Listener question: Shin Buddhist practice

This time around we respond to a listener question about Shin practice, an issue we’ve tried to tackle before, and one that we’re likely to tackle again. Shin practice raises some complex, doctrinal issues. S we begin with a look at Shan Dao’s Five Practices which include, of course, reciting the name of Amida Buddha. But this issues is not as straightforward as one might expect; is it an exclusionary practice? Or is it alright to do other types of Buddhist practice? Or, as Shinran suggests, is it even possible to practice? Or are we not practicing at all except when we hear the Name being recited by the Buddhas? We meander through all these tricky issues before coming to, of all places, a translation of Shinran’s work by D.T. Suzuki and suggest that Shin practice is to live your life, and in that living reflect on your self, your actions, and your thoughts. Some helpful resources for this episode include our past reflections on Shin practice which can be found here: Podcast episode on practice As well as the Collected Works of Shinran which are available online here: Collected Works of Shinran