INTRODUCTION

Studying Buddha-dharma cannot be limited to academic study and research. It must be study which results in benefit to the world - something that saves the world. This is particularly true when it comes to the various denominations within a religious teaching. The Buddhist teaching that is of interest to me is the Jodo-Shinshu denomination, but I believe it applies to the teachings of all religions.

Unfortunately, the direction in which studies of the Jodo-Shinshu teaching has taken in modern times is to be regretted. This article will consider the problems caused by such modern studies, and attempt to explain the essence of the Jodo-Shinshu teaching.

1. SETTLEMENT OF SHINJIN (CONVERSION) IN SHINRAN AND RENNYO

In his major work, "Teaching, Practice, Shinjin, and Realization"(Kyogyoshinsho), Shinran proclaimed his settlement of shinjin (conversion) when he wrote:

I, Gutoku Shinran, disciple of Shakyamuni, discarded sundry practices and took refuge in the Primal Vow during the water/monkey year (1201 CE).

There are many different opinions regarding when Shinran's acceptance of the 18th Vow (the Primal Vow) by way the 19th and 20th Vows (referred to as sangan tennyu) took place, but I believe it was during the water/monkey year (1201 CE) mentioned above - this was when he was 29 years of age.(1)

In the General Preface of his "Teaching, Practice, Shinjin, and Realization," Shinran wrote:

Ah, hard to encounter, even in many lifetimes, is the decisive cause of birth, Amida's Universal Vow! Hard to realize, even in myriads of kalpas, is pure shinjin that is true and real! If you should come to realize this practice and shinjin, rejoice at the conditions from the distant past that have brought it about. […] How joyous I am, Gutoku Shinran, disciple of Shakyamuni! Rare is it to come upon the sacred scriptures from the westward land of India and the commentaries of the masters of China and Japan, but now I have been able to encounter them. Rare is it to hear them, but I have been able to do so. Reverently entrusting myself to the teaching, practice, and realization that are the truth of the Pure Land Path, I am especially aware of the profundity of the Tathagata's benevolence. In the final Afterword to that same work, Shinran wrote: How joyous I am, my heart and mind being rooted in the Buddha-ground of the Universal Vow, and my thoughts and feelings flowing within the dharma-ocean which is beyond comprehension! […] Mindful of the profundity of the Buddha's benevolence, I pay no heed to the derision of others. May those who see and hear this work be brought either through the cause of reverently embracing the teaching or through the condition of (others') doubt and slander of it - to manifest shinjin within the power of the Vow and reveal the incomparable fruit of enlightenment in the land of peace.

It goes without saying that Shinran considered himself within the salvific power of the Primal Vow and it was from the joy and gratitude he felt about being so embraced that he wrote his "Teaching, Practice, Shinjin, and Realization."In expressing the thought that his shinjin was settled, and that he was in "thehe group of those assured (of birth in the Pure Land) in the present" (gensho shojoju), he wrote the following in "Hymns of the Pure Land"(Jodo Wasan):

I praise Amida's wisdom and virtue
So that those in the Ten Directions
With mature conditions may hear.
Let those who have already realized shinjin
Constantly respond in gratitude to the Buddha's
benevolence.

And in "Hymns of the Dharma Ages" (Shozomastsu Wasan), he wrote:

In order to repay the Buddha's benevolence,
Let those who realize shinjin that is "Buddha-Centered Power,"
Spread the two aspects of Amida's directing of virtue
In all the Ten Directions.

In these, and in other words, Shinran urged spreading the teaching to others.(2)

I have already stated that the study of Jodo-Shinshu must "result in benefit to the world, (must be) something that saves the world,"but as can be determined from the passages from "Teaching, Practice, Shinjin, and Realization" and his hymns, that can be done only after our shinjin is settled (after our own conversion). That is absolutely essential.

Master Rennyo is quoted in "Heard and Recorded During Master Rennyo's Lifetime" (Rennyo Shonin Goichidai Kikigaki) as follows:

Master Rennyo once said, Urging others to receive shinjin when you do not have it is like offering to give something when you have nothing to give. How can others receive it?

