Abstract

Why is the Tannisho, a Buddhist text written about 700 years ago, still read and loved by people today? (The Tannisho is a collection of the sayings of the monk Shinran, compiled by his disciple.)

Shinran lived in an age of war, plagued by disease, famine, great earthquakes, and other disasters. People living in such times longed for a way to live with even a little peace of mind. The teaching Shinran offered them was based on tariki, or “Other Power”: anyone who simply recites the nenbutsu (calling the name of Amida Buddha) can be reborn in the Pure Land and attain enlightenment.

In recent years, we often hear the advice to “live by your own axis,” meaning to act according to your own idea of who you want to be. That is a wonderful idea in itself, but in this world there are also things that cannot be changed by our own strength or will alone.

Tariki has often been misunderstood as something rather irresponsible, like leaving everything to others or to luck. In fact, it is a state of mind in which you let go of your limited self, powerless in the face of what you cannot control, and entrust yourself to something greater. In a sense, when you step back, see things objectively, and entrust yourself to a great power beyond yourself, you feel a weight lifted from your heart.

The teaching of Other Power conveyed in the Tannisho is never about giving up or leaving everything to others. It describes a state of mind that allows you to live flexibly in situations beyond your control. I believe this is exactly why the Tannisho continues to attract people today, and why it is worth reading.

This book contains the complete original text of the first half of the Tannisho, a modern Japanese translation, and advice to help you understand its content and apply it to your life. By reading the words aloud and tracing them by hand, you will let them sink deep into your body and mind. I sincerely hope that the teachings of the Tannisho will be useful in your daily life.

Author’s Information

Takashi Saito
Born in Shizuoka City in 1960. After graduating from the Faculty of Law at the University of Tokyo and completing the doctoral program at the university’s Graduate School of Education, he became a professor at the School of Arts and Letters, Meiji University. His specialties are pedagogy, theories of the body, and communication. He received the Shincho Gakugei Prize for “Shintai Kankaku o Torimodosu” (Regaining the Bodily Senses; NHK Publishing). His 2001 book “Koe ni Dashite Yomitai Nihongo” (Japanese to Read Aloud; Soshisha) won the Special Prize of the Mainichi Publishing Culture Award; the series became a bestseller with 2.6 million copies and sparked a boom in interest in the Japanese language. He has written many other bestsellers, with total sales of more than 10 million copies.