Kobai Sensei’s Shin Buddhism Study Center
This message is being broadcast to those interested in the True Teaching, Practice and Realization of the Pure Land Way, as expounded by both Shinran Shonin and Rennyo Shonin.
Please forward it to anyone who you think would be interested.
Some of you know that several of us have been working on a project to make the True Teaching of Shinran more widely available on the net by providing a teaching website for Eiken Kobai Sensei - one of the world’s leading scholars of True Shin Buddhism.
I’m happy to say that project is now complete. The site URL is
In a day when so much misinformation is being propagated in Shinran’s name, and the Sangha in the west is dying because of it, the site is an invaluable resource for any who want to understand Shinran’s Dharma as it truly is.
The site includes the full text of Kobai Sensei’s two translated books:
- Understanding Jodo Shinshu
- Misunderstandings of Master Rennyo
These books are presented in a format that makes them easy to read and study online - very much like the format of www.shinranworks.com
But the books are just the beginning. There’s more…
Kobai Sensei - who has devoted his entire life to understanding and sharing the True Teaching - is committed to PERSONALLY helping any sincere seeker of Dharma Truth to understand the unique Dharma and wonderful salvation that is offered in Jodo Shinshu.
So, if you have any questions about the Dharma you can contact him directly right from the website. Kobai Sensei will answer any questions you have with authentic and authoritative DHARMA teaching - teaching that is true and real - teaching that is just as relevant to 21st century highly educated people in the English speaking world as it was to 12th century peasants in Japan.
It is impossible to overstate the karmic benefit of having access to a TRUE teacher of Shinran’s TRUE teaching. Such a dharma dialogue can be used by Amida Buddhacan to dispel doubts, clear up confusion, correct critical misunderstandings, and establish the sincere seeker in the same SHINJIN as Honen (Shinran’s teacher), as Shinran, as Yuien (Shinran’s student and author of the Tannisho) and Rennyo (the 8th abbot known as the Restorer of the Sangha).
How important is it to have access to a TRUE teacher? Here are Master Rennyo’s own thoughts in that regard:
Pertaining to the conditions existent towards the realization of rebirth, I (Rennyo) shall establish the Five Conditional Steps here:
- The culmination of related past conditions and circumstances leading one to the Dharma.
- A “Good Teacher of the Dharma.”
- The Light of Amida Buddha.
- Faith - ‘Shinjin’.
- Amida’s Name.
It appears to me that without the presence of all the conditions in these five steps, one will never obtain rebirth.
Therefore, a “Good Teacher of the Dharma’ is a bearer of the message, “Place your reliance on Amida Buddha!
If conditions materialize where there is a culmination of related past conditions and circumstances without the meeting of a “Good Teacher of the Dharma,” rebirth will not be realized.
That is the considered opinion of the second most important figure in the history of the Shin Buddhist community. It’s worthy of your sincere consideration.
By reading Kobai Sensei’s books, and speaking directly with him, you will have access to a GOOD teacher of the Dharma of Jodo Shinshu. You will understand EXACTLY what Master Shinran and Master Rennyo teach - and what they DON’T teach. You will be able to listen deeply - which means listening clearly - to the True Teaching. You will avoid the lamentable divergences being propagated by so many in Shinran’s name. And you will come to the end of your seeking at last, because you will HEAR the Dharma, just as if you were hearing it from Shakyamuni Buddha or Shinran Shonin.
This kind of listening is all we are given to do in the True Pure Land Way, because - as Kobai Sensei says with such clarity - the Buddha Dharma is completed with HEARING.
Of course, some receiving this message have already come to that point - the same settled SHINJIN as Shinran - the same diamondlike SHINJIN - that comes only by such hearing - only by revelation from Amida Buddha himself.
But for many others, not yet settled in SHINJIN, confused by the false teaching being disseminated in Shinran’s name, this encounter with a True Teacher of Shinran’s True Teaching will change their karmic destiny - forever.
Gassho,
Paul R