This is what Master Jitsunyo told Junsei. "Further,"Master Rennyo added, "the phrase, ´settling our own shinjin and then leading others to receiving it´(jishin kyoninshin) appears in the work 'In Praise of Birth in the Pure Land´(Ojo Raisan), so we must receive shinjin ourselves before trying to lead others to it. That's how we repay our indebtedness to the Buddha."(3)

As this passage makes abundantly clear, the first requirement in properly transmitting the teaching is being sure of our shinjin (conversion experience). Unfortunately, some modern scholars try to understand the Venerable Master's words from a communistic point of view, and others have even taken the position that Master Rennyo never experienced shinjin and thus distorted the Venerable Master´s teaching. Both these positions are absurd,(4) especially the position that Master Rennyo never had a conversion experience.(5)

In Letter One of his "Honorable Letters"(Gobunsho), Master Rennyo wrote:

The following is an old poem:

Long ago,
Joy was wrapped in my sleeves -
But tonight,
It's more than I can contain!(6)

"Long ago, joy was wrapped in my sleeves" means that in the past, we felt certain - without any clear understanding of sundry practices and right practice - that we would be born [in the Pure Land] if we just recited the Nembutsu. "But, tonight, it's more than I can contain" means that the joy of reciting the Nembutsu in grateful return for the Buddha's benevolence is especially great now that, having heard and understood the difference between the right and sundry [practices], I have become steadfast and single-minded, and have thus undergone a decisive settling of shinjin. I am thus made so joyful that I feel like dancing - hence the joy is "more than I can contain."

It may appear that, unlike Master Honen's conversion experience at the age of 43 and the Venerable Master's at the age of 29, Master Rennyo did not have a conversion experience because he did not write specifically about it, nor do his biographies mention it.(7) As indicated in his explanation of the above poem, however, he points out his feeling that::"…in the past, we felt certain […] that we would be born [in the Pure Land] if we just recited the Nembutsu, and then makes clear the difference in his present feeling with, " 'But tonight, it's more than I can contain" means that the joy of reciting the Nembutsu in grateful return for the Buddha's benevolence is especially great…"

The difference in feeling between the past and the present pointed out in the above poem is not just an analysis of it; it points to Master Rennyo's personal conversion experience (settlement of shinjin). That's the reason for the assertive statement, "… the joy of reciting the Nembutsu in grateful return for the Buddha's benevolence is especially great […] (because of a) decisive settling of shinjin."Accordingly, we can say that Master Rennyo was absolutely devoted to "settlement of shinjin, "which is the basis of his religious experience, and what leads to "gratitude for indebtedness to the Nembutsu"(ho-on Nembutsu).(8)

That's why Master Rennyo's statement given previously, "Urging others to receive shinjin when you do not have it is like offering to give something when you have nothing to give" is so obvious, and is something that can be said only by someone with such a religious experience.

2. THE UNDERSTANDING BY RECENT SCHOLARS OF RELIGION, AND RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE

Next, let us consider the opinions of recent Japanese scholars who have contributed to our understanding of religion. These include Manshi Kiyozawa (1863 - 1903), Kitaro Nishida (1870 - 1945), and D.T. Suzuki (1870 - 1966).

In his work, Seishin Kowa (Lectures on Spirituality), Manshi Kiyozawa wrote:

We do not have faith in gods/buddhas because they exist. It is because we have faith in gods/buddhas that they exist for us. Further, we do not have faith in hell or the Pure Land because they exist; rather, when we have faith in hell and the Pure Land, they exist for us. In other words, the content of spiritual faith is that each of us individually must ask ourselves whether we do or do not have faith.

Here, where Kiyozawa writes, "It is because we have faith in gods/buddhas that they exist", it means that when we have religious experience we have knowledge of gods/buddhas.

In his work, Basho-teki ronri to Shuukyo-teki Sekai-kan (The Logic of Place and the Religious World View), Nishida wrote:

In order to enter into spiritual faith, there must be an absolute change in our position. This is what is referred to as conversion […] and is the same as entering into a life of faith. Regardless of the type of religion, there must be a personal change, i.e., what is referred to as a conversion experience. If there is no such experience, it cannot be referred to as religious.

As Nishida points out, "In order to enter into spiritual faith, there must be an absolute change in our position. This is what is referred to as conversion". Further, as he points out, without this change, "it cannot be referred to as being religious".(9)

In his work, Nihon-teki Reisei (Japanese Spirituality), Suzuki wrote:

Spirituality can be considered to be religious consciousness.[…] If there is no sense of the religious, it becomes something not understandable. The same can be said about most things. In the activity of consciousness in general, there is certain amount of conjecture, or supposition, or sympathy. But when it comes to religion, there must be some activity that can be referred to by a term such as spirituality. In other words, only when we become aware of spirituality, can we understand religion.(10)

As Suzuki wrote, "If there is no sense of the religious, it becomes something not understandable" and "only when we become aware of spirituality, can we understand religion". In other words, we can understand religion only through religious experience.

