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Shinran

Shinran (親鸞) was a Japanese Buddhist monk, who was born in Hino (now a part of Fushimi, Kyoto) at the turbulent close of the Heian Period and lived during the Kamakura Period. Shinran was a pupil of Hōnen and the founder of what ultimately became the Jōdo Shinshū sect of Japanese Buddhism.

Names
Shinran's birthname was Matsuwakamaro. In accordance with Japanese customs, he has also gone by other names, including Hanen, Shakku and Zenshin, and then finally Shinran, which was derived by combining the names of Seshin (Vasubandhu in Japanese) and Donran (Tanluan’s name in Japanese). His posthumous title was Kenshin Daishi. For a while, Shinran also went by the name Fujii Yoshizane. After he was disrobed, he called himself Gutoku Shinran, in a self-deprecating manner which means "stubble-haired foolish one," to denote his status as "neither a monk, nor a layperson".

Biography

According to traditional biographies, Shinran was born on May 21, 1173, to Lord and Lady Arinori, from a branch of the Fujiwara clan, and was given the name Matsuwakamaro. Early in Shinran's life his parents both died. In 1181, desperate to know what happens after dying, he entered the Shōren-in temple near present-day Maruyama Park in Kyoto at age nine. Modern historians contest the identity and date of death of Shinran's parents, suggesting he ordained alongside his father due to instability from the Genpei War. He wrote this poem on entering: "Like the cherry blossom, the heart planning on tomorrow is ephemeral indeed—what sudden storm may not arise in the middle of the night". Acutely aware of his own impermanence, he was desperate to find a solution. He then practiced at Mt. Hiei for the next 20 years of his life. Letters between his wife and daughter indicate that he was a Tendai dōsō (堂僧). According to his own account to his wife Eshinni (whose letters are preserved at the Hongan-ji), in frustration at his own failures as a monk and at obtaining enlightenment, he took a retreat at the temple of Rokkaku-dō. There, while engaged in intense practice, he experienced a vision in which Avalokitesvara appeared to him as Prince Shōtoku, directing Shinran to another disillusioned Tendai monk named Hōnen. In 1201, Shinran met Hōnen and became his disciple. During his first year under Hōnen's guidance, at the age of 29, Shinran attained salvation through Amida's Vow. Though the two only knew each other for a few years, Hōnen entrusted Shinran with a copy of his secret work, the Senchakushū. However his precise status amongst Hōnen's followers is unclear as in the Seven Article Pledge, signed by Hōnen's followers in 1204, Shinran's signature appears near the middle among less-intimate disciples. During his time as a disciple of Hōnen's, Shinran caused a great stir among society by publicly getting married and eating meat. Both practices were strictly forbidden for monks, but Shinran took these drastic steps to show that Amida's salvation is for all people and not just for monks and priests.

In 1207, the Buddhist establishment in Kyoto persuaded the military to impose a nembutsu ban, after an incident where two of Hōnen's most prominent followers were accused of using nembutsu practice as a coverup for sexual liaisons. These two monks were subsequently executed. Hōnen and Shinran were exiled, with Shinran being defrocked and sent to Echigo Province (contemporary Niigata Prefecture). They never met each other again. Hōnen would die later in Kyoto in 1212.

Although Shinran was critical of the motivations that ultimately led to the exile, and the disruption of Hōnen's practice community, the exile itself proved to be a critical turning point in Shinran's religious life. Having been stripped of his monastic name, he renamed himself Gutoku (愚禿), coming to understand himself as neither monk nor layman. In this period, aristocratic exiles were provided land and seed and were required to take up farming, a measure designed to humiliate and humble them, which brought Shinran into the company of many of the lower social classes. While in exile, Shinran sought to continue the work of Hōnen and spread the doctrine of salvation through Amida Buddha's compassion, as expressed through the nembutsu practice, however in time his teachings diverged from Hōnen enough that later followers would use the term Jōdo Shinshū or "True Essence of the Pure Land Sect", as opposed to Jōdo-shū or "Pure Land Sect".

Shinran married his wife, Eshinni, and had seven children with her.

Five years after being exiled in Echigo, in 1211, the nembutsu ban was lifted and Shinran was pardoned though he chose not to return to Kyoto at that time. Instead, Shinran left for an area known as Inada, a small area in Kantō just north of Tokyo. In 1224 Shinran authored his most significant text, Kyogyoshinsho, which is a series of selections and commentaries on Buddhist sutras supporting the new Pure Land Buddhist movement, and establishing a doctrinal lineage with Buddhist thinkers in India and China. In 1234 Shinran left the Kantō area and returned to Kyoto, with his daughter Kakushinni. On returning to Kyoto, Shinran discovered that his eldest son, Zenran (善鸞 1217?–1286?), who remained in Hitachi and Shimotsuke provinces was telling people he received special teachings from Shinran and was otherwise leading people astray. Shinran wrote stern letters to Zenran (frequently addressed by his Buddhist name Jishin-bō (慈信房)) instructing him to cease his activities, but when Zenran refused, Shinran disowned him:

"Hence, from now on there shall no longer exist parental relations with you; I cease to consider you my son. I declare this resolutely to the three treasures and the gods. It is a sorrowful thing. It rends my heart to hear that you have devoted yourself to misleading all the people of the nembutsu in Hitachi, saying that [what they have been taught] is not my true teaching. Rumors have reached as far as Kamakura that I have instructed you to denounce the people in Hitachi who say the nembutsu. It is deeply deplorable."

Shinran died in Kyoto the year 1263 at the age of 90. Kakushinni was instrumental in maintaining the mausoleum, and passing on his teachings, with her descendants ultimately becoming the Monshu, or head of the Honganji Temples built around the Mausoleum.

Timeline

 * 1173: Shinran is born
 * 1175: Hōnen founds the Jōdo-shū sect
 * 1181: Shinran becomes a monk
 * 1201: Shinran becomes a disciple of Hōnen and leaves Mt. Hiei
 * 1207: The nembutsu ban and Shinran's exile
 * 1211: Shinran is pardoned
 * 1212: Hōnen passes away in Kyoto & Shinran goes to Kantō
 * 1224(?): Shinran authors Kyogyoshinsho
 * 1234(?): Shinran goes back to Kyoto
 * 1256: Shinran disowns his son Zenran
 * 1263: Shinran dies in Kyoto

Doctrine
Shinran considered himself a lifelong disciple of Hōnen, in spite of their separation. According to a letter composed by his wife, Eshinni:

"People would say all types of things about where the master [Hōnen] might go. They would even say that he was headed for an evil rebirth (akudō). Whenever people spoke such things, [Shinran] would reply, "I am one who believes that I would even go [with him], since from realm to realm and from rebirth to rebirth I am lost already.""

Hōnen's disciples were said to have been largely divided by questions arising from the need for a single invocation (nenbutsu) of Amitabha's name versus many-callings, and thereby emphasis on faith versus practice. Shinran, like Hōnen's disciple Kōsai, leaned more toward faith over practice, however he did not advocate the single-recitation teaching.

While Shinran's teachings and beliefs were generally consistent with the Pure Land Buddhist movement at the time, he also had idiosyncrasies as well:

Primacy of faith

In any case Shinran, like others in Hōnen's community, felt that in the age of Dharma Decline, it was no longer possible to achieve enlightenment through traditional monastic practices, and thus one could only rely on the vows of Amitabha Buddha, particular the 18th or "Primal Vow" and seek rebirth in the Pure Land. In a passage from his magnum opus, the Kyōgyōshinshō, he writes of himself:

"Therefore, reverencing the expositions of the treatise masters and relying on the exhortations of the religious teachers, I, the Bald-Headed Fool Shinran, abandoned forever the provisional path of manifold practices and good work, and separated myself once and for all from birth in the forest of the twin śāla trees. I turned to the true path, the basis of virtue and good, and gave rise to the aspiration for birth [in the Pure Land] that is difficult to comprehend. But now I have utterly abandoned the expediency of the true path, and have converted to the ocean-like vow singled out [by Amitabha Buddha].  I have separated myself straightaway from the aspiration for birth that is difficult to comprehend, and I long to attain birth that is difficult to fathom...."

In this passage, Shinran explains that he not only gave up traditional monastic practices to focus on rebirth in the Pure Land, but that in time he eventually gave up on practices related to rebirth in the Pure Land, instead relying solely on faith in the vow of Amitabha Buddha.

In the Kyōgyōshinshō, third fascicle, Shinran explores the nature of shinjitsu no shinjin (真実の信心), by describing it as something bestowed by Amitabha Buddha, not arising from the believer. Through this endowment, faith is awakened in a person, and the recitation of the Buddha's name or nembutsu because an expression of praise or gratitude. However, this cannot occur until the believer fully entrusts themselves to Amitabha Buddha, even for a moment. Once this state of faith is bestowed, one is assured of rebirth in the Pure Land, and ultimately enlightenment. Shinran cautions though:

"True faith necessarily entails Amida's name, but Amida's name does not necessarily entail faith, [which is derived] from the power of [Amida's] vow."

