Dominick Wroblewski

3/25/2020
HIST 362
Analytical Book Review

Shinran’s Gospel of Pure Grace

The objective of Dr. Alfred Bloom’s Shinran’s Gospel of Pure Grace is to gain an

understanding of traditional Pure Land thought, in order to gain an understanding as to what

exactly Shinran saw within these ideals that were flawed and needed to be changed. In order to

accomplish this goal, Bloom shapes his book into two unofficial parts. The first, being the

history behind Pure Land thought, prior to Shinran’s interpretation. The second, is the changes in

which Shinran made to the Pure Land thought. Ultimately, Bloom wishes to gain an

understanding as to why Shinran “reject[ed] [the] decadent, aristocratic, confusing religion of the

time and his identification with the virile, vital and popular teaching of the Pure Land…”

(Bloom, xi).

The first part of the book consists of two chapters. The first of which Dr. Bloom explains

traditional Pure Land thought and the sacred texts of Pure Land tradition. Essentially, in the first

chapter, Bloom explains the Pure Land texts that consist of sutras, or scriptures. 3 in particular

dominated Pure Land thought. The Muryojukyo, Amidakyo, and the Kammuryojukyo. Bloom

explains that the Muryojukyo is the basis for the doctrinal development of popular Pure Land

teachings. The sutra means the teaching of Infinite Life. The story in this Sutra, as Bloom

explains, is that Bodhisattva Hozo “in an infinite time in the past was moved deeply as he

observed the sufferings of mortal creatures, and from his pity, he vowed to establish a land of

bliss wherein all could be freed from their many sufferings and troubles” (Bloom, 1). In the

Amidakyo, Sakyamuni Buddha explains the nature of the Pure Land, which is a land of bliss

where there is no such thing as physical pleasure or materialistic enjoyment. The source of joy
and bliss is the truth of Buddhist thinking. It also mentions the idea of the recitation of Amida

Buddha’s name, which I will go into much more in depth later. Finally, the third sutra titled

Kammuryojukyo, is the sutra of meditation of the Buddha of Infinite Life. Bloom explains that

the sutra expresses the modes of meditation, described by Sakyamuni Buddha, in order to gain a

vision of Amida Buddha or to be born into the Pure Land. Bloom further explains the

meditations are a way to achieve the “Settled Mind” which is the mind of meditation. Bloom

does a good job explaining the sacred sutras of the Pure Land thought and it supports the first

part of his thesis which is to understand the traditional ideas of Pure Land thought before

understanding the changes Shinran makes.

The second chapter consists of Bloom’s interpretation of the seven patriarchs of the Pure

Land tradition. To put it briefly there are, of course, seven patriarchs. They are, in chronological

order, Nagarjuna, Vasubandhu, T’an-luan, Tao-Ch’o, Shan-tao, Genshin, and Honen. Bloom,

also in chronological order, explains each patriarch's importance in Pure Land tradition.

However, Bloom’s goal with this chapter is to come to the conclusion that each patriarch, “From

T’an-luan to Honen, the practice [recitation, the chanting that prepares the mind for the

meditation for the Buddha] was regarded as a means for acquiring the necessary merit to gain

birth in the Pure Land” (Bloom, 25). To further understand what Bloom does with this

information, one must read further into the book. Thus the second part of the book begins, with

Shinran entering the Pure Land scene.

The second part of the book consists of Dr. Bloom discussing the major points of

emphasis of Shinaran’s beliefs. Starting with what Bloom titles the third chapter The Human

Predicament which happens to be what Shinran sees as the degenerate age of the Dharma. He

describes existence as “... life within the burning house” (Bloom, 27). One can interpret this as
the house being a safe haven but only for a period of time. The flames, slowly but surely making

its way to you inside the home, are the acts of sinning. Eventually, the only thing that can save

you from the flames is Buddha. Shinran accepts this reality, however, although he believes he is

a sinful human being filled with passions and lust, he does not yearn to go to the Pure Land, he

wishes to become a “teacher urging men to desire birth in the Pure Land” (Bloom, 28). Bloom

explains Shinran is hyper aware of his spiritual condition and does what he can for his disciples

to not fall into the same bondage of passion and lust. Shinrans concludes that no matter what

level of purification he undergoes, he will never receive the full enlightenment of salvation.

However, Shinran was not the only man in this state of course. Another problem Shinran sees in

this human predicament was that devotees would do good acts just for the idea that their actions

will lead them to their salvation. He saw two problems in this ideology. One, they do not

understand the wickedness of other beings, not everyone is pure. Two, they do not understand

the assistance Buddha provides to reach their salvation (Bloom, 30). Leading into chapter 4,

Bloom also explains that Shinran believes religious practice in it of itself is passion and self

seeking. Shinran believes this because if one wishes to do these practices, it is due to the wanting

of salvation, to save oneself. With this idea in mind, Shinran believes that faith in Buddha and

the realization of one's sins is the only pure way of reaching salvation. This is the foundation of

Shinran’s beliefs and is the most important item to understand in the entirety of Bloom’s book.

The book continues on the basis of faith instead of actions and practice. However, there

are problems that lie within this belief of faith over practice. For one, Bloom explains that faith

was seen as an easier path to take towards your salvation, however it is not as easy as it seems.

