On September 23, 2010, at the I.K. Barber Learning Centre, UBC, Professor Mark Unno spoke before an audience of 60 interested individuals on:
“Shin Buddhism in Interreligious Dialogue: A World of Teaching and Learning”
In his talk, Professor Unno asked: “What is the potential of Shin Buddhism for dialogue with other religious groups in a plural society like Canada?” Drawing from the teachings of the 12th century Japanese Buddhist priest, Shinran, as well as from his own interactions with students and other scholars in religious studies, Unno described meaningful interreligious dialogue as that in which participants realize and accept that no one religion–certainly not Shin Buddhism–possesses the one big truth. Rather, religions possess unique and complementary truths. When different religions share their respective truths with one another in a deep and open way, it allows for a fuller and better understanding of the self and the world.
A scholar of Shin, Shingon, and Zen Buddhism, Mark Unno is Assistant Professor of East Asian Religions at the University of Oregon. He has also taught at Brown University, Carleton College, and Kyoto University. He received his PhD in Buddhist Studies, with an emphasis on Classical Japanese Buddhism, from Stanford University in 1994. He has lectured on Pure Land Buddhism, Zen Buddhism, and Psychology of Religion. Along with his father, he has written about Shin in many popular Buddhist serials such as the Tricycle magazine, the Insight Journal, and Buddhadharma. He is best known for his articles on ethics and social engagement in Shin Buddhism.
Professor Unno is also an ordained Shin Buddhist priest. It was also in connection to his vocation that he visited Vancouver that third week of September. In 2010, the Jōdo Shinshū Buddhist Temples of Canada celebrate the 750th memorial of the death of Shinran. Through the centuries, his descendants and disciples passed down his teachings until these grew into the largest school of Buddhism in Japan. Shin Buddhism came to Canada with Japanese families in the early 20th century, establishing itself here in this country. To mark the 750th memorial, the Jōdo Shinshū Buddhist Temples of Canada held a convention which attracted priests, practioners, and scholars from Canada, United States, and Japan. One of the highlights of this convention was an experiment in walking nenbutsu, a meditational practice in which the participants utter (and perhaps listen to) the name of Amida Buddha.
by Jessica L. Main.
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