Hōnen was the religious reformer and progenitor of the first independent branch of Japanese Pure Land Buddhism called Jōdo-shū. He is also considered the Seventh Jōdo Shinshū Patriarch.
Jōdo Shinshū, also known as Shin Buddhism or True Pure Land Buddhism, is a school of Pure Land Buddhism founded by the former Tendai Japanese monk Shinran.
Daisetsu Teitaro Suzuki, self-rendered in 1894 as "Daisetz", was a Japanese essayist, philosopher, religious scholar, translator, and writer. He was a scholar and author of books and essays on Buddhism, Zen and Shin that were instrumental in spreading interest in both Zen and Shin to the West. Suzuki was also a prolific translator of Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese and Sanskrit literature. Suzuki spent several lengthy stretches teaching or lecturing at Western universities, and devoted many years to a professorship at Ōtani University, a Japanese Buddhist school.
The Graduate Theological Union (GTU) is a consortium of eight private independent American theological schools and eleven centers and affiliates. Seven of the theological schools are located in Berkeley, California. The GTU was founded in 1962 and their students can take courses at the University of California, Berkeley. Additionally, some of the GTU consortial schools are part of other California universities such as Santa Clara University and California Lutheran University. Most of the GTU consortial schools are located in the Berkeley area with the majority north of the campus in a neighborhood known as "Holy Hill" due to the cluster of GTU seminaries and centers located there.
Rennyo was the 8th Monshu of the Hongan-ji Temple of the Jōdo Shinshū sect of Buddhism, and descendant of founder Shinran. Jodo Shinshu Buddhists often referred to him as the restorer of the sect. He was also known as Shinshō-in (信証院), and posthumously Etō Daishi (慧灯大師). During the conflict and welter of the Ōnin War and the subsequent warfare that spread throughout Japan, Rennyo was able to unite most of the disparate factions of the Jodo Shinshu sect under the Hongan-ji, reform existing liturgy and practices, and broaden support among different classes of society. Through Rennyo's efforts, Jodo Shinshu grew to become the largest, most influential Buddhist sect in Japan.
The Pacific School of Religion (PSR) is a private Protestant seminary in Berkeley, California. It maintains covenantal relationships with the United Church of Christ, the United Methodist Church, and the Disciples of Christ, ensuring the school provides the necessary requirements for candidates to seek ordination within these denominations. These three denominations account for approximately half of the student population of PSR. The school has also maintained close relationships with the Unitarian Universalist Association, the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches, the African Methodist Episcopal Church, as well as other denominations. Over the years PSR has provided training for clergy and leaders from a wide range of religious traditions including Buddhists, Jews, Pagans, Pentecostals, and Roman Catholics.
The Buddhist Churches of America is the United States branch of the Nishi Honganji subsect of Jōdo Shinshū Buddhism.
Starr King School for the Ministry is a Unitarian Universalist seminary in Oakland, California. The seminary was formed in 1904 to educate leaders for the growing number of progressive religious communities in the western part of the US. The school emphasizes the practical skills of religious leadership. Today, it educates Unitarian Universalist ministers, religious educators, and spiritual activists, as well as progressive religious leaders from a variety of traditions, including Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, earth-centered traditions, and others.
The Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology (DSPT) is a Catholic graduate school in Berkeley, California. It is a member of the interfaith Graduate Theological Union (GTU) and an affiliate of the University of California Berkeley. DSPT is sponsored by the Dominican Order.
Alfred Bloom was an American Shin Buddhism scholar, who pioneered Jōdo Shinshū studies in the English-speaking world.
The San Francisco Theological Seminary (SFTS) is a seminary in San Anselmo, California with historic ties to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). SFTS became embedded in a new Graduate School of Theology of the University of Redlands in 2019. It was founded by the Synod of California in 1871.
The Honpa Hongwanji Mission of Hawaii is a district of the Nishi (West) Hongwanji branch of Jodo Shinshu Buddhism, a school of Mahayana Pure Land Buddhism.
Ōtani University is a private Buddhist university in Kita-ku, Kyoto, Japan. Ōtani University is a coeducation institution with an emphasis on Buddhist studies. A two-year private junior college is associated with the university. The university is associated with the Ōtani School of Jōdo Shinshū, or Shin, school of Buddhism.
Buddhist studies, also known as Buddhology, is the academic study of Buddhism. The term Buddhology was coined in the early 20th century by the Unitarian minister Joseph Estlin Carpenter to mean the "study of Buddhahood, the nature of the Buddha, and doctrines of a Buddha", but the terms Buddhology and Buddhist studies are generally synonymous in the contemporary context. According to William M. Johnston, in some specific contexts, Buddhology may be viewed as a subset of Buddhist studies, with a focus on Buddhist hermeneutics, exegesis, ontology and Buddha's attributes. Scholars of Buddhist studies focus on the history, culture, archaeology, arts, philology, anthropology, sociology, theology, philosophy, practices, interreligious comparative studies and other subjects related to Buddhism.
Kenneth Ken'ichi Tanaka, also known as Kenshin Tanaka or Ken'ichi Tanaka is a scholar, author, translator and ordained Jōdo Shinshū priest. He is author and editor of many articles and books on modern Buddhism.
Yemyo Imamura(今村恵猛) was a Buddhist priest who was active in Honolulu, Hawaii, and was a leader in the Japanese American community. He was a priest at the Honpa Hongwanji, and started their Young Men's Buddhist Association (YMBA).
Scott A. Mitchell is an American scholar of Buddhism who has written extensively on Buddhism in the United States. He is the current president of the Institute of Buddhist Studies.
Marvin Harada is a Jōdo Shinshū Buddhist minister within the Buddhist Churches of America, and serves as its bishop since 1 April 2020. As bishop of BCA, he also serves as the superintendent of Hongwanji-ha's North American district.
The bishop of the Buddhist Churches of America is the highest spiritual leader in the Buddhist Churches of America (BCA). Since BCA is part of Honganji-ha, the bishop is subordinate to the Monshu of Honganji-ha.
Ji-shū is one of four schools belonging to the Pure Land within Japanese Buddhism. The other three are Jōdo-shū, Jōdo Shinshū and Yūzū Nembutsu. The school has around 500 temples and 3,400,000 followers. Ji-shū means "school of time" and the name is derived from its central teaching of reciting Nembutsu at regular intervals.
