Buddha’s Wish for the World: A Review

Recently I obtained a copy of the new book Buddha’s Wish for the World for free, thanks to a generation donation to the blog. I spent a week reading the book and wanted to share my thoughts.

I go through a lot of books each year, including books on Buddhism (as some readers are no doubt aware), but I always have difficulty with reading books on Jodo Shinshu Buddhism. This is ironic given that I go to a Shinshu temple in Seattle, and have recently registered for the Correspondence Course online, with interest in possibly ordaining someday.¹ So the problem isn’t one of a lack of interest, but the dearth of Shinshu books with substance. Many of the popular books in Shinshu are mostly books containing anecdotes, and praise of Shinran the revolutionary Buddhist. Of course every sect does this: Soto Zen followers treat Dogen like he walks on water,² and Honen’s myraid quotations form a large part of the Jodo Shu canon. Shinran definitely deserves his fair share of attention, but I found that most Shinshu books lack anything beyond these two points. I feel I keep reading the same points over and over again.

So, I was skeptical to read the Monshu’s book. I was eager to finally read the words of the man who heads the Jodo Shinshu Nishi Hongwanji sect in Japan and get a feel for what he was like, and this did not disappoint. True to many Shinshu books, the Monshu writes many anecdotes of encounters in his life, encounters with distraught or confused disciples and so on. He provides a lot of good insights with these encounters, and as I read them I really felt like it would be cool to sit down with the Monshu and exchange ideas someday.

The book still lacked some substance as the Monshu quoted from typical Buddhist sources like the Larger Sutra, the Dhammapada and the Pali Canon; all sources frequently used by Shinshu authors while ignoring the rich Mahayana canon to which Pure Land Buddhism owes a great debt. For example, Shinran was well-versed in the Flower Garland Sutra and the Nirvana Sutra and quoted both in his major work, the Kyōgyōshinshō. Both are ignored, as is the Lotus Sutra, which I view as having a great deal to offer to Pure Land Buddhist teachings (Shinran was a Tendai monk originally, so he would have likewise been very familiar with this text; hint, hint).

However, I believe the reason for this is that this book was intended for an audience unfamiliar with Buddhism (Japanese and Western), and despite this complaint, the Monshu provides some excellent insights about life and death. The Monshu is well-versed in Japanese history and customs, and he writes on these subjects to get some important points across, especially in the first half. I really enjoyed his discussions on mutual dependency (citing ancient farmers in Japan as an example), or his exploration of the ancient monastic community in Buddhist India, and the limitations of a “set” of precepts to follow. He makes an interesting point elsewhere if one is open and aware to life, then one will be inspired sooner or later to make positive changes in their life (respecting life, avoiding harmful speech, etc) so the precepts are more of a needless formality. This point is compelling though I would still respectfully disagree with him, given that the late Ven. Yin-Shun³ taught a different reason for following the precepts in the first place. I agree with the latter point based on my own experience.

But I really think the Monshu has done good introduction to Western audiences with a thought-provoking book. The book suffers from some of the same problems I feel Shinshu Buddhist books tend to have, but as a Buddhist writer, I thought the Monshu did a great job, and I am definitely glad I could read the book. It also inspired me to look more into the life and teachings of Rennyo, the “restorer” of Shinshu, whom I knew little about, and had a somewhat negative view of.

If you see this book somewhere, definitely take a look, even if you’re not a Shinshu Buddhist. It’s a much-needed addition to Pure Land Buddhism and I hope the Monshu will take up the pen again, with some meatier, more scholarly works in the future.

Update: Corrected some statements in the post regarding the Monshu’s relationship with the BCA and with Jodo Shinshu in general. For the record, Bishop Ogui is the head of the BCA, not the Monshu. Thanks for the input.

¹ Veteran readers may recall I once tried this before, but failed. Later, I stopped pursuing ordination as the baby was born, and I couldn’t devote time to it anymore. Recently, my wife encouraged me to take up ordination training again, and now that I have become a more familiar face over the years, things are expected to go better this time.

² Lately I’ve been reading a really good book that looks at Soto Zen as a whole, provided a good scholarly and balanced view. Dogen is still important as ever, but his teachings and personality are put rightfully into a larger context, which helps when understanding other figures like Shinran, Honen and Nichiren.

³ Though I never even heard of him until years after he passed away, I consider him a hero of mine in Buddhism, along with Rev. Tagawa after reading his book on Yogacara Buddhism.