Lamenting Heresy
Lamenting Heresy
歎異抄 (Jpn Tan’ni-sho )
A work thought to have been written in the thirteenth century by Yuien, a disciple of Shinran, the founder of the True Pure Land ( Jodo Shin) school in Japan.
Some have also attributed it to either Nyoshin or Kakunyo, respectively, the second and third chief priests of Hongan-ji temple, but Yuien's authorship is now generally accepted.
Deploring the erroneous and divergent views proliferating among Shinran's followers after his death, Yuien compiled the teachings he had heard from Shinran in person.
The work consists of eighteen chapters. The first nine chapters cite the late teacher's words, which came to constitute the core doctrines of the True Pure Land school.
The latter nine refute what Yuien saw as the mistaken views of contemporary believers.
This work is regarded as a concise statement of the school's belief in the all-importance of faith in "the power of another," or Amida's grace.
