Reddit reviews Tariki: Embracing Despair, Discovering Peace

> While I cannot assume the knowledge of all people in the hongwanji, the ones I have spoken to have given that specific reason or similar. It is a very small community, and most of them are very old.

Fair enough. I've just seen similar statements before and I tend to take them with a grain of salt because the live Dharma talks I check out on youtube and podcasts reference plenty of Buddhist topics and scriptures.

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> Yes, and I think it's because English doesn't have more nuance in the words we use, so all the services and songs just sound like worship, which has made me more uncomfortable and unsure of myself over time.

There is a devotional aspect; yes, but it may not be what you're thinking. One of the running themes in Shin hymns is that Amida represents the light of wisdom and the great compassion that supports you every moment in your life. Most Shin ministers will point out that this great compassion ranges from the animals that died in the production of your food, to the chain of relatives that led to your mom bearing you for 9 months, to the people that pave the road you drive on to go about your daily business. They will refer to that infinite chain of cause and effect that brings you to this current moment as "Amida". The Midwest Buddhist Temple podcast is a good source for this type of info, I believe there are over 200 episodes available for free.

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> But also, can we not continue to try to follow the eightfold path in hopes that we can entrust Buddha to take us to the Promised Land?

Yikes, what an unfortunate word choice. The Pure Land is either a Buddha-field (field of Buddha perception, adorned with a Buddha's merits from eons of practice) where one directly learns from Buddhas & Bodhisattvas to continue on the path towards Buddhahood (the rather simple understanding), or the Pure Land is the formless realm of Nirvana (the more advanced understanding). In either case, the Pure Land is not a paradise in the Christian sense. Entrusting in the Buddha to enter the Pure Land is following the eightfold path.

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> Or we already have to have this belief before we can really help ourselves?

As I said before, it's very little to do with belief & more to do with overcoming mental chatter. Using the self to transcend the self is a fool's errand according to Shin; but even Shin greats like Kiyozawa Manshi had to exhaust self-powered pursuits before finally realizing to entrust the Buddha. FYI - there are some very strong parallels with Zen here. I recommend Dogen's Zazen as Other-Power Practice by Taigen Dan Leighton

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> For me it is more of a "I think this is an actual thing that can happen, but I don't know if I fully trust Buddha yet." Does that make sense?

Makes total sense. The trust part is the faith of Shin. Once that trust is there, one undergoes a radical shift in perception with regards to one's relationship with the world. It's kind of a radical self acceptance to realize that one is embraced just as one is.

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> Is Shinran even a Buddha?

He would never say so himself, but there's a statue of him at a Zen monastery near Tokyo (called Ho-onji) and they maintain the tradition that Shinran and Dogen were friends. I've run into other Zen people who said Shinran is considered an Enlightened being. I find Shinran fascinating because he's a completely relatable human being, rife with frailties, and brutally honest about it.

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> Then why is it so hard to find any books on it?

Let me give you a quick list of authors so you can find their books on Amazon:

Alfred Bloom

Taitetsu Unno

Jeff Wilson

Monshu Koshin Otani

Hiroyuki Itsuki

Kenneth Tanaka

Mark L Blum

DT Suzuki

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> The minister was going to teach the volunteers; we have a few months under him to learn them. This was moreso the main reason why I thought it might be good to do. I would have more one on one time with the minister. But Now that I word it like this, it seems maybe a little selfish to only volunteer for the chants for this purpose.

Shin patriarch Rennyo is the one that really started with encouraging followers to recite Shinran's hymns as a daily practice. So in that sense it's not selfish to really try to learn the basic doctrines of the sect, expressed in the hymns.

This is about Shin Buddhism specifically, but is pretty exceptional:

https://www.amazon.com/Shin-Buddhism-Bits-Rubble-Turn/dp/0385504691

This is a novel, and also about Shin Buddhism, but:
https://www.amazon.com/Tariki-Embracing-Despair-Discovering-Peace/dp/4062099810/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1520609290&sr=1-1&keywords=tariki

Tariki. I love this book because it articulates a philosophy I already felt in my heart.

Guns, Germs, and Steel. A whirlwind, eye-opening take on world history and how we really got to where we are today. Useful for understanding your country's place in the world. It's counterpart, Collapse, is also a great read. It's about how societies fall.

Justice. I'm an unabashed liberal who has wrestled with libertarian ideas lately. I wanted to read and learn more about critiques of libertarian ideas and this is a great book, not just for that, but for the broader understanding of society, justice, and how a proper society should function.

Reunion. A beautiful love story from a male point of view. I strongly identify with the protagonist for some reason.