3. THE TRADITIONAL METHOD OF UNDERSTANDING JODO-SHINSHU

Next, are the opinions of recent scholars of the Hompa Hongwanji-ha (Nishi) denomination of Buddha-dharma, regarding how the Jodo-Shinshu teaching was and is understood: Shojitsu Ohara (1897 - 1979) and Daien Fugen (1903 - 1975).

In his work, Shinshu-gaku no Igi (Significance of Shinshu Studies), Ohara wrote:

…I have already indicated that Shinran´s teaching of Jodo-Shinshu is like a scroll or woodblock print in which traditional (teaching) and his individual understanding (of it) are fused. I believe religion is experience. Without (religious) experience, a religion must be said to be devoid of life.

As Ohara points out with his statement, "I believe religion is experience", the Venerable Master Shinran´s teaching is based on his vigorous religious experience.

In his work, Shinshu Gairon (Outline of Shinshu) Fugen wrote::

… These sacred works are not merely an arrangement or itemizations of letters; rather, the arrangement of those letters overflow with a continuous and dynamic religious life.

…but even if a sacred work expresses a Budha"s true wishes, if it is observed from a position outside of religion, it becomes nothing more than a piece of old and dead literature, and it cannot be helped that the attitude of studying that sacred work becomes a problem.

[…] When sacred works are viewed from the position of religious experience, however, the life (expressed in the sacred works) and in the life (of the reader) come in contact. Only then can the teaching of the Selected Primal Vow that is Jodo-Shinshu, be understood.

As Professor Fugen points out, only after religious experience can the Jodo-Shinshu sacred works be correctly understood. Without such experience, even sacred works become "nothing more than a piece of old and dead literature". The religious experience that Professors Ohara and Daien speak of is the conversion experience that is spoken of in Jodo-Shinshu(settlement of shinjin).

4. PROBLEMS IN THE ARGUMENTS OF MODERN RELIGIOUS SCHOLARS

The following are the assertions of two scholars associated with the Hompa Hongwanji-ha (Nishi) denomination of Buddha-dharma, Professors "S" and "O"(11).

In the first chapter of a work published during March of 1990, Professor "S" wrote:

Many months and years have passed since I began my study of Shinshu That process has been slow and didn´t seem to make much progress; it was not very satisfying.

… We presently have before us expressions of that understanding and vast amounts of academic studies.

…And yet, for me, they are mere data, and related only to the past. For me, study of Shinran is to be guided by such (studies) and yet consider them to be something to be transcended. For me, there is no way other than seeking (what) Shinran sought, and following him directly. Particularly in our present social and historical circumstances where things are changing at such a rapid pace and with such bewildering complexity.

…it must be said that pursuing Shinran´s experience of shinjin and making it clear is an extremely difficult enterprise. There is presently a movement to make traditional Shinshu studies our guiding principle but that must be considered anachronistic. The more deeply (such an attitude) comes in contact with today´s realities, the more we are forced to become aware of this.

…What is referred to as Shinshu must be a teaching that positively responds to the existential truths of our present. That is where (I believe) a Shinshu teaching that allows us to live in the present can be established.

This is Professor "S"’s position regarding his personal understanding of the Jodo-Shinshu teaching and his criticism of the traditional understanding.

Professor "O", who is affiliated with the same Honganji-ha (Nishi) Honganji organization as Professor "S", wrote the following in Chapter Four of a book published during November 1977:

…clearly, the "recitation of the Name (reciting Namo Amida Butsu)… (shomyo) in the phrase shinjin is the correct cause (of our birth in The Pure Land))/recitation of the Name in gratitude "(shinjin shoin/shomyo ho-on) is a recitation that comes after receiving shinjin. It points to reciting Namo Amida Butsu after receiving shinjin. That"s why this sort of recitation of the Name cannot be considered the correct action (that results in our birth in the Pure Land).

