Shinjin

For South Korean automaker, see Shinjin Motors.

Shinjin (信心) is a central concept in Shin Buddhism which indicates a state of mind which totally entrusts oneself to Amida Buddha's other-power (Japanese: tariki), having utterly abandoned any form of self effort (J: jiriki) or calculation (J: hakarai).[1] The term is variously translated as "entrusting mind", "true entrusting", "true faith", "trusting heart-mind", and so on.

The original Sanskrit term that was translated into shinjin was prasanna-cittā.[2] In Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit and in Pali, prasanna (Pali: pasanna) can indicate belief, trust or faith (according to Edgerton Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Dictionary, p. 388; and the Pali Text Society's Pali-English Dictionary), thus the term can mean "faithful mind".[3][4] However, the term prasanna also means "clarity" and "pure" in Sanskrit, thus the term can also mean "clear mind" or "pure mind".[3][4] Furthermore, the term can also mean pleased, peaceful, serene, delighted, happy.[3][4] Thus, the term may have had multiple connotations.

The term appears in a key passage of the Amitayus Sutra which discusses the 18th vow of Amitabha Buddha (when he was Dharmakara bodhisattva). This passage is central to Shin Buddhist through, for it discusses the fundamental vow (hongan) of Amitabha. The standard Chinese edition of Saṅghavarman states:

If, when I attain buddhahood, sentient beings in the lands of the ten directions who sincerely and joyfully entrust themselves [prasanna-cittā] to me, desire to be born in my land, and think of me even ten times should not be born there, may I not attain perfect enlightenment. Excluded, however, are those who commit the five grave offenses and abuse the Right Dharma.[5]

Luis O. Gomez, translating from the Sanskrit, uses "serene trust" for prasanna-cittā.[6]

According to Ueda, "shinjin is the mind of Amida Buddha given to and realized in a person. Shinran interprets shin (信) to mean truth, reality, sincerity; jin (心) means mind. When shinjin is realized, Amida's mind (wisdom and compassion) and the practitioners mind of blind passions become focused and upright to become one."[7]

Whilst a general Japanese Buddhist term it is particularly associated with the Jodo Shinshu teaching of Shinran. In that context it refers to the awakening and settlement of the mind that is aware of the working of Amida Buddha's Primal Vow, and the assurance of birth in the Pure Land at death. Shinran states in Notes on 'Essentials of Faith Alone':

Know that the true essence of the Pure Land teaching is that when we realize true and real shinjin, we are born in the true fulfilled land.[8]

  1. ^ UBC Asian Studies (2022-02-18). 2021 Annual Symposium: The Radical Other Power of Shinran (1173-1263). Retrieved 2024-10-18 – via YouTube.
  2. ^ Ryukyo Fujimoto. An Outline of the Triple Sutra of Shin Buddhism: The Sutra on the eternal Buddha, p. 180. Honpa Hongwanji Press, 1955.
  3. ^ a b c www.wisdomlib.org (2017-04-07). "Prasanna: 28 definitions". www.wisdomlib.org. Retrieved 2024-10-18.
  4. ^ a b c www.wisdomlib.org (2014-08-03). "Pasanna, Pasannā: 3 definitions". www.wisdomlib.org. Retrieved 2024-10-18.
  5. ^ Inagaki, Hisao (tr.). The Three Pure Land Sutras, p. 14. BDK, Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research, 2003.
  6. ^ Gomez, Luis O. The Land of Bliss, The Paradise of the Buddha of Measureless Light, Sanskrit and Chinese Versions of the Sukhāvatīvyūha Sutras, p. 71. University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu, 1996.
  7. ^ Ueda, Yoshifumi (1985). How is Shinjin to be Realized? Pacific World Journal, New Series 1, 17-24. (Footnote p.24)
  8. ^ Olson, Carl, Original Buddhist Sources, Rutgers University Press, 2006, p. 323. ISBN 0813535646