[Buddha-l] Pure Land Buddhism

[Franz Metcalf]

Dear Randall,

First, apologies for listing you as having responded to Robert Ellis.  
Of course it was this post I was thinking of, where you ask about Pure  
Land reading. I am with you in seeing a remarkable resonance between  
Buddhadhasa's ideas the those of contemporary Jodo Shinshu, especially  
of the Higashi Honganji branch. Here is one source I know is easily  
accessible to you:

http://www.livingdharma.org/Library.html

This page is part of the West Covina Buddhist Church (a Jodo Shinshu  
temple in Southern California) website. Scroll down to the section  
"Modern Shinshu: The Teachings of Kiyozawa, Akegarasu and Maida" and  
you'll find some good entry level articles on contemporary Higashi  
Honganji Pure Land thought. The next section, "The Tannisho: A Shin  
Buddhist Classic" is also great. It contains the text (including the  
excellent introduction by Professor Taitetsu Unno) of Shonin Shinran's  
Tannisho. As that text is foundational to Japanese Pure Land--and is a  
short and great read--I'd suggest you looking into it as well.

Cheers,

Franz

On Mar 16, 2009, at 6:27 AM, Randall Jones wrote:

> Dear Piya,
>
> "Sukhavati is here and now"  reminds me somehow of Aj. Buddhadasa.  I
> must admit I know next to nothing about Pure Land Buddhism.  Can you
> recommend some Pure Land reading to a westerner whose outlook was
> greatly influenced by Aj. Buddhadasa?  Thanks.
>
> Randall Jones
> rjones at cm.ksc.co.th