Throughout his 90-year life, Shinran Shōnin (1173-1262) continuously asked important religious questions. His many writings—including letters, hymns (wasan) and commentaries—peaked in his mid-80s, expressing his deep understanding.
Two major factors influenced Shinran Shōnin’s deepening thought. First were spiritual and organizational problems caused by eldest son Zenran, who spread heretical views of self-power among followers in Kantō. Zenran denied Other Power of Amida Buddha’s Original Vow taught by his father throughout his life. At the advanced age of 84, Shinran Shōnin formally disowned his son, certainly a painful experience.
After the “Zenran incident,” Shinran Shōnin focused on reconfirming the true teaching of Other Power. From age 85 to 86, his communication with followers in Kantō increased dramatically.
Another factor influencing Shinran Shōnin’s last years were historic natural disasters that killed numerous people across the planet. About a year after the Zenran incident in summer of 1257, a massive, catastrophic eruption occurred at Mt. Samalas on the Indonesian island of Lombok, sparking an incredible volume of volcanic ashes and gases covering the entire Earth, blocking sunlight and cooling the Earth’s surface, causing several years “without summer.” Consequently famines and epidemics occurred throughout the world, causing innumerable deaths.
In Japan, this period is called the Great Famine of the Shōka era, which continued for more than five years until the beginning of the Kōchō era. During this severe famine and epidemic, Shinran Shōnin passed away the second year of Kōchō (1263) at age 90. These last years were extremely difficult. Under these conditions, Shinran Shōnin emphasized in his letters the significance of “abiding among the truly settled” in this life.
In a letter (Mattōshō 6) written at 88 years old (probably one of his last Dharma Words), he says:
It is saddening that so many people, both young and old, men and women, have died this year and last. But the Tathāgata taught the truth of life’s impermanence for us fully, so you must not be distressed by it.
I, for my own part, attach no significance to the condition, good or bad, of persons in their final moments. People in whom faith (shinjin) is determined do not doubt, and so abide among the truly settled (shōjōju). For this reason their end also—even for those ignorant and foolish and lacking in wisdom—is a happy one.
This letter often is quoted in Jōdo Shinshū Dharma talks related to the Great East Japan Earthquake, the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant Accident in 2011, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Shinran Shōnin’s message has great significance for us living in the contemporary world facing many disasters and much confusion.
The term “truly settled (shōjōju)” is a keyword in Shinran Shōnin’s later thought. For us in this life, to join and “abide among the truly settled” is truly the most important matter. How can we join and “abide among the truly settled”? According to Shinran Shōnin, “by having faith in the Original Vow of Amida Buddha and by saying Namu Amida Butsu” (hongan wo shinji nenbutsu wo mōsu).
Jōdo Shinshū’s faith is not based on our intellectual understanding or rational reasoning, but on listening and naturally following the Buddha Dharma. When we listen to the Buddha’s words and simply say Namu Amida Butsu, at that moment, we are “abiding among the truly settled.”
Describing this critical moment of joining “the truly settled,” Shinran Shōnin, age 86, says in the first line of the Tannishō:
At the very moment when we are moved to utter the nenbutsu by a firm faith that our birth in the Pure Land is attained solely by virtue of the unfathomable working of Amida’s Original Vow, we are enabled to share in its benefits that embrace all and forsake none.
-Rev. Inoue became bishop (Japanese: kanoku) of Higashi Hongwanji Hawaii District last Fall, after retiring as professor at Ōtani University.