From nembutsu.info
Journal of Shin Buddhism

This remarkable new introduction to Jodo Shinshu addresses itself to men and women of our times. It is a powerful account of the way to lasting happiness that is made possible by the Primal Vow of Amida Buddha.

Takamori, Akehashi and Ito first explore the reality of the human condition. Like those who lived in Shaymani's time, about 2,500 years ago, we human beings are just as deluded in the way that we locate our quest for true, enduring and lasting happiness in futile places, like status, achievements, work or relationships.

The first section of the book outlines the principle features of the Buddha Dharma from within the modern context. This part of the book, like the rest of it, is full of arresting detail. It gives many striking examples, which are tempered by a wry humour.

This section is deeply confronting, but it is so compelling that the book is almost impossible to put down. Here we encounter a presentation of the basic features of Shakyamuni's profound and eternal insight without the use of abstruse and technical language. The authors are clearly thoroughly imbued with a wide understanding of key elements of the Buddha Dharma and philosophy while, at the same time, being deeply aware of the tumult and confusion that is such a feature of modern life.

The second section of the book is no less skilfull. Here the authors respond to the acute questions and anxieties that have been unearthed in the earlier part of this remarkable book. Readers are invited into a lively dialogue with Shinran Shonin. For many readers this will be their first encounter with this exceptional and singularly truthful thinker.

I have often felt that, in traditional Jodo Shinshu exegesis, Shinran's great magnum opus - and the heart of his life's work - the Kyo Gyo Shin Sho is presented as little more than a repository of elusive and dry doctrine. In the case of this book, however, it is refreshing to see the Kyo Gyo Shin Sho presented as I think it should be: a cry of joy, and a vast exploration of the two aspects of faith (nishu jinshin)..

Of course, the doctrinal foundations of Jodo Shinshu are derived from it but the Kyo Gyo Shin Sho is infinitely greater than that. It comes across to me, and in this book, as 'The Book of Life'; overflowing with the joy and compassion, which is a steady rock in the face of life's contradictions and dilemmas.

The Kyo Gyo Shin Sho is a profound treasury of the stories and ideas that the Pure Land tradition has inherited. If you want to read a succinct summary and paraphrase of the Kyo Gyo Shin Sho, I would suggest that You Were Born for A Reason is one resource that can be enthusiastically recommended.

It is very pleasing to discover a book that gives such a bright and exciting account of the principal themes of the Kyo Gyo Shin Sho. I have always found this great work to be an endless source of insight, challenge, joy and delight. I hope You Were Born for A Reason will encourage readers to explore it for themselves.

There are two excellent English translations of the Kyo Gyo Shin Sho that are currently available. The first is forms the main part of The Collected Works of Shinran, Vol. 1 (Hongwanji INternational Center, 1997); the second translation is volume 105-I of the series published by the Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research. This latter volume is very readable and is accompanied by succint and straightforward glossaries.

The authors of You Were Born for A Reason demonstrate considerable urbanity and humour in places. This is a redeeming feature for a book that often presents us per force with uncomfortable truths. It should be understood, however, that, in doing this they are in fact genuinely faithful to Shinran.

It has been suggested to me that the value of the book is sullied by its provenance. One of the authors is chair of the Jodo Shinshu Shinrankai, which is sometimes described as a religious cult. As I understand it, religious cults are characterised by mind-control techniques and unquestioning obedience to a leader. Nothing of this is evident in the book, so I remain none the wiser about these claims.

In any case, I would certainly encourage anyone who reads the book and encounters Jodo Shinshu for the first time to use one of the mainstream denominations, especially Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji-ha, as their principal resource. I believe that mainstream religions, with their broad traditions and lively debates are the most healthy environment for anyone who is following a spiritual path.

Cults and fundamentalisms encourage infantile spirituality but this book has a distinctly adult and respectful tone. Indeed, one of the authors, Daiji Akehashi, is known to be an accomplished and world-renowned psychotherapist. It would hardly be his style, in that profession, to encourage dependency and immaturity. Again, Kentaro Ito, the third author is clearly a man of considerable erudition and breadth.

You Were Born for A Reason offers a view of Jodo Shinshu that will move many people who have no background in Buddhist studies. For that reason, it will perform an important service for those who long for Shinran's teaching to be better understood, and more widely loved and adopted.