Further, once a follower has awakened to this deep faith, one should live life as an expression of gratitude, follow moral conduct and fulfill one's social obligations. As one's faith in Amida deepens, Shinran articulated ten spiritual benefits that develop: Protected by unseen divine beings (myoshu goji), Possessed of the supreme virtue (shitoku gusoku), Having evil turned into good (tenaku jyozen), Protected by all Buddhas (shobutsu gonen), Praised by all Buddhas (shobutsu shyosan), Protected by the Buddha's spiritual light (shinko jogo), Having much joy in mind (shinta kangi), Acknowledging His benevolence and repaying it (chion hotoku), Always practicing the Great Compassion (jyogyo daihi), Entering the Rightly-Established Group (shojyoju ni iru).

Amitabha Buddha and the Pure Land
The last three fascicles of the Kyōgyōshinshō delve into the nature of Amitabha Buddha and the Pure Land. The Pure Land is treated as a temporary refuge whereby one can attain enlightenment, and then return to this world to lead and teach others as a bodhisattva. Elsewhere, Shinran is quoted in the Tannishō (歎異抄) as saying:

"浄土の慈悲といふは、念仏して、いそぎ仏になりて、大慈大悲心をもて、おもふがごとく衆生を利益するをいふべきなり.

Jōdo no jihi to iu wa, nenbutsu shite, isogi hotoke ni narite, daiji-daihi-shin wo mote, omou ga gotoku shujō wo riyaku suru wo iu beki nari.

The compassion in the Path of Pure Land is to quickly attain Buddhahood, saying the nembutsu, and with the true heart of compassion and love save all beings completely as we desire."

On the nature of Amitabha Buddha, Shinran stated that in their true form, both the Buddha and the Pure Land are beyond comprehension, but due to people's ignorance and attachments they can only perceive Amitabha in terms of his physical form described in the sutras, as well as the layout of the Pure Land. If one attains true faith, then upon rebirth in the Pure Land, one can perceive their true form. However, if one's faith is incomplete, or they continue to rely on their own efforts, then they will be reborn in the outer regions of the Pure Land, and will still perceive Amitabha Buddha through physical forms until eventually attaining true faith and proceeding further.

Shinran's definition of Amitabha Buddha as the absolute, equating the Pure Land with Nirvana itself, therefore differed somewhat from traditional interpretations of the Pure Land in Buddhist scripture.

Age of Dharma decline
Shinran's interpretation of the final age of the Dharma, was consistent with other Buddhist thinkers of the time. In particular, he drew inspiration from a Chinese Buddhist master named Tao-cho who centuries earlier taught that in the latter age of the Dharma the Pure Land teachings were the most suitable for the capacities of the people of the time.

Shinran felt that this decline was inevitable, that Japan was already 600 years into age of Dharma Decline, and that people were no longer capable of maintaining Buddhist practice, let alone enlightenment. Thus, only the vow of Amitabha Buddha to save all beings could be relied upon.

Other religious practices
Shinran acknowledged the religious practices of Japan outside the Buddhist tradition, including Shinto kami, spirits, divination, astrology, etc., he believed that they were irrelevant in comparison to the power of Amitabha Buddha. He developed a Japanese Buddhist heresiology that constructed other forms of religious practice as equivalent to demon-worship; his followers would later use this equivocation both to enforce proper interpretations of Shinran's thought and to criticize "heretical" sects of Buddhism such as the Tachikawa-ryu. To this day, omamori, ofuda and other charms are not found in Jodo Shinshu temples.

Cultural legacy

A statue of Shinran Shonin stands in Upper West Side Manhattan, in New York City on Riverside Drive between 105th and 106th Streets, in front of the New York Buddhist Church. The statue depicts Shinran in a peasant hat and sandals, holding a wooden staff, as he peers down at the sidewalk.

Although this kind of statue is very common and often found at Jōdo Shinshū temples, this particular statue is notable because it survived the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, standing a little more than a mile from ground zero. It was brought to New York in 1955. The plaque calls the statue "a testimonial to the atomic bomb devastation and a symbol of lasting hope for world peace."

Shinran's life was the subject of the 1987 film Shinran: Path to Purity, directed by Rentarō Mikuni (in his directorial debut, based on his own novel) and starring Junkyu Moriyama as Shinran. The film won the Jury Prize at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival.

On March 14, 2008, what are assumed to be some of the ash remains of Shinran were found in a small wooden statue at the Jōrakuji temple in Shimogyō-ku, Kyōto. The temple was created by Zonkaku (1290–1373), the son of Kakunyo (1270–1351), one of Shinran's great grandchildren. Records indicate that Zonkaku inherited the remains of Shinran from Kakunyo. The 24.2 cm wooden statue is identified as being from the middle of the Edo period. The remains were wrapped in paper.

In March 2011, manga artist Takehiko Inoue created large ink paintings on twelve folding screens, displayed at the East Hongan Temple in Kyoto. The illustrations on the panels include Shinran and Hōnen leading a group of Heian era commoners on one set of screens and Shinran seated with a bird on the other set.

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Saba (island)

Saba (Saba, ) is a Caribbean island and the smallest special municipality (officially "public body") of the Netherlands. It consists largely of the dormant volcano Mount Scenery, which at 887 m is the highest point of the entire Kingdom of the Netherlands. The island lies in the northern Leeward Islands portion of the West Indies, southeast of the Virgin Islands. Together with Bonaire and Sint Eustatius it forms the BES islands, also known as the Caribbean Netherlands.

Saba has a land area of 13 sqkm. The population was 1,911 in January 2022, with a population density of 147 PD/sqkm. It is the smallest territory by permanent population in the Americas. Its towns and major settlements are The Bottom (the capital), Windwardside, Zion's Hill and St. Johns.

Etymology
Theories about the origin of Saba's name include siba (the Arawakan word for 'rock'), sabot, sábado, and Sheba. The island was referred to by its present name, Saba, as early as 1595 when it appeared in a voyage account by John Hawkins. Before its present name, the island was designated "St. Christopher" (San Cristóbal) by Christopher Columbus.

History
Saba is thought to have been inhabited by the Ciboney people as early as the 1100s BC. Later, circa 800 AD, Arawak people from South America settled on the island.

Christopher Columbus is said to have sighted the island on 13November 1493, however, he did not land, being deterred by the island's perilous rocky shores. In 1632, a group of shipwrecked Englishmen landed upon Saba. In the 1640s, the Dutch governor of the neighbouring island of Sint Eustatius sent several Dutch families over to colonise the island for the Dutch West India Company. In 1664, refusing to swear allegiance to the English crown, these original Dutch settlers were evicted to St.Maarten by Jamaican governors pirates Edward, Thomas, and Henry Morgan. The Netherlands eventually gained complete control of the island in 1816.

In the 17th and 18th centuries, Saba's major industries were sugar, indigo and rum produced on plantations owned by Dutchmen living on St. Eustatius, and later fishing, particularly lobster fishing. To work these plantations, enslaved people were imported from Africa. In the 17th century, Saba was believed to be a favourite hideout for Jamaican pirates. England also deported its "undesirable" people to live in the Caribbean colonies, and some of them also became pirates, a few taking haven on Saba. As the island's coast is forbidding and steep, the island became a private sanctuary for the families of smugglers and pirates. One notable Saban pirate was Hiram Beakes, son of the Dutch councillor of the island.

In August 1857 Venezuela and The Netherlands submitted a dispute over the possession of Isla de Aves to arbitration by the Queen of Spain, because the Netherlands considered the island linked to its colony of Saba by a sand bank, and fishermen from St. Eustatius and Saba had used the place to harvest turtles and birds' eggs, while Venezuela argued that it had inherited the island from Spain which had discovered all the Caribbean islands, that the fishermen were not acting on behalf of any government but for a particular interest and that this island was not attached to the territory that the Netherlands had received.

The Spanish decision of June 30, 1865 declared that the ownership of the Island belonged to Venezuela and that the Netherlands should nevertheless be compensated. It argued that even if the two islands had been united, the sandbank was now separate from the island of Saba and that the first state to have a military force and to exercise sovereignty there had been Venezuela, which had inherited it from the Captaincy General of Venezuela.

During that time, Saba lace, a Spanish form of needlework introduced by a nun from Venezuela, became an important product made by the island's women. Throughout the late 19thcentury and early 20thcentury, the primary source of revenue for the island came from the lacework produced by these women. During this period of time, with most of the island's men gone out to sea for extended periods, the island became known as "The Island of Women".

In 1943, Joseph "Lambee" Hassell, a self-taught engineer, began building a road on Saba, drastically improving transport on the island, which had been carried out only by foot or by mule previously. An airport followed in 1963, and a larger pier geared for tourist boats in 1972. As a result, tourism increased, gradually becoming a major part of the Saban economy.

In 1978 Venezuela and the Kingdom of the Netherlands signed the maritime limits treaty that defined the extension of the Dutch and Venezuelan exclusive economic zone in 2 areas, the first one between the islands of Aruba, Curaçao and Bonaire (in front of the State of Falcon in Venezuela and next to the Los Monjes Archipelago) and a second area further north that includes the islands of Saba and St. Eustatius, the latter taking as a reference the Isla de Aves (the northernmost point of Venezuela in the Caribbean Sea). At that time, the six islands were part of an administrative entity called the Netherlands Antilles. The treaty recognizes an equidistant or median line between the Island of Aves and the Island of Saba as a maritime boundary.

