Tan-luan

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Tan-luan (Ch: 曇鸞, Jp: Donran), who lived from 467-542, is a Chinese Buddhist monk who lived during the 6th and 7th centuries. He is credited by Hōnen as the founder of Pure Land Buddhism in China. He is also considered the Third Patriarch in Japanese Jodo Shinshu Buddhism.

Tan-luan had originally studied Taoism and sought the Elixir of Life, but after an encounter with a Buddhist monk from India, Tan-luan converted to Buddhism instead.^[1]. According to the Jodo Shinshu hymn, the Shoshinge, Tan-luan then burned his Taoist texts and studied and promoted Pure Land Buddhism from there on out.

Tan-luan later wrote his commentaries on the Larger Sutra of Immeasurable Life. The commentaries taught that the all beings could be reborn in the Pure Land of Amitabha Buddha through sincere recitation of the nembutsu. Tan-luan is also credited for having developed the nembutsu into the six-character phrase (from Sanskrit to Chinese) used throughout Pure Land Buddhism today.^[2]

Tan-luan also had a strong impact on the Fourth Patriarch, Tao-cho who once visited his temple.