Rev. Kemmyo Taira Sato has provided us with a comprehensive approach to the Tannisho which has not only been a major text for Jodo Shinshu Pure land faith, but also a classic of Japanese literature. He draws on his association with Dr. D.T. Suzuki as well as his personal religious experience to interpret the subtle nuances of the writing. The Tannisho is a text with great appeal to modern people beyond the Hongwanji institution but also outside of Japan with its focus on personal faith and the significant role of the relationship of the teacher and disciple in spiritual development. The author sets the text on the background of Pure Land Buddhist history in Japan. Rev. Sato has contributed greatly to the further clarification of what is distinctive about Shinran's faith, as a modern faith with its potentiality to liberate the ego from its entanglements with the modern world, as well as presenting the faith as universal and open to all. --Dr. Alfred Bloom, Professor Emeritus, University of Hawaii
