I
dreamed
...

㊱ ㊴ ㊳
―I wonder
…and ―Those what
that’s what priests? became
happened. of them.

㊲
What a
dream!
128

!
㊶
㊷
Oh, no!
Wh-what
is it, Look!
Okane?

Ah!!
 ㊹
Good ㊻
㊺
129
sirs… Good
Master sirs…

㊼
Dear,
surely it’s
okay?

㊽
Please
hurry!
Hurry
inside.

㊾
Master!
 (This episode is depicted
Life of Master Shinran in Part 4 of the Animated
Movie on Master Shinran.)
130
①
i s t le ②
Please

W h hurry!
Hurry
Master! inside.

s t l e
W hi

Master Shinran and two of his disciples got lost in a blizzard while
they were sharing Buddhism in Hitachi Province. They asked the
hunter Hinozaemon to give them shelter, but were harshly rejected.

⑨
 ③ 131

④ I am
Mm, this most
really hits grateful.
the spot. I feel life
returning.
⑤
Here.
Have
some
more.

⑥
You are
so kind to
⑦ take us in,
strangers
Thank at your
you very door.
much
indeed.

⑧ Not at all. ⑩
I apologize I should
for how we have
acted introduced
earlier. myself
before. My
name is
It is we Shinran.
⑨ who
caused the
trouble.
Please
forgive us.
 These
132 ⑪ are my
companions,
⑫
Saibutsu-bo Oh, and
and I am
Renni-bo. Hinozaemon.

⑬
Hinozaemon,...

⑭
...may I ask a
question? Last
night, I seem to
⑮ recall you said
Well, you hate
yes. priests.
I mean,

all they do ⑯
is read
⑰ gobbledygook
Then they sutras at
⑱ go on about funerals and
They hell and the memorial
take your Pure Land. services.
money and All they talk
leave. I
about is the
have no
use for world after
them. death.
 ⑳
All they ⑲ 133
do is tend
㉑ graves and Admit it.
They conduct
look after funerals.
the dead,
㉒ that’s
Why not all.
teach us,
the living,
how to
live?

㉔ ㉓
Isn’t that their
They don’t
real mission?
teach us how
From morning
to live, all they
to night we work
do is take our
like dogs, trying
hard-earned
to make
money.
something of
our lives.

㉖
Lay off.
Now’s my
chance to
let them
know
㉕ what I
think.
Now, dear.
Don’t say
such
things.
134
㉗
You are
exactly
right.
㉙
㉘ You must
It’s the forgive him.
same He talks
everywhere. without
thinking.

㉚ It’s all ㉛
right. He’s Hinozaemon,
frank and
honest. I
agree with
him.

㉜ it is true ㉝
that how we
Huh?
live is
important.
But what about
why we live?
Isn’t that
still more
important?
 ㉞ ㉟ 135

Why
Why we we
walk is more live?...
important
than how,
is it not?
㊱
That’s
right.

㊲
Everybody
is struggling
to learn how
㊳ Hinozaemon, to live. But no
why do people one knows
struggle so why we live.
hard to live?
Isn’t this the
most important
question?

㊴
If I don’t
know why
I’m walking,
the effort is
㊵ in vain.
If I don’t know
why I live, the
hardships of
life are also in
vain.
136

㊷ ㊶
I thought all …It’s true.
I had to do was
live earnestly…
I never realized
the most
important thing
is finding
out why
I live.

㊸
It is
Shakyamuni
Buddha who
taught it
clearly. ㊹
Huh?
You mean
this is...
Buddhism?

㊼
there are ㊺
countless Yes.
Buddhas
㊽ in the ㊻
universe, Shakyamuni
all of whom taught
look up to that
Amida Buddha
as their
master.
 ㊾ Amida 137
will eliminate
the root cause of
all human suffering,
㊿
 This is
which is the dark
mind, the mind
Amida’s Amida ignorant of the
Vow… Buddha’s afterlife, and
Vow. grant absolute
happiness.

 We live to
attain absolute
happiness, as
Amida has
promised in his
Vow. This is the 
answer to the Absolute
question of why happiness?
we live.
When can
we attain
it?


 We
While we can be
are alive saved
— right in this
now. life?


Certainly.
138

If not in
this life, 
we’ll never But I’m
be saved. a hunter,
someone who’s
always taking
life. What
salvation is
there for me?


Hinozaemon.
You kill
animals because
people want to
 eat them,
don’t you?
Huh?

 Buddhism 
teaches that
eating meat is That would
the same as mean
killing, everybody’s
even if one a killer.
doesn’t do the
killing with
one’s own
hands.

Exactly.
 139

 We cannot
It’s survive without
true. killing. This is
our dreadful
karma, from
which there is
no escape.

 It’s exactly
because all
people are
hopelessly evil that
Amida Buddha
swore, “Believe in
me, I will surely
grant you
salvation.”

 
Is that I, Shinran, a mass
true? of greed, anger,
and Ignorance
without a chance
of being saved, am
the focus of Amida
 Buddha’s gracious
salvation.
I am the
living
proof.
 
140 Namu
Amida
Butsu.
Namu
Amida
Butsu.
  Listen,
Neither Okane. I’ve
never heard
have I.
such things
before.

 
Master 
Shinran, Please
please Please, listen and
tell us Master I’ll explain
more. Shinran. it more
fully.


Hinozaemon, now
aware of Amida’s
Vow of great
compassion,
listened to Master
Shinran’s sermon
with tears of joy.
Later on, he
became his
disciple.
 141


Later Hinozaemon
named his home
Chinseki-ji, or
“Stone Pillow
Temple,” because
Shinran lay down
there in the snow
with a pillow of
stone.


He became a disciple of Shinran
and was renamed Nyusai-bo.
The End