The Essential Shinran: A Buddhist Path of True Entrusting is a compilation of passages from the writings and life story of Shinran Shonin. Shinran, who wrote during the Kamakura Period, was a Japanese monk who founded Jodo Shinshu Buddhism, which eventually became the largest Buddhist sect in Japan. The book (complied by Alfred Bloom, with a foreword by Ruben L.F. Habito) is divided into three major sections: * Shinran’s Life and Legacy * What Do We Know of Shinran in the Ancient Sources? * Shinran Interprets Pure Land Teaching.