A status referendum was held in Saba on 5November 2004. 86.05% of the population voted for closer links to the Netherlands. This was duly achieved in October 2010, when the Netherlands Antilles was dissolved and Saba became a special municipality of the Netherlands.

Geography and ecology
Saba is a small island at 13 sqkm in size and roughly circular in shape. It lies north-west of Sint Eustatius and south-west of Saint Barthélemy and Sint Maarten. The terrain is generally mountainous, culminating in Mount Scenery in the island's centre. Off the north coast lies the much smaller Green Island.

Saba is the northernmost active volcano in the Lesser Antilles Volcanic Arc chain of islands. At 887 m, Mount Scenery is also the highest point within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The island is composed of a single rhombus-shaped volcano measuring 4.6 km east to west and 4.0 km north to south The oldest dated rocks on Saba are around 400,000 years old, and the most recent eruption was shortly before the 1630s European settlement (280 years B.P.). Between 1995 and 1997, an increase in local seismic activity was associated with a 7 – rise in the temperature of the hot springs on the island's northwest and southeast coasts.

There is an 8.6 ha cloud forest located at and above 825 m on top of the mountain referred to as the "Elfin Forest Reserve" because of its high altitude mist and mossy appearance. The most dominant tree in the cloud forest is the Mountain Mahogany (Freziera undulate), although hurricanes over the years have destroyed a large number of the mature trees. Despite the name, the mountain mahogany is not related to other mahogany species; although one species of true mahogany tree is found on the island at lower levels, the small-leaved mahogany (Swietenia mahagoni). In the underbrush of the mahogany trees, the Sierran palm (Prestoea montana) and tree ferns dominate, with a large variety of epiphytes and Orchids growing on the trunks and branches of all the trees. Wild raspberries and plantain trees can also be found growing on most of the mountain. All seven of the Lesser Antilles Endemic Bird Area restricted-range birds occur in the Elfin Forest Reserve.

Below the cloud forest is a sub-montane forest, and the variety and average number of species are considerably less. Redwood and Mountain fuchsia tree trees grow wild in this zone, as well as cactus species such as the prickly pear, and Seagrape trees. On the lowest southern and eastern slopes of Saba are grassy meadows and scattered shrubs. Saba National Land Park is a 35 ha national park located on the north coast of Saba. Formerly owned by the Sulphur Mining Company, the park was established in January 1998 and the property was officially turned over to the Saba Conservation Foundation in 1999. It stretches from the coastline all the way up to the cloud forest, and encompasses all vegetation zones present on Saba.

The coastline of Saba is mostly rubble and rocky cliffs that are 100 m or taller with mostly cobble and boulder permanent beaches. The steep terrain and sheer bluffs dropping almost straight down to the ocean's edge prevents the formation of mangrove swamps or much vegetation. There are eight bays tucked into the cliffs around the island; Cove Bay, Spring Bay, Core Gut Bay, Fort Bay (location of the island's only port), Tent Bay, Ladder Bay, Wells Bay and Cave of Rum Bay. Saba's coastline also includes the Flat Point Tide Pools, which were created by a large lava flow thousands of years ago. These tide pools are located below the airport at Flat Point, and feature large lava rock formations filled with colorful saltwater pools. The pools are home to diverse marine life, including small fish, sea urchins, crabs, and sea flora.

The shoreline of the island is of particular value to sea birds, and has been designated an Important Bird Area (IBA AN006 – "Saba Coastline") by BirdLife International. Saba is home to about sixty species of birds, many of which are sea birds that use the holes and crevices of the steep cliffs and two small islands for breeding and feed in the waters around the island. Saba's shoreline is home to the Caribbean's largest breeding colony of Red-billed tropicbird (Phaethon aethereus). Other birds include the Common Ground Dove, the Brown Noddy, the Least Sandpiper, and the Yellow-billed Tropicbird. The Audubon's Shearwater (Puffinus lherminieri) is another common bird, and is the national bird of Saba as well as being featured on their coat of arms.

Being an island, Saba is home to a number of endemic species including the Saban black iguana (Iguana iguana melanoderma), Red-bellied racer (Alsophis rufiventris), Saban anole (Anolis sabanus), and Lesser Antillean funnel-eared bat (Natalus stramineus stramineus). However, several non-native species have settled on the island, including the Underwood's spectacled tegu (Gymnophthalmus underwoodi), brahminy blind snake (Indotyphlops braminus), and non-native iguanas, all of which are believed to have arrived on cargo shipments from St. Maarten.

About 4.3 km southwest of the island is the northeastern edge of the Saba Bank, the largest submarine atoll in the Atlantic Ocean with an especially rich biodiversity. Saba Bank is the top of a sea mount and it is a prime fishing ground, particularly for lobster.

Relationship with mainland Netherlands
Saba became a special municipality within the country of the Netherlands after the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles on 10 October 2010 and is not part of a Dutch province. The island's constitutional status, as well as those of Sint Eustatius and Bonaire, is set out in the Law on the Public Entities BES (Dutch: Wet op de Openbare Lichamen BES).

Sabans vote for members of the Dutch House of Representatives, the members of which are elected on a party-list proportional method. During the 2017 Dutch general election, a majority of Sabans voted for Democrats 66. Of the island's 2,000 residents, 900 were eligible to vote, and of those, 42.8% (or 385 people) voted.

Sabans with Dutch nationality are allowed to vote in elections for the Electoral College to elect the members of the Dutch Senate. The 2019 elections on Saba, held concurrently with the 2019 Island Council Elections resulted in four of the five Saban seats in the Electoral College going to the Windward Islands People's Movement and one seat going to the Saba Labour Party.

Governor
The island governor is the head of the government of Saba. The Dutch monarch appoints the governor for a term of six years, and he or she falls under the supervision of the minister of the interior and kingdom relations. The island governor chairs meetings of both the Island Council and the Executive Council.

They are also responsible for representing the island's government both in and out of court, maintaining public order, implementing policy and legislation, coordinating with other governments, and receiving and handling complaints about the island's government.

The incumbent island governor is Jonathan G. A. Johnson.

Legislature
Saba's legislative body is the Island Council, of which there are five members. Councillors are elected by the citizens of the island every four years. The Island Council holds the power to:
 * Appoint and remove commissioners of the Executive Council.
 * Pass ordinances to be enforced by the Executive Council.
 * Ask questions of the Executive Council.
 * Begin an investigation into the governor or the Executive Council.
 * Approve the budget.

Following the 2023 island elections, the Windward Islands People's Movement (WIPM) holds three seats on the Island Council, while the new Party for Progress, Equality, and Prosperity held two. In 2019, Esmeralda Johnson was the youngest person ever to be elected to the council.

Members of the Island Council are:

Executive
The Executive Council, appointed by the Island Council, acts as the executive branch of government. The council has the following responsibilities:

 * Day-to-day administration of the island, except for duties reserved for the Island Council or the governor.
 * Executing policies and legislation passed by the Island Council.
 * Establishing rules regarding the administration of the island, except the Registry.
 * Appointing, promoting, suspending, or dismissing public officials, except those working for and including the registrar.
 * Preparing defence of the island.
 * Maintaining contact with Dutch ministries in the Hague.
 * Executing policies and legislation from the national government.

The council appoints the island secretary, currently Tim Muller.

The council consists of the island governor and two commissioners appointed by the Island Council, currently both members of the WIPM. Each member of the Executive Council is assigned portfolios to oversee.

Society
The population of Saba (the Sabans) was 2,010 in 2017. Saba's small size has led to a fairly small number of island families, who can trace their last names back to around a half-dozen families. This means that many last names are shared across the island, the most numerous being Hassell, Johnson and Every; these three names are shared by upwards of 30% of Saba's population.

Most families' ancestry is a result of the intermixing of Africans, Dutch, English, and Scottish. The population is also partly descended from the Irish who were exiled from that country after the accession of King Charles I of England, Scotland and Ireland in 1625. Charles exiled these Irish to the Caribbean in an effort to quell a rebellion after he had forcibly procured their lands for his Scottish noble supporters.

Historically, Saba was traded among the many European nations that fought for power in the region. Slaves from Africa were also imported to work on Saba. In recent years Saba has become home to a large group of expatriates, and around 250 immigrants who are either students or teachers at the Saba University School of Medicine.

Languages
Both English and Dutch are spoken on the island and taught in schools, and both languages are official. Despite the island's Dutch affiliation, English is the principal language spoken on the island and has been used in its school system since the 19th century. Dutch is spoken by 34% of the population, while English is spoken by over 96% of the population.

The majority (67%) of Sabans speak more than one language, including English, Dutch, Spanish, Papiamento, and many others. English is the medium of instruction in Saba schools. Dutch government policy towards Saba and other SSS islands promotes English-medium education. English can therefore be used in communications of and to the government.

Saban English is the local English vernacular spoken on the island. It has previously been described as a decreolized variety of Virgin Islands Creole English. The first dictionary of Saban English was published in 2016.