Men, being ignorant and skeptical, would rather strive to earn their own salvation rather than rely

on Buddha to do so. Bloom explains “Egotism, pride or despair may bar man from faith.”
(Bloom, 37). Shinran interprets the foundation of faith into two parts. One, being the mind of

truth. Bloom explains, “It is this mind or attitude which, when given to man mysteriously,

arouses his trust and desire to be born into the Pure Land.” (Bloom, 39). Shinran believes this

thought or attitude is the very spirit of Amida Buddha himself. The second, being the idea that it

is not the achievement of man that he has faith in Buddha, but the achievement of Buddha’s

nature. The biggest idea to take away from this is that it is Buddha’s act of compassion that one

attains Buddha’s nature, and not man's act of compassion. A final understanding to take away

from Shinran’s idea of faith is the idea of rejecting self-assertion. Bloom explains that Shinran

believes everything in nature is already how it should be. To self-assert yourself in the practices

of Buddha disrupts the plan Buddha’s nature already had for an individual.

The next chapter manifests itself as Bloom’s explanation of how faith was seen in the

past by traditional Buddhists, as a way to build a better understanding of Shinran’s idea of

Buddhist faith. Bloom explains that traditional Buddhist faith “is regarded as an act of the will,

aroused by the individual and directed toward the Buddha, his teaching and his community of

followers” (Bloom, 46). Bloom further explains that faith has always been an essential element

in the Buddhist religion, however it was a faith that is built on the wanting to gather information

and a way the devotee would judge their decisions. Bloom also explains Chinese monk T’an-

luan’s greatest emphasis on faith is its continuity. T’an-luan believes that one should focus not

on the number of recitations (the thought) of the Buddha, but to be continuous in the thought of

Buddha. In a way, it is close to Shinrans idea of faith. Not the idea that it is bestowed upon the

individual by Amida Buddha’s spirit, but that it should be automatic, not something that has to

be thought about or decided upon. On the contrary, Bloom also looks at Shan-tao, the third

patriarch of Pure Land Buddhism, and his ideas of faith. Shan-tao’s idea of faith is much more
focused on the sincerity of recitations. Bloom explains that Shan-tao’s idea of faith is built on the

basis that “one must believe deeply that he is a sinner chained to the wheel of transmigration, as

well as believing deeply that he can be saved by Amida Buddha’s Vows” (Bloom, 48). What we

can take away from these practices of faith from other traditional Buddhists is that it heavily

relies on the will of man and not the workings of the Buddha. This holds true to Bloom’s thesis

of understanding the inner workings of Shinran’s new ideas. Looking at the ideologies of other

prominent Buddhist figures and comparing them to Shinran’s provides an excellent example of

the differences between their ideologies.

After explaining both the faith of traditional Buddhism and Shinran’s idea of faith,

Bloom moves to the idea of salvation. Bloom begins by explaining that Shinran, as a result of his

insight that faith was a gift and that salvation was a gift from Amida Buddha, also taught

believers that they “can achieve an assurance of his ultimate salvation in this life” (Bloom, 61).

Shinran here emphasizes the life the devotee is currently living. Prior to this idea, other

prominent Buddhist figures such as T’an-luan believed that salvation was reached after death,

essentially salvation had what Bloom explains as a “futuristic emphasis”. Shinran supports his

idea by bringing to light the term “Soku” which literally means “therefore” and “then”. However,

Bloom explains Shinran used the term as “equals”. Essentially what Shinran means is that, what

you do now in this life will “therefore”/”then”/”equal” to what happens in the future. Bloom

further explains that Shinran declared Amida Buddha believers are in a state of cause with

respect to Buddhahood. Essentially, the cause of something happening presently is perfected by

Buddha, it was meant to be that way. Afterwards, comes the interpretation and understanding of

that cause by the believer (Bloom, 65). What Bloom tries to explain about Shinran’s

interpretation of salvation compared to prior ideas of salvation is that while he continued to

“maintain that the final realization of enlightenment took place upon birth in the Pure Land after

death, he focused attention on the spiritual nature of the present existence” (Bloom, 68). This

meant to the common believer that they now no longer have to fear their sinful nature having a

lasting impact on their attainment of enlightenment, that their path was already laid out for them.

Bloom ends his book with a chapter called Faith’s Expression. Essentially, Shinran

doesn’t want the idea of the recitation of Amida Buddha’s name to be completely lost. Instead,

Bloom explains that Shinran believes recitation and any other spiritual activity should be used as

an expression of gratitude for the salvation granted by Amida Buddha, instead of it being the

primary means of attaining salvation. Again, Bloom reiterates that Shinran believes recitation of

Amida Buddha’s name is not practised by individuals for their own salvation but it is the practice

of Amida Buddha that brings and individual their salvation, which is really the main idea of

Shinran tries to make in his new teachings of the Buddha. Bloom sums up this idea in a few brief

sentences saying, “Practice [spiritual activity] ceased to be a purely mechanical, vocal means of

gaining birth and a source of spiritual pride in keeping the record of the number said in one day.

Rather it became for him a sign of praise and gratitude in which the devotee acknowledged his

great debt to Amida Buddha.” (Bloom, 73).

Bloom in his epilogue explains that “We have been able to indicate Shinran’s

contribution to Pure Land thought by contrasting it with the tradition before him” (Bloom, 87). I

must say I agree with his take. By explaining the sutras and the seven patriarchs, comparatively

the mind and the body of Pure Land thought, the reader gains a very good understanding of what

exactly causes Shinran to change the ideas of Pure Land thought. Shinran precisely counters

many points throughout traditional Pure Land thought, however he also understands there is a

place for these traditions in his new understandings as well that further supports his changes. In a
scholarly interpretation of Shinran’s thoughts, Dr. Alfred Bloom contributed massively to the

West’s understanding of Pure land thought, and Shinran’s place in its history.