…The phrase "shinjin is the correct cause (of our birth in the Pure Land)"points to the fact that the single thought of shinjin is when our birth in the Pure Land is determined, but what that single thought of shinjin is, is not very clear. It goes without saying that the term "faith" (shin, not shinjin) is a term that stands in opposition to "doubt," so that when our doubt is dispelled is when the mind that "has faith" is. To borrow a phrase used by another religious scholar, "when the last speck of doubt is removed, then everything becomes clear" and we can say that is the moment we receive shinjin. That is when the cause of our birth in the Pure Land is settled. But when we pursue what it means to say we "have received shinjin", then things again become rather vague. For example, in his "notes on the Once-Calling and the Many-Callings (Ichinen Tannen Mon-I), Shinran states that the "ignorant, filled with base passions" (bombu) are forever pursued by ignorance and worldly passions, and that this does not end until the final moment of life. Again, in "Notes Lamenting Differences" (Tannisho), he seems to say something very similar when he agrees that although he recites the Nembutsu, the joy of dancing up to heaven and down to earth does not arise within him. Rather than taking joy in the fact that he will be born in the Pure Land, he trembles in fear that he will die when he becomes even slightly ill. That´s what the aspect of the "ignorant, filled with base passions"is said to be.

Professor "O" seems to feel that the mind that "appears to exist … and not to exist"is what shinjin is, and that is how he criticizes:

- "Shinjin is the correct cause/recitation of the Name in gratitude,
- Recitation of the Name after receiving shinjin, and
- There should not be a mind of doubt in those who are "ignorant and filled with base passions (bombu) because "when the last speck of doubt is removed, then everything becomes clear."

In a past article, I pointed out the problems in the criticisms by Professors "S" and "O" regarding "Shinjin is the correct cause/recitation of the Name in gratitude,"and concluded:

To summarize, without the experience of shinjin and reciting the Nembutsu in gratitude for being within the salvific power of the Primal Vow, the meaning of "reciting the Name in gratitude" cannot be understood, nor can the difference between reciting the Name (reciting Namo Amida Butsu) before receiving shinjin and after receiving it be understood. I believe there is a fundamental problem in the positions of Professors "S"and "O" which should be examined more carefully.(12)

I feel even more strongly that there is a problem in the methodology of Shinshu studies today.(13). (Because of lack of space I will reluctantly refrain from commenting on the assertions of scholars associated with the Otani-ha (Higashi) Honganji regarding the Nembutsu and "recitation of the Name in gratitude.")

I believe serious problems exist in the criticisms of "recitation of the Name in gratitude" after "determination of shinjin"(conversion) by scholars within both the Otani-ha and the Honganji-ha.

CONCLUSION

As I have already indicated, Shinran´s settlement of shinjin (conversion) took place during his 29th year. Rennyo was also, without doubt, a man whose shinjin was settled (conversion). Recent scholars of religion such as Kiyozawa, Nishida, and Suzuki point out the importance of conversion/religious experience, and that without it, a thing cannot be considered religion. Both "traditional" Jodo-Shinshu scholars, Ohara and Fugen, stress the importance of religious experience.

Unfortunately, the last two scholars mentioned (Professors "S"and "O") criticize reciting the Nembutsu in gratitude after settlement of shinjin (conversion). They both say such an understanding is a distortion of what Shinran taught, and results from the errors of traditional Shinshu scholarship. But in his "Hymn of True Shinjin"(Shoshin-ge), Shinran wrote:

He teaches that the moment one thinks of Amida´s Primal Vow,
One is naturally brought to enter the stage
of the definitely settled;
Solely saying the Tathagata´s Name constantly,
One should respond with gratitude to the Universal Vow
of great compassion.

Further, he wrote in Letter Two of "A Collection of Letters"(Gosho-soku):

Those who feel that their own birth is completely settled should, mindful of the Buddha´s benevolence, hold the Nembutsu in their hearts and say it to respond in gratitude to that benevolence.

Clearly, Shinran considers the Nembutsu to be an expression of gratitude after settlement of our shinjin.

Further, in the Chapter on Transformed Land of his "Teaching, Practice, Shinjin, and Realization,"Shinran wrote:

Having forever entered the ocean of the Vow, I now realize deeply the Buddha´s benevolence. And in "Hymns of the Three Dharma Ages(Shozomatsu Wasan) he wrote: Through the compassion of Shakyamuni and Amida, We have been brought to realize the mind that seeks To attain Buddhahood. It is by entering the wisdom of shinjin That we become able to respond in gratitude to The Buddha´s benevolence.

As expressed above, it is because of settlement of shinjin (conversion) that for the first time we respond in gratitude to the Buddha´s Great Compassion in causing our birth in the Pure Land. In other words, only when our shinjin is settled (conversion) are we able to recite the Buddha´s Name in gratitude, and able to differentiate:

- The Nembutsu before receiving shinjin (often referred to as "empty Nembutsu"(kara Nembutsu) and as "´self-centered effort´Nembutsu" (jiriki Nembutsu) and

- The Nembutsu after receiving shinjin (often referred to as "Nembutsu of gratitude for our indebtedness"(ho-on Nembutsu) and as "´Buddha-centered power´Nembutsu"(tariki Nembutsu).