Religion
Saba has a predominantly Christian population. The main denominations are Catholicism (45%), Non-denominational Christianity (18%), Anglicanism (9%), Evangelicalism (4%), and Pentecostalism 4%, with an additional 11% adhering to other Christian denominations. In addition, 6% of the population is Muslim.

The first contact with Christians on the island occurred with the visit of Christopher Columbus in 1493, but this did not mean the immediate arrival of the Catholic Church. It is believed that the first Christian groups to settle on the island were Protestants coming from the Netherlands in 1640.

During the period of nominal Spanish domination, the island was included in the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Puerto Rico

The oldest church on record is the Christuskerk (Christ Church), of the Anglican denomination, which was renovated in 1777 after being damaged by a hurricane, and whose exact date of construction is unknown. In the same year, Pastor Kirkpatrick also requested permission from the Dutch commander Johannes de Graaff to officially establish the Anglican Church in Saba before that some locals used the Reformed Church of the Netherlands to celebrate their baptisms.

Although the Roman Catholic Church is currently very active on Saba, it did not establish itself on the island until quite late. One of the earliest contacts includes the visit of Père Labat in 1701.

The island was also visited by the Prefect Apostolic of the Catholic Church for the Dutch Colonies in the Caribbean in 1836 Monsignor Martinus Niewindt, according to his report there was no Catholic priest to attend the island at that time. He returned in May of the same year with the Venezuelan priest Manuel Romero who had settled in Curaçao 1 year earlier for political reasons. Communication was difficult at first because neither of the two priests spoke English, Romero spoke only Spanish and Niewindt spoke only French and Dutch. In June 1836, the first Catholic mass on the island was officially celebrated in Saba, and five children were presented for baptism.

The oldest Catholic Church on record and still functioning today is St. Paul's Conversion Church in Windward, which dates back to 1860.

Missionary activity, the arrival of immigrants from other parts of the Netherlands and other territories in the Caribbean and Europe made the Catholic Church the most popular denomination in the present day, as it represents nearly half of the population.

Health and healthcare
The A.M. Edwards Medical Center is the major provider of healthcare for local residents. The center was built in 1980 and renovated in 2019. Home healthcare is available for Sabans who require medical care in their own home. Saba also has an assisted living facility located in the H.C. Every building.

Saba has a hyperbaric chamber located at Fort Bay Harbor, as scuba diving is a popular tourist activity on Saba.

Same-sex marriage
In Saba (as in Bonaire and Sint Eustatius), marriage is open to same sex and opposite sex couples following the entering in force of a law enabling same-sex couples to marry on 10 October 2012. The first same-sex marriage was performed on Saba on 4 December 2012 between a Dutch man and a Venezuelan man, both residing in Aruba, where same-sex marriage is not performed.

Economy
Since 2011, the U.S. dollar has been the official currency, replacing the Netherlands Antillean guilder.

Agriculture
Agriculture on Saba is primarily livestock and vegetables, especially potatoes. Saba lace, also known as "Spanish work", is actually drawn thread work and is still produced on the island.

Tourism
The tourism industry now contributes more to the island's economy than any other sector. There are about 15,000 visitors each year. Saba has a number of inns, hotels, rental cottages and restaurants. Saba is known as the "Unspoiled Queen" of the Caribbean. Saba is especially known for its ecotourism, having exceptional scuba diving, climbing and hiking.

The Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport offers flights to and from the nearby islands of St. Maarten and Sint Eustatius. There is also a ferry service from St. Maarten; the ferry boats "Dawn II ~ The Saba Ferry" and "The Edge" both travel to Saba three times a week. In addition, there are anchorages for private boats.

About 150 species of fish have been found in Saba's waters. A main draw for divers are the pinnacle dive sites, where magma pushed through the sea floor to create underwater towers of volcanic rock that start at about 300 ft down and rise to about 85 ft beneath the surface. The waters around Saba were designated as the Saba National Marine Park in 1987, and are subject to government regulation to preserve the coral reefs and other marine life. Since 1991 the Saba Conservation Foundation has operated a hyperbaric chamber in case of diving emergencies.

Transport
There is one main road, known as "The Road". Its construction was masterminded by Josephus Lambert Hassell who, contrary to the opinion of Dutch and Swiss engineers, believed that a road could be built. He took a correspondence course in civil engineering and started building the road with a crew of locals in 1938. In 1943, the first section of the road from Fort Bay to The Bottom was completed. In 1947, the first motor vehicle arrived. In 1951, the road to Windwardside and St. Johns was opened. In 1958, the road was completed.

Driving "The Road" is considered to be a daunting task, and the curves in Windwardside are extremely difficult to negotiate. Driving is on the right hand side. The speed limit in towns is 20 km/h, and outside of towns, is 40 km/h.

In 1963, Saba residents built the Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport. This 400 m landing strip is reputed to be the shortest commercial runway in the world, and is restricted. Only trained pilots flying small STOL airliners, such as the Twin Otter and the Britten-Norman Islander may land there, as well as helicopters.

In 1972, a pier was completed in Fort Bay to access the island. Travel is also provided by ferry services to and from Sint Maarten with the Makana and The Edge ferries.

Of note are 800 steps carved from stone, known as "The Ladder", which reach from Ladder Bay to the settlement known as The Bottom. Until the late 20th century, everything that was brought to the island in boats and ships was carried up by hand using these steps. The steps are now often used by tourists who wish to experience an intense climb.

Energy
Like many Caribbean islands, Saba is dependent on fossil fuels imports, which leaves it vulnerable to global oil price fluctuations that directly impact the cost of electricity. Electricity supply depends on a diesel power plant to supply 60% of the island's demand. In 2019, solar parks in Hell's Gate (adjacent to the airport) and The Bottom became operational. For up to 10 hours a day, the entire island of Saba is powered by solar energy from these two solar parks and their battery storage.

According to a report by the Low Emission Development Strategies Global Partnership (LEDS GP), the Government of Saba made the decision to transform the island to 100% sustainable energy to eventually eliminate dependence on fossil fuel-generated electricity. This new energy policy is defined by the 'Social development plan 2014–2020' and 'Saba's energy sector strategy'. Intermediate targets are 20% renewable electricity by 2017, which was reached in 2018; and 40% by 2020, which is expected to be reached by March 2019.

Education
The primary school is Sacred Heart Primary School in St. John's. There is also one secondary and vocational school in Saba, the Saba Comprehensive School in St. John's.

Saba University School of Medicine is a for-profit medical school located in The Bottom, Saba's capital. The medical school was established by American expatriates in coordination with the government of the Netherlands. The school adds over 400 residents when classes are in session, and it is the prime educational attraction.

Culture
The lifestyle on Saba is generally slow with little nightlife, even with the emergence of an ecotourism industry in the last few decades. Sabans are proud of their history of environmental conservation, calling Saba "The Unspoiled Queen".

Saban women continue to make two traditional island products, Saba Lace and Saba Spice. Saba Lace is hand-stitched lace, which the island's women began making in the late 19th century and built into a thriving mail-order business with the United States. Saba Spice is a rum drink, brewed with a combination of spices.

As in other Caribbean locations, Sabans throw an annual Carnival. Saba's Carnival takes place the last week in July and includes parades, steel bands, competitions, and food.

Another event held in the capital The Bottom is 'Saba Day'. This is the national day of the island in which all offices, schools and stores are closed. The island celebrates its diversity and culture through various activities and parades. The Bottom holds host to a concert at the sports field where local and other Caribbean artists come to perform. A wahoo fishing tournament is also held during Saba Day and attracts boats from neighboring islands such as St. Maarten, St. Eustatius, and St. Barths.

Media
There is one radio station on Saba, "Saba Radio" broadcasts on 93.9 FM and 1410 AM.

There is one online newspaper in Saba, Saba News, which publishes local news as well as pieces from the rest of the Dutch Caribbean.

Museums
The Harry L. Johnson Museum in Windwardside features exhibits that include collections from the 19th and early 20th centuries, including period photographs of Dutch royalty, antique furniture, a 100-year old organ harmonium, and a stone hearth, as well as objects from archaeological sites of the island's first inhabitants.

The Bottom's Major Osman Ralph Simmons Museum, founded by Major Osmar Ralph Simmons, a former island police officer for more than 40 years, preserves and displays objects he found on the island.

Sports
The most popular sports on Saba are football, futsal, softball, basketball and volleyball. The Saba Volleyball Association is a member of ECVA and NORCECA.

Notable Sabans

 * Cornelia Jones, innkeeper and politician
 * Barbara Kassab-Every, Saba-born landscape painter

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Saba (island)


text:
Sint Eustatius

Sint Eustatius, known locally as Statia , is an island in the Caribbean. It is a special municipality (officially "public body") of the Netherlands.

The island is in the northern Leeward Islands, southeast of the Virgin Islands. Sint Eustatius is immediately to the northwest of Saint Kitts and southeast of Saba. The regional capital is Oranjestad. The island has an area of 21 km2. Travelers to the island by air arrive through F. D. Roosevelt Airport.

