Shinran · Theology

The Evil Person's Hope

Shinran's most startling teaching, from the <em>Tannisho</em>: &lsquo;Even the good person is born in the Pure Land - how much more the evil person.&rsquo; Grace reaches furthest not to the virtuous but to those who know they cannot save themselves.

What you'll be able to recall

You learned Shinran's teaching of akunin shoki - that the evil person, not the good, is the primary object of Amida's vow - that this rests on the insight that confidence in one's own goodness is itself the self-power that blocks grace, that the one who knows their incapacity is thereby open to Other Power, and that t…

Leads to D. T. Suzuki.

Begin this lesson →
← All lessons on Shinran

epoché — a humanities education that remembers you.