Zenran (also Jishinbō, died 1292) was a Jōdo Shinshū monk of the Kamakura period. He was the son of Shinran and was the originator of a heresy for which he was excommunicated and disowned by his father.
Teachings
Zenran was dispatched to the Kantō region to quell the appearance of radical nembutsu practitioners advocating for "licensed evil" (indulgence in evil deeds given the certainty of salvation.) There, he claimed to have received secret teachings from his father. In 1256, Shinran disowned his son and "called the gods to witness his avowal that there was no secret teaching given to Zenran". The Boki-e-ji portrays Zenran as having syncretized popular folk religion and Pure Land doctrine.
References
- Dobbins, James C. (1998-07-20). "Shinran". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2024-01-07. "In the last decade of his life, Shinran endured a particularly agonizing estrangement from his son Zenran (died 1292). Zenran had become embroiled in a dispute with Shinran’s followers in the Kantō region over provocative beliefs and behaviour, such as the assertion by some of license to commit wrongdoings. To counter them, Zenran made extravagant claims that Shinran had secretly imparted authority to him. Only by disowning him was Shinran able to quell the confusion among his followers and to reassure them of his true teachings."
- Solomon, Michael (1974). "Kinship and the Transmission of Religious Charisma: The Case of Honganji". The Journal of Asian Studies. 33 (3): 403–413. doi:10.2307/2052939. ISSN 0021-9118. JSTOR 2052939.
- Dobbins 2002, p. 40.
- Williams 2005, pp. 87–91.
- Williams 2005, p. 90.
- Williams 2005, pp. 92–93.
Works cited
- Williams, Paul (2005). Buddhism: Critical Concepts in Religious Studies. London: Psychology Press. ISBN 0-415-33234-6.
- Dobbins, James C. (2002-04-30). Jodo Shinshu: Shin Buddhism in Medieval Japan. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 978-0-8248-2620-8.
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