Formerly part of the Netherlands Antilles, Sint Eustatius became a public body of the Netherlands in 2010. It is part of the Dutch Caribbean, which consists of Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, Saba, Sint Eustatius, and Sint Maarten. Together with Bonaire and Saba, it forms the BES Islands, also referred to as the Caribbean Netherlands.

Etymology
The island's name, Sint Eustatius, is Dutch for Saint Eustace (also spelled Eustachius or Eustathius), a legendary Christian martyr, known in Spanish as San Eustaquio and in Portuguese as Santo Eustáquio or Santo Eustácio.

The island's prior Dutch name was Nieuw Zeeland ('New Zeeland'), named by the Zeelanders who settled there in the 1630s. It was renamed Sint Eustatius shortly thereafter.

The indigenous name for the island is Aloi meaning "cashew island" (origin Arawak).

History
The earliest inhabitants were Caribs believed to have come from the Amazon basin (South America) and migrated north from Venezuela via the Lesser Antilles. In the early 20th century, settlement traces were discovered at Golden Rock and Orange Bay. Multiple pre-Columbian sites have been found on the island, most notably the site referred to as the "Golden Rock Site".

While the island may have been seen by Christopher Columbus in 1493, the first recorded sighting was in 1595 by Sir Francis Drake and Sir John Hawkins. From the first European settlement in the 17th century, until the early 19th century, St. Eustatius changed hands twenty-one times between the Netherlands, Britain, and France.

In 1625, English and French settlers arrived on the island. In 1629, the French built a wooden battery at the present-day location of Fort Oranje. Both the English and the French left the island within a few years due to lack of drinkable water.

In 1636, the chamber of Zeeland of the Dutch West India Company took possession of the island, reported to be uninhabited at the time. In 1678 the islands of St. Eustatius, Sint Maarten and Saba were under the direct command of the Dutch West India Company, with a commander stationed on St. Eustatius to govern all three. At the time, the island was of some importance for the cultivation of tobacco and sugar. More important was the role of St. Eustatius in the trans-Atlantic slave trade and the intercolonial slave trade.

Slave trade and free port
Sint Eustatius became the most profitable asset of the Dutch West India Company and a transit point for enslaved Africans in the transatlantic slave trade. The ruins of the Waterfort on the southwest coast of the island are reminders of this past. A slave house of two floors was in the Waterfort. Plantations of sugarcane, cotton, tobacco, coffee and indigo were established on the island and worked with labor of enslaved Africans. In 1774 there were 75 plantations on the island with names such as Gilboa, Kuilzak, Zelandia, Zorg en Rust, Nooit Gedacht, Ruym Sigt and Golden Rock.

In the 18th century, St. Eustatius's geographical placement in the middle of Danish (Virgin Islands), British (Jamaica, St. Kitts, Barbados, Antigua), French (St. Domingue, Ste. Lucie, Martinique, Guadeloupe) and Spanish (Cuba, Santo Domingo, Puerto Rico) territories—along with its large harborage, neutrality and status from 1756 as a free port with no customs duties—were all factors in it becoming a major point of transhipment of captured Africans, goods, and a locus for trade in contraband. Transshipment of captured Africans to the British, French, and Spanish islands of the eastern Caribbean was significant enough that the colonists built a two-story slave house at the fortress Amsterdam (also known as Waterfort) to serve as a depot of enslaved Africans until around 1740. The depot housed about 400-450 people. St. Eustatius's economy flourished under the Dutch by ignoring the monopolistic trade restrictions of the British, French and Spanish islands; it became known as the "Golden Rock". Edmund Burke said of the island in 1781: "It has no produce, no fortifications for its defence, nor martial spirit nor military regulations ... Its utility was its defence. The universality of its use, the neutrality of its nature was its security and its safeguard. Its proprietors had, in the spirit of commerce, made it an emporium for all the world. ... Its wealth was prodigious, arising from its industry and the nature of its commerce."

"First Salute"

The island sold arms and ammunition to anyone willing to pay, and it was therefore one of the few places from which the young United States could obtain military stores. The good relationship between St. Eustatius and the United States resulted in the noted "First Salute".

On November 16 1776, the 14-gun American brig Andrew Doria commanded by Captain Isaiah Robinson sailed, flying the Continental Colors of the fledgling United States, into the anchorage below St. Eustatius's Fort Oranje. Robinson announced his arrival by firing a thirteen gun salute, one gun for each of the thirteen American colonies in rebellion against Britain. Governor Johannes de Graaff replied with an eleven-gun salute from the cannons of Fort Oranje (international protocol required two guns fewer to acknowledge a sovereign flag). It was the first international acknowledgment of American independence. The Andrew Doria had arrived to purchase munitions for the American Revolutionary forces. She was carrying a copy of the Declaration of Independence which was presented to Governor De Graaff. An earlier copy had been captured by the British on its way to Holland. It was wrapped in documents that the British believed to be a strange cipher, but were actually written in Yiddish, addressed to Jewish merchants in Holland.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt visited St. Eustatius for two hours on 27 February 1939 on USS Houston to recognise the importance of the 1776 "First Salute". He presented a large brass plaque to St. Eustatius, displayed today under a flagpole atop the walls of Fort Oranje, reading:

"In commemoration to the salute to the flag of the United States, Fired in this fort November 16. 1776, By order of Johannes de Graaff, Governor of Saint Eustatius, In reply to a National Gun-Salute, Fired by the United States Brig of War Andrew Doria, Under Captain Isaiah Robinson of the Continental Navy, Here the sovereignty of the United States of America was first formally acknowledged to a national vessel by a foreign official. Presented by Franklin Delano Roosevelt, President of the United States of America"

The recognition provided the title for Barbara W. Tuchman's 1988 book The First Salute: A View of the American Revolution.

Capture by British Admiral Rodney 1781
The British took the Andrew Doria incident seriously, and protested bitterly against the continuous trade between the United Colonies and St. Eustatius. In 1778, Lord Stormont claimed in Parliament that, "if Sint Eustatius had sunk into the sea three years before, the United Kingdom would already have dealt with George Washington". Nearly half of all American Revolutionary military supplies were obtained through St. Eustatius. Nearly all American communications to Europe first passed through the island. The trade between St. Eustatius and the United States was the main reason for the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War of 1780–1784. Notably, the British Admiral George Brydges Rodney, having occupied the island for Great Britain in 1781, urged the commander of the landing troops, Major-General Sir John Vaughan, to seize "Mr. Smith at the house of Jones – they (the Jews of St. Eustatius, Caribbean Antilles) cannot be too soon taken care of – they are notorious in the cause of America and France." The war was disastrous for the Dutch economy.

Britain declared war on the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands on 20 December 1780. Even before officially declaring war, Britain had outfitted a massive battle fleet to take and destroy the weapons depot and vital commercial centre that St. Eustatius had become. British Admiral George Brydges Rodney was appointed the commander of the battle fleet. 3 February 1781, the massive fleet of 15 ships of the line and numerous smaller ships transporting over 3,000 soldiers appeared before St. Eustatius prepared to invade. Governor De Graaff did not know about the declaration of war. Rodney offered De Graaff a bloodless surrender to his superior force. Rodney had more than 1,000 cannon to De Graaff's one dozen cannon and a garrison of sixty men. De Graaff surrendered the island, but first fired two rounds as a show of resistance in honour of Dutch Admiral Lodewijk van Bylandt, who commanded a ship of the Dutch Navy which was in the harbor. Ten months later, the island was conquered by the French, allies of the Dutch Republic in the war. The Dutch regained control over the looted and plundered island in 1784.

A series of disastrous French and British occupations of Sint Eustatius from 1795 to 1815 diverted trade to the occupiers' islands. St. Eustatius's economy collapsed, and the merchants, including the Jews left. St. Eustatius reverted permanently to Dutch control from 1816.

At its peak, St. Eustatius may have had a largely transient population of about 10,000 people. Most were engaged in commercial and maritime interests. A census list of 1790 gives a total population (free and enslaved people combined) of 8,124. Commerce revived after the British left. Many of the merchants (including the Jews) returned to the island. However, French and British occupations from 1795 disrupted trade and also the North-Americans, now globally recognised as an independent nation, had meanwhile developed their own trading network and did not need St. Eustatius anymore. The island was eclipsed by other Dutch ports, such as those on the islands of Curaçao and Sint Maarten. During the last years of the 18th century Statia developed trade in bay rum. The economy declined in the early 19th century. From about 1795 the population declined, dropping to 921 in 1948.

Jewish population
The first record of Jews on St. Eustatius dates to 1660. The Jews were mainly merchants with significant international trading and maritime commercial ties. Jews were captains, owners or co-owners with Christian partners, of significant numbers of ships originating out of St. Eustatius. A few were island plantation owners. Jews were estimated to have composed at least 10% of the permanent population of St. Eustatius. Ten days after the island surrendered to the British on 3 February 1781, Rodney ordered that the entire Jewish male adult population assemble for him. They were rounded up and thirty one heads of families were summarily deported to St. Kitts without word or mercy to their dependents. The choice of exiling the Jews to St. Kitts was significant. The nearby British colony of Nevis had a large Jewish population and an established community capable of aiding the refugees. St. Kitts did not have any Jewish community or population. The other seventy-one were locked up in the weighing house in Lower Town where they were held for three days.