As can be determined from the passage written by Professor "O". he does not understand Shinran´s words in "Notes on the Once-Calling and the Many-Callings" (Ichinen Tanen Moni) nor Article Nine of the "Notes Lamenting Differences", and implies that the mind of doubt that remains "appears to exist …and not to exist"(14)- that Shinran rejects as being an unrealistic "faith,"is what shinjin in the Shinshu teaching is.

As for the cause of this mistaken understanding, it is simply lack of the religious experience of settlement of shinjin (conversion). The position expressed by Professor "S" may seem reasonable at first, but it comes from the same lack of religious experience as Professor "O." I believe those who criticize my position that the Nembutsu after receiving shinjin is a "Nembutsu of gratitude" (ho-on Nembutsu) by stating that it does not suit the times we live in, and that it comes from scholarship developed during a feudal period, are those without the religious experience of settlement of shinjin (conversion).(15)

I am not, of course, endorsing all doctrinal formulations developed during the traditional period of Shinshu study. It is, however, quite clear that recitation of the Nembutsu after receiving shinjin is an expression of gratitude, and correctly follows as a result of Shinran´s religious experience.

I previously quoted Rennyo´s statement: "Urging others to receive shinjin when you yourself do not have it is like offering to give something when you have nothing to give". How can others receive it? Without the feeling of being saved - expressed as settlement of shinjin - I believe it is meaningless to talk about Jodo-Shinshu even if terms such as "modern interpretation" of that teaching are used.

Without religious experience similar to Shinran´s, explaining Jodo-Shinshu doctrine to cause others to be saved, to save the world, to be of benefit to the world, is impossible. Regardless of how much you try to positively respond to the existential truths of our present as Professor "S" urges, without religious experience, all it becomes is a change in a selfish direction, and is far from a modern foundation for Shinshu studies. Rather, it results in a loss of the essence of Shinshu -- something without value.

To conclude, there´s not much point for those whose shinjin is not settled to even study Jodo-Shinshu. I believe that without shinjin, the Jodo-Shinshu teaching cannot be truly understood nor its flavor savored.

