Tannishō (A Record in Lament of Divergences)

A short work in eighteen sections compiled by Yuien, a disciple of Shinran, the founder of Jōdo Shinshū (True Pure Land) Buddhism, some decades after his teacher's death. The first ten sections record sayings Yuien heard from Shinran; the rest lament, as the title says, views that had diverged from that teaching. Its central theme is reliance on other-power (tariki), the vow of Amida Buddha to save all beings, rather than self-power (jiriki), the attempt to earn awakening by one's own efforts. The most famous section turns ordinary moral expectation upside down: if even good people are born in the Pure Land, how much more so evil people, since those who know they cannot save themselves are the ones who truly rely on the vow. Shinran also says he has not a single disciple, and that he would have no regrets even if his own teacher had deceived him.

It is one of the most widely read Japanese religious texts, and its radical account of grace, moral failure and humility has drawn comparisons with Luther and engaged modern philosophers such as Tanabe Hajime.