Expulsion of Americans followed on 23 February, of merchants from Amsterdam on 24 February and of other Dutch citizens and Frenchmen on 5 March. The crews of the Dutch ships Rodney took were sent to St. Kitts for imprisonment – after first stripping them of all their belongings. Because of their maltreatment, many perished. The Jews were well received on St. Kitts – where many knew them as their respected business partners. They were supported in their protest against their deportation and it proved successful. They were allowed to return to St. Eustatius after a few weeks to observe all their property being sold at small fractions of the original value after having been confiscated by Rodney. There were numerous complaints about "individuals of both sexes being halted in the streets and being body searched in a most scandalous way." Pieter Runnels, an eighty-year-old member of the island council and captain of the civic guard, did not survive the rough treatment he received aboard Rodney's ship. He, a member of one of the island's oldest-established families, became the only civilian casualty of the British occupation.

Rodney singled out the Jews: the harshness was reserved for them alone. He did not do the same to French, Dutch, Spanish or even the American merchants on the island. He permitted the French to leave with all their possessions. Rodney was concerned that his unprecedented behavior would be repeated upon British islands by French forces when events were different. However, Governor De Graaff was also deported. As he did with all other warehouses, Rodney confiscated the Jewish warehouses, looted Jewish personal possessions, even cutting the lining of their clothes to find money hidden in there. When Rodney realized that the Jews might be hiding additional treasure, he dug up the Jewish cemetery.

Later, in February 1782, Edmund Burke, the leading opposition member of the Whig Party, upon learning of Rodney's actions in St. Eustatius, rose to condemn Rodney's actions in Parliament:

...and a sentence of general beggary pronounced in one moment upon a whole people. A cruelty unheard of in Europe for many years… The persecution was begun with the people whom of all others it ought to be the care and the wish of human nations to protect, the Jews… the links of communication, the mercantile chain… the conductors by which credit was transmitted through the world... a resolution taken to banish this unhappy people from the island. They suffered in common with the rest of the inhabitants, the loss of their merchandise, their bills, their houses, and their provisions; and after this they were ordered to quit the island, and only one day was given them for preparation; they petitioned, they remonstrated against so hard a sentence, but in vain; it was irrevocable.

The synagogue and the cemetery

From about 1815, when there was no longer a viable Jewish community using and maintaining the synagogue on St. Eustatius, it gradually fell into ruin.

The synagogue building, known as Honen Dalim, (He who is charitable to the Poor) was built in 1737. Permission for building the synagogue came from the Dutch West India Company, additional funding came from the Jewish community on Curaçao. Permission was conditional on the fact that the Jewish house of worship would be sited where "the exercise of their (Jewish) religious duties would not molest those of the Gentiles". The building is off a small lane called Synagogue Path, away from the main street. The synagogue attested to the wealth of the Jews of St. Eustatius and their influence on the island.

In 2001, its walls were restored as part of the Historic Core Restoration Project, although there are no known images showing what the synagogue looked like when still in use, so that archeological research is attempting to restore the structure to the best estimate of its former condition. The grounds include a Jewish ritual bath (mikveh) and an oven used on Passover. A restored and respectfully maintained Jewish cemetery is next to the Old Church Cemetery, at the top of Oranjestad, Sint Eustatius.

Slave Revolt of 1848
After 1848, slavery only existed on the Dutch and Danish Eastern Caribbean islands, which caused unrest on the islands colonized by the Netherlands. As a result, a proclamation declared on 6 June 1848 on Sint Maarten that enslaved Africans would be treated as free persons.

Unrest also arose on Sint Eustatius. On 12 June 1848, a group of free and enslaved Africans gathered in front of Lieutenant Governor Johannes de Veer's home demanding their declaration of liberty, increased rations, and more free hours. The Island Governor addressed the group, but it persisted in its demands. The militia was mobilized and, after consultation with the Colonial Council and the main residents, an attack was decided by the Lieutenant Governor. After another warning to leave the city or otherwise experience the consequences, fire was opened on the group. The insurgents fled the city, leaving two or three seriously injured. From a hill just outside the city they pelted the militia with stones and pieces of rock. A group of 35 shooters stormed the hill, killing two insurgents and injuring several. The six leaders of the uprising were exiled from the island and transferred to Curaçao. Thomas Dupersoy, a free African, is considered the chief leader of the uprising. One of the other leaders sent a death notice to his owner in 1851. After the uprising, the largest plantation owners on Sint Eustatius decided to give their enslaved workers a certain wage for fear of repetition of revolt.

Abolition of slavery
In 1863 slavery was officially abolished in the Netherlands. The Dutch were among the last to abolish slavery. The freed slaves no longer wanted to live in the field and moved to the city. Due to a lack of trade, the bay of Sint Eustatius underwent a recession. Natural disasters such as the hurricane of September 1928 and May 1929 accelerated the process of economic decline on the island.

Dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles
Sint Eustatius became a member of the Netherlands Antilles when that grouping was created in 1954. Between 2000 and 2005 the member islands of the Netherlands Antilles voted on their future status. In a referendum on 8 April 2005, 77% of Sint Eustatius voters voted to remain within the Netherlands Antilles, compared to 21% who voted for closer ties with the Netherlands. None of the other islands voted to remain.

After the other islands decided to leave, ending the Netherlands Antilles, the island council opted to become a special municipality of the Netherlands, like Saba and Bonaire. This process was completed in October 2010. In 2011 the island officially adopted the US dollar as its currency.

Geography
Sint Eustatius is 6 miles (10 km) long and up to 3 miles (5 km) wide. Topographically, the island is saddle-shaped, with the 602 m high dormant volcano Quill (Mount Mazinga), (from Dutch kuil, meaning 'pit'—originally referring to its crater) to the southeast and the smaller summits of Signal Hill/Little Mountain (or Bergje) and Boven Mountain to the northwest. The Quill crater is a popular tourist attraction on the island. The bulk of the island's population lives in the flat saddle between the two elevated areas, which forms the centre of the island.

Climate
St. Eustatius has a tropical monsoon climate. Tropical storms and hurricanes are common. The Atlantic hurricane season runs from 1 June to 30 November, sharply peaking from late August through September. Tropical Cyclone Climatology

Nature
As St. Eustatius is a volcanic island and very small, all of the beaches on the island are made up of black volcanic sand. These volcanic sands, especially one of the more popular nesting beaches called Zeelandia, are very important nesting sites for several endangered sea turtles such as: the green turtle, leatherback, loggerhead and hawksbill. Sint Eustatius is home to one of the last remaining populations of the critically endangered Lesser Antillean iguana (Iguana delicatissima). The population was strongly affected during the high-intensity hurricane year of 2017, with especially Hurricane Maria, during which the population declined by 25%.

National parks
Sint Eustatius has three nature parks – on land and at sea: the Sint Eustatius National Marine Park, Quill/Boven National Park, and Miriam Schmidt Botanical Garden. Two of them have national park status. These areas have been designated as important bird areas. The nature parks are maintained by the St Eustatius National Parks Foundation (STENAPA).

Archaeology
Due to its turbulent history, Sint Eustatius is rich in archaeological sites. Nearly 300 sites have been documented. The island is said to have the highest concentration of archaeological sites of any area of comparable size. In the 1920s, J. P. B. de Josselin de Jong conducted archaeological research into Saladoid sites on the island and in the 1980s a great deal of research at the Golden Rock site was done by archaeologist Aad Versteeg of Leiden University. Around 1981, under the direction of archaeologist Norman F. Barka, the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia also started archaeological research on Sint Eustatius. The documented archaeological sites include prehistoric sites, plantations, military sites, commercial trading sites (including shipwrecks), and urban sites (churches, government buildings, cemeteries, residences). The St. Eustatius Center for Archaeological Research (SECAR) has been conducting archaeological research on the island since 2004 including excavations at the Godet African Burial Ground and the Golden Rock African Burial Ground.

In June 2021, SECAR became involved in protests against excavations at the 18th-century burial ground Golden Rock on the island. The Ubuntu Connected Front and other concerned citizens of Sint Eustatius denounced the non-involvement of the community in the excavation process through a petition and letters to the government. The majority of the population on St. Eustatius are of African descent. Participation in cultural heritage, i.e. involving the community whose ancestors are being excavated, is good practice in contemporary archaeology. Archaeological excavations on St. Eustatius apparently fall under the old Monuments Act for the BES islands that is very brief on these issues. The 2016 Dutch Heritage Act offers more protection for cultural heritage. The Committee on Kingdom Relations asked Secretary of State Raymond Knops questions about the matter. The Statia Heritage and Research Commission (SHRC) set up by the government of St. Eustatius investigated the allegations of the protest groups and published its report in January 2022.

Population
As of January 2022, the population was 3,242, with a population density of 154 inhabitants per square kilometre.

Language
The official language is Dutch, but English is the "language of everyday life" on the island and education is solely in English. A local English-based creole is also spoken informally. More than 52% of the population speak more than one language. The most widely spoken languages are English (92.7%), Dutch (36%), Spanish (33.8%) and Papiamento (20.8%).

