Tag Archives: kenryo-kanamatsu
‘Naturalness’: A Classic of Shin Buddhism?
Kenryo Kanamatsu’s book Naturalness has been a significant influence on me over the years. I’ve even described it as a modern-day sūtra before. However I never took much notice of Kanamatsu’s words in the preface where he writes: “How much I have been helped, as regards wording and illustration, by Rabindranath Tagore’s Sadhana will be evident to all who [...]
On the Naturalness of the Nembutsu
From ‘Naturalness – A Classic of Shin Buddhism’ by Kenryo Kanamatsu. The passage below is Kanamatsu’s unique rendering of Tannisho XVI. ….Once faith is established in us, the work of our being born into the Pure Land is left entirely to the Will of Amida, and so no room is left for our self-will to [...]
Notes on ‘Naturalness’ (K9): Hakarai
Further to my recent post about ‘Reason’ I have been reflecting on the meaning of ‘Hakarai’ in Shinran’s teaching. Frequently the difference between shinjin and hakarai is presented as one between faith and reason, or faith and intellect, where hakarai is translated with the cerebral sounding term ‘calculation’. However I think this choice of word [...]
Notes on ‘Naturalness’ (K8)
This is my last set of notes on Kenryo Kanamatsu’s ‘Naturalness’. As I said at the beginning they are not intended as a commentary so much as to pick out bits I found helpful or challenging, and to indicate some possibilities for further reflection or study. The next book we will be annotating, starting in [...]
Notes on ‘Naturalness’ (K7)
My penultimate set of notes on Kenryo Kanamatsu’s Naturalness. IV – The Original Vow IV.1 – {Amida as ‘Heart of our Heart’} p.85, 87 – Kanamatsu emphasises yet again the fact that our ‘inmost will’ is ultimately the activity of Amida who is “the heart of our hearts … that ultimate purpose working in the [...]
Kyōshin Samuels
Jishin
matthew1263
Wamae
Jerry Bolick
dumbbonbu
Seidō
Latest Dialogue