FOOTNOTES:
(1) See my article, Sangan tennyu ni tsuitno kosatsu (Thoughts on Sangan Tennyu) Indo-gaku: Bukkyo Kenkyu 1/38 (Indian Studies: Buddhist Research 1/38, Feb. 1989)
(2) I cannot agree with the position that because Shinran used the character gu, meaning "Broad, wide, universal" rather than den(, meaning "spread, transmit, propagate, teach,"when quoting the Ojo Raisan (In Praise of Birth in the Pure Land) indicates he was not especially interested in propagating the Jodo-Shinshu teaching. (See my article Kyogyoshinsho ni okeru Ojo Raisan inyobun ni tsuite(On the passage quoting the Ojo Raisan in the Kyogyoshinsho), Indo-gaku: Bukkyo Kenkyu, 2/47, March 1999. (Translator´s note: The original in Ojo Raisan uses the character den, meaning "propagate."It was Chisho (Chih-sheng in Chinese) who first used gu for den, and Shinran followed Chisho in that usage. The Collected Works of Shinran: Vol. 1, translates both the original passage from Ojo Raisan and Shinran´s quotation from it in exactly the same way: "To awaken beings everywhere to great compassion…" (pgs. 120 and 238). In the quotation on page 238, the translators added the following footnote to the word "everywhere": "Shinrans marginal note concerning ´everywhere´(literally, ´widely and universally´) Chih-sheng´s Collection of Liturgical Passages has ´widely´ [instead of ´spread´(, which is found in other texts]."])
(3) Refer to Note 2.
(4) See my work Zoku: Jodo-Shinshu ga wakaru hon (translated into English as Misunderstandings of Master Rennyo), Chapter One.
(5) In Chapter One of Tetsuo Yamaori´s  Ningen Rennyo (The Human Rennyo), (JICC Publishing Dept., April, 1993), he wrote: "There is not much point in pursuing when Rennyo had a conversion experience, or making that a main point of inquiry."(pg. 23). Yamaori also says, "From the beginning, his (Rennyo´s) intent was to fight heresy. In order to do that, he continually groped for strategies to engage the minds and hearts of people in general. He tried hard to express Shinran´s experience and the essence of Shinran´s teaching in a way that would capture the uncultivated ears of the masses. Compared to that, he did not even take up the matter of his personal conversion experience. In other words, the fact that he was born a priest means that his determination of shinjin was established from the time of his birth."(pg. 26.) Yamaori´s statement, "…the fact that he (Rennyo) was born a priest means that his shinjin was established from the time of his birth, is the same as saying that Rennyo did not have a conversion experience.
(6) Wakan roei-shu (Collection of Recitations of Japanese/Chinese (Poetry)), Volume II, compiled by Fujiwara-no-kint during the year 1013 CE, published in many modern editions.
(7) The tradition that Rennyo determined to revive the Honganji at the age of fifteen is recorded in a 15th century work, Renjun-ki (Renjun´s Record). Some modern scholars believe this determination to revive the Honganji to be when his shinjin was established (Kazuo Kasahara in his Fumetsu no hito: Rennyo (The Indestructible Person: Rennyo), pg. 20; Nobuhiko Mitsugi in his Watakushi no rennyo (My Rennyo), pg. 16) but cannot agree with them because fifteen is too young for something as life-changing as a conversion experience to take place.
(8) Article 213 of Goichidai Kikigaki (Heard and Record During (Master Rennyo´s) Lifetime) contains the passage: "Those who think they understand the mind of shinjin completely, do not understand. On the other hand, those who feel they do not understand but make every effort to listen to the teaching are those who truly have shinjin."From this, some say that there cannot be an awareness of the determination of shinjin, but as I have explained elsewhere, this is a mistaken notion. Refer to my article, Rennyo shonin no gosaiko no igi (The Significance of "Restoration"in Master Rennyo), Renshi kyogaku kenkyu, Daihachi (Studies on Master Rennyo: Number Eight), Tankyu Publishing Company, October, 1998, page 84.
(9) Although I believe Professor Nishida´s use of "conversion and the determination of shinjin referred to in Jodo-Shinshu cannot be said to be exactly the same, the importance of religious experience (determination of shinjin) is more than apparent in his writings.
(10) You can determine how strongly D.T. Suzuki considered religious experience in Jodo-Shinshu (determination of shinjin) from his essay titled Shukyo keiken no jijitsu (The Reality of Religious Experience) contained in Suzuki daisetsu zenshu, ju no ichi) (Collected Works of D.T. Suzuki).
(11) Since I will be critical of their views, I will omit their names.
(12) Refer to my article Shso ni okeru shinjin to nembutsu (Shinjin and the Nembutsu in the Founder (of the Jodo-Shinshu Teaching), Volume 13 of the Ryukoku University Journal, June 1978, page 47. My article Shuso ni okeru shinjin to nembutsu [2] (Shinjin and the Nembutsu in the Founder (of the Jodo-Shinshu Teaching) [2]), Volume 15 of the Ryukoku University Journal, June, 1980, also contains my thoughts on this matter.
(13) It appears that there is no difference in the positions of these scholars even now. In an interview with Professor "S"published in the Buddhist newspaper Chugai Nippo (May 11, 1995), he said the same thing as in his work referred to above (published during March, 1990). Regarding Professor "O,"refer to my articles: Shinshu daigyo-ron - daijushichi-gan no nembutsu ni tsuite no giron (The Problem of Great Practice in the Jodo-Shinshu Teaching - the 17th Vow and the Nembutsu) published in Bukkyo shiso bunka shi ronso (Collection of Historical Cultural Buddhist Thought) published to commemorate the kanreki (61st birthday) of Ryusei Watanabe, June 1997, and Shinran Shonin no ´naishi junen ron´(The Venerable Master Shinran´s Position on "up to Ten Recitations"(Mentioned in the 18th Vow)) included in a work to commemorate Tensei Kitabatake´s  koki (70th birthday) published during June, 1998.
(14) Complete Works of Shinran.
(15) Regarding this, refer to my Zoku: Jodo-Shinshu ga wakaru hon, translated into English as Misunderstandings of Master Rennyo, page (44), "Shinjin Is The Correct Cause" and "Reciting The Name In Gratitude".

*"This is an English translation of an article in THE JOURNAL OF NIPPON BUDDHIST RESEARCH ASSOCIATION (Academic Journal, 2001 ) 66 / ."
  Bukkyo o ikani manabuka - Shinshugaku no baai -
(http://www.hongwan.net/index.php/%E4%BB%8F%E6%95%99%E3%82%92%E3%81%84%E3%81%8B%E3%81%AB%E5%AD%A6%E3%81%B6%E3%81%8B)