Religion
The population of Sint Eustatius is predominantly Christian. The main denominations are Methodism (28.6%), Roman Catholicism (23.7%), Seventh-Day Adventist (17.8%), Pentecostalism (7.2%) and Anglicanism (2.6%).

Economy
In the 18th century, "Statia" was the most important Dutch island in the Caribbean and was a center of great wealth from trading. At this time it was known as the "Golden Rock" because of its immense wealth. A very large number of warehouses lined the road that runs along Oranje Bay; most (but not all) of these warehouses are now ruined and some of the ruins are partially underwater.

A French occupation in 1795 was the beginning of the end of great prosperity for Sint Eustatius.

According to the Sint Eustatius government website, "Statia's economy is stable and well placed to grow in the near future. With practically no unemployment and a skilled workforce, we have a infrastructure in place to ensure sustained growth." The government itself is the largest employer on the island, and the oil terminal owned by GTI Statia is the largest private employer on the island.

Energy and water
Statia Utility Company N.V. provides electricity to the island, as well as drinking water per truck and on part of the island by a water network. The electricity supply is rapidly being made green. Until 2016 all electricity was produced by diesel generators. In March 2016 the first phase of the solar park with 1.89 MWp capacity became operational, covering 23% of entire electricity demand. In November 2017 another 2.15 MWp was added, totaling 14,345 solar panels, with 4.1 MW capacity and a yearly production of 6.4 GWh. The solar park includes lithium-ion batteries of 5.9 MWh size. These provide power for grid stability, as well as energy shifting. On a sunny day the diesel generators are switched off from 9 a.m. to 8 pm. This is made possible by grid-forming inverters produced by SMA. This is one of the first such solar parks in the world and provides 40% to 50% of the island's electricity.

Education
Dutch government policy towards St. Eustatius and other SSS islands promoted English medium education. Sint Eustatius has bilingual English-Dutch education.

Gwendoline van Putten School (GVP) is a secondary school on the island.

Other schools include: Golden Rock School, Gov. de Graaff School, Methodist School, SDA School.

Sports
The most popular sports on Sint Eustatius are football, futsal, softball, basketball, swimming and volleyball. Due to the small population, there are few sport associations. One of them, the Sint Eustatius Volleyball Association, is a member of ECVA and NORCECA. Currently St. Eustatius is a non-active member of the Caribbean zone of Pony Baseball and Softball leagues.

Famous Statians

 * Antony Beaujon (c. 1763–1805), colonial governor
 * Gerald Berkel (b. 1969), politician
 * Black Harry (18th century), methodist preacher
 * Kizzy (b. 1979), artist
 * Lolita Euson (1914–1994), writer and poet
 * Ziggi Recado (b. 1981), artist
 * Shirma Rouse, singer

title: Sint Eustatius


text:
Talk:Interstate 80

Auxiliary routes
Should there be a section on this article that lists the auxiliary routes of I-80? NintendoTTTEfan2005 (talk) 17:03, 21 November 2023 (UTC)

 * Currently this is handled via thisinfobox at the bottom of the page. IMHO that is sufficient. However, I don't have any strong feelings either way if this would be better handled by the current infobox or a list.Dave (talk) 17:23, 21 November 2023 (UTC)
 * Ok, well the infobox is not available on the mobile version of Wikipedia. NintendoTTTEfan2005 (talk) 22:09, 30 November 2023 (UTC)
 * It is a valid argument to say that infobox isn't mobile viewer friendly and so either needs to be re-written or replaced with something else. That infobox has been around a while, it was probably designed before mobile web viewing became normal. Being as how you are the one that noticed the problem, I'd advise to create some mockups of some redesigns/replacements in your userspace and invite some people to test which is the most readable for both computer and mobile viewing. Dave (talk) 18:36, 1 December 2023 (UTC)
 * Ok, I will see if I can get around to doing that. NintendoTTTEfan2005 (talk) 08:00, 2 December 2023 (UTC)

title: Talk:Interstate 80


text:
Jōdo Shinshū

Jōdo Shinshū (浄土真宗), also known as Shin Buddhism or True Pure Land Buddhism, is a school of Pure Land Buddhism founded by the former Tendai Japanese monk Shinran.

Shin Buddhism is the most widely practiced branch of Buddhism in Japan.

Shinran (founder)
Shinran (1173–1263) lived during the late Heian to early Kamakura period (1185–1333), a time of turmoil for Japan when the emperor was stripped of political power by the shōguns. Shinran's family had a high rank at the Imperial court in Kyoto, but given the times, many aristocratic families were sending sons off to be Buddhist monks instead of having them participate in the Imperial government. When Shinran was nine years old in 1181, he was sent by his uncle to Mount Hiei, where he was ordained as a śrāmaṇera in the Tendai sect. Over time, Shinran became disillusioned with how Buddhism was practiced, foreseeing a decline in the potency and practicality of the teachings espoused.

Shinran left his role as a dosō ("practice-hall monk") at Mount Hiei and undertook a 100-day retreat at Rokkaku-dō in Kyoto, where he had a dream on the 95th day. In this dream, Prince Shōtoku appeared to him, espousing a pathway to enlightenment through verse. Following the retreat, in 1201, Shinran left Mount Hiei to study under Hōnen for the next six years. Hōnen (1133–1212) another ex-Tendai monk, left the tradition in 1175 to found his own sect, the Jōdo-shū or "Pure Land School". From that time on, Shinran considered himself, even after exile, a devout disciple of Hōnen rather than a founder establishing his own, distinct Pure Land school.

During this period, Hōnen taught the new nembutsu-only practice to many people in Kyoto society and amassed a substantial following but also came under increasing criticism by the Buddhist establishment there. Among his strongest critics was the monk Myōe and the temples of Enryaku-ji and Kōfuku-ji. The latter continued to criticize Hōnen and his followers even after they pledged to behave with good conduct and to not slander other Buddhists.

In 1207, Hōnen's critics at Kōfuku-ji persuaded Emperor Toba II to forbid Hōnen and his teachings after two of Imperial ladies-in-waiting converted to his practices. Hōnen and his followers, among them Shinran, were forced into exile and four of Hōnen's disciples were executed. Shinran was given a lay name, Yoshizane Fujii, by the authorities but called himself Gutoku "Stubble-headed One" instead and moved to Echigo Province (today Niigata Prefecture).

It was during this exile that Shinran cultivated a deeper understanding of his own beliefs based on Hōnen's Pure Land teachings. In 1210 he married Eshinni, the daughter of an Echigo aristocrat. Shinran and Eshinni had several children. His eldest son, Zenran, was alleged to have started a heretical sect of Pure Land Buddhism through claims that he received special teachings from his father. Zenran demanded control of local monto (lay follower groups), but after writing a stern letter of warning, Shinran disowned him in 1256, effectively ending Zenran's legitimacy.

In 1211 the nembutsu ban was lifted and Shinran was pardoned, but by 1212, Hōnen had died in Kyoto. Shinran never saw Hōnen following their exile. In the year of Hōnen's death, Shinran set out for the Kantō region, where he established a substantial following and began committing his ideas to writing. In 1224 he wrote his most significant book, the Kyogyoshinsho ("The True Teaching, Practice, Faith and Attainment of the Pure Land"), which contained excerpts from the Three Pure Land sutras and the Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra along with his own commentaries and the writings of the Jodo Shinshu Patriarchs Shinran drew inspiration from.

In 1234, at the age of sixty, Shinran left Kantō for Kyoto (Eshinni stayed in Echigo and she may have outlived Shinran by several years), where he dedicated the rest of his years to writing. It was during this time he wrote the Wasan, a collection of verses summarizing his teachings for his followers to recite.

Shinran's daughter, Kakushinni, came to Kyoto with Shinran, and cared for him in his final years and his mausoleum later became Hongan-ji, "Temple of the Original Vow". Kakushinni was instrumental in preserving Shinran's teachings after his death, and the letters she received and saved from her mother, Eshinni, provide critical biographical information regarding Shinran's earlier life. These letters are currently preserved in the Nishi Hongan temple in Kyoto. Shinran died at the age of 90 in 1263 (technically age 89 by Western reckoning).

Revival and formalization
Following Shinran's death, the lay Shin monto slowly spread through the Kantō and the northeastern seaboard. Shinran's descendants maintained themselves as caretakers of Shinran's gravesite and as Shin teachers, although they continued to be ordained in the Tendai School. Some of Shinran's disciples founded their own schools of Shin Buddhism, such as the Bukko-ji and Kosho-ji, in Kyoto. Early Shin Buddhism did not truly flourish until the time of Rennyo (1415–1499), who was 8th in descent from Shinran. Through his charisma and proselytizing, Shin Buddhism was able to amass a greater following and grow in strength. In the 16th-century, during the Sengoku period the political power of Honganji led to several conflicts between it and the warlord Oda Nobunaga, culminating in a ten-year conflict over the location of the Ishiyama Hongan-ji, which Nobunaga coveted because of its strategic value. So strong did the sect become that in 1602, through mandate of Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu, the main temple Hongan-ji in Kyoto was broken off into two sects to curb its power. These two sects, the Nishi (Western) Honganji and the Higashi (Eastern) Honganji, exist separately to this day.

During the time of Shinran, followers would gather in informal meeting houses called dojo, and had an informal liturgical structure. However, as time went on, this lack of cohesion and structure caused Jōdo Shinshū to gradually lose its identity as a distinct sect, as people began mixing other Buddhist practices with Shin ritual. One common example was the Mantra of Light popularized by Myōe and Shingon Buddhism. Other Pure Land Buddhist practices, such as the nembutsu odori or "dancing nembutsu" as practiced by the followers of Ippen and the Ji School, may have also been adopted by early Shin Buddhists. Rennyo ended these practices by formalizing much of the Jōdo Shinshū ritual and liturgy, and revived the thinning community at the Honganji temple while asserting newfound political power. Rennyo also proselytized widely among other Pure Land sects and consolidated most of the smaller Shin sects. Today, there are still ten distinct sects of Jōdo Shinshū with Nishi Hongan-ji and Higashi Hongan-ji being the two largest.

Rennyo is generally credited by Shin Buddhists for reversing the stagnation of the early Jōdo Shinshū community, and is considered the "Second Founder" of Jōdo Shinshū. His portrait picture, along with Shinran's, are present on the onaijin (altar area) of most Jōdo Shinshū temples. However, Rennyo has also been criticized by some Shin scholars for his engagement in medieval politics and his alleged divergences from Shinran's original thought. After Rennyo, Shin Buddhism was still persecuted in some regions. Secret Shin groups called kakure nenbutsu would meet in mountain caves to perform chanting and traditional rituals.

Following the unification of Japan during the Edo period, Jōdo Shinshū Buddhism adapted, along with the other Japanese Buddhist schools, into providing memorial and funeral services for its registered members under the Danka system, which was legally required by the Tokugawa shogunate in order to prevent the spread of Christianity in Japan. The danka seido system continues to exist today, although not as strictly as in the premodern period, causing Japanese Buddhism to also be labeled as "Funeral Buddhism" since it became the primary function of Buddhist temples. The Honganji also created an impressive academic tradition, which led to the founding of Ryukoku University in Kyoto and formalized many of the Jōdo Shinshū traditions which are still followed today.

Following the Meiji Restoration and the subsequent persecution of Buddhism (haibutsu kishaku) of the late 1800s due to a revived nationalism and modernization, Jōdo Shinshū managed to survive intact due to the devotion of its monto. During World War II, the Honganji, as with the other Japanese Buddhist schools, was compelled to support the policies of the military government and the cult of State Shinto. It subsequently apologized for its wartime actions.

In contemporary times, Jōdo Shinshū is one of the most widely followed forms of Buddhism in Japan, although like other schools, it faces challenges from many popular Japanese new religions, or shinshūkyō, which emerged following World War II as well as from the growing secularization and materialism of Japanese society.

All ten schools of Jōdo Shinshū Buddhism commemorated the 750th memorial of their founder, Shinran, in 2011 in Kyoto.

Doctrine
Shinran's thought was strongly influenced by the doctrine of Mappō, a largely Mahayana eschatology which claims humanity's ability to listen to and practice the Buddhist teachings deteriorates over time and loses effectiveness in bringing individual practitioners closer to Buddhahood. This belief was particularly widespread in early medieval China and in Japan at the end of the Heian. Shinran, like his mentor Hōnen, saw the age he was living in as being a degenerate one where beings cannot hope to be able to extricate themselves from the cycle of birth and death through their own power, or jiriki (自力). For both Hōnen and Shinran, all conscious efforts towards achieving enlightenment and realizing the Bodhisattva ideal were contrived and rooted in selfish ignorance; for humans of this age are so deeply rooted in karmic evil as to be incapable of developing the truly altruistic compassion that is requisite to becoming a Bodhisattva.

Due to his awareness of human limitations, Shinran advocated reliance on tariki, or other power (他力)—the power of Amitābha (Japanese Amida) made manifest in his Primal Vow—in order to attain liberation. Shin Buddhism can therefore be understood as a "practiceless practice", for there are no specific acts to be performed such as there are in the "Path of Sages". In Shinran's own words, Shin Buddhism is considered the "Easy Path" because one is not compelled to perform many difficult, and often esoteric, practices in order to attain higher and higher mental states.

Nembutsu
As in other Pure Land Buddhist schools, Amitābha is a central focus of the Buddhist practice, and Jōdo Shinshū expresses this devotion through a chanting practice called nembutsu, or "Mindfulness of the Buddha [Amida]". The nembutsu is simply reciting the phrase Namu Amida Butsu ("I take refuge in Amitābha Buddha"). Jōdo Shinshū is not the first school of Buddhism to practice the nembutsu but it is interpreted in a new way according to Shinran. The nembutsu becomes understood as an act that expresses gratitude to Amitābha; furthermore, it is evoked in the practitioner through the power of Amida's unobstructed compassion. Therefore, in Shin Buddhism, the nembutsu is not considered a practice, nor does it generate karmic merit. It is simply an affirmation of one's gratitude. Indeed, given that the nembutsu is the Name, when one utters the Name, that is Amitābha calling to the devotee. This is the essence of the Name-that-calls.

Note that this is in contrast to the related Jōdo-shū, which promoted a combination of repetition of the nembutsu and devotion to Amitābha as a means to birth in his pure land of Sukhavati. It also contrasts with other Buddhist schools in China and Japan, where nembutsu recitation was part of a more elaborate ritual.

The Pure Land
In another departure from more traditional Pure Land schools, Shinran advocated that birth in the Pure Land was settled in the midst of life. At the moment one entrusts oneself to Amitābha, one becomes "established in the stage of the truly settled". This is equivalent to the stage of non-retrogression along the bodhisattva path.

Many Pure Land Buddhist schools in the time of Shinran felt that birth in the Pure Land was a literal rebirth that occurred only upon death, and only after certain preliminary rituals. Elaborate rituals were used to guarantee rebirth in the Pure Land, including a common practice wherein the fingers were tied by strings to a painting or image of Amida Buddha. From the perspective of Jōdo Shinshū such rituals actually betray a lack of trust in Amida Buddha, relying on jiriki ("self-power"), rather than the tariki or "other-power" of Amida Buddha. Such rituals also favor those who could afford the time and energy to practice them or possess the necessary ritual objects—another obstacle for lower-class individuals. For Shinran Shonin, who closely followed the thought of the Chinese monk Tan-luan, the Pure Land is synonymous with nirvana.

Shinjin
The goal of the Shin path, or at least the practicer's present life, is the attainment of shinjin in the Other Power of Amida. Shinjin is sometimes translated as "faith", but this does not capture the nuances of the term and it is more often simply left untranslated. The receipt of shinjin comes about through the renunciation of self-effort in attaining enlightenment through tariki. Shinjin arises from jinen (自然 naturalness, spontaneous working of the Vow) and cannot be achieved solely through conscious effort. One is letting go of conscious effort in a sense, and simply trusting Amida Buddha, and the nembutsu.

For Jōdo Shinshū practitioners, shinjin develops over time through "deep hearing" (monpo) of Amitābha's call of the nembutsu. According to Shinran, "to hear" means "that sentient beings, having heard how the Buddha's Vow arose—its origin and fulfillment—are altogether free of doubt." Jinen also describes the way of naturalness whereby Amitābha's infinite light illumines and transforms the deeply rooted karmic evil of countless rebirths into good karma. It is of note that such evil karma is not destroyed but rather transformed: Shin stays within the Mahayana tradition's understanding of śūnyatā and understands that samsara and nirvana are not separate. Once the practitioner's mind is united with Amitābha and Buddha-nature gifted to the practitioner through shinjin, the practitioner attains the state of non-retrogression, whereupon after his death it is claimed he will achieve instantaneous and effortless enlightenment. He will then return to the world as a Bodhisattva, that he may work towards the salvation of all beings.

Tannishō
The Tannishō is a 13th-century book of recorded sayings attributed to Shinran, transcribed with commentary by Yuien-bo, a disciple of Shinran. The word Tannishō is a phrase which means "A record [of the words of Shinran] set down in lamentation over departures from his [Shinran's] teaching". While it is a short text, it is one of the most popular because practitioners see Shinran in a more informal setting.

For centuries, the text was almost unknown to the majority of Shin Buddhists. In the 15th century, Rennyo, Shinran's descendant, wrote of it, "This writing is an important one in our tradition. It should not be indiscriminately shown to anyone who lacks the past karmic good". Rennyo Shonin's personal copy of the Tannishō is the earliest extant copy. Kiyozawa Manshi (1863–1903) revitalized interest in the Tannishō, which indirectly helped to bring about the Ohigashi schism of 1962.

In Japanese culture
Earlier schools of Buddhism that came to Japan, including Tendai and Shingon Buddhism, gained acceptance because of honji suijaku practices. For example, a kami could be seen as a manifestation of a bodhisattva. It is common even to this day to have Shinto shrines within the grounds of Buddhist temples.

By contrast, Shinran had distanced Jōdo Shinshū from Shinto because he believed that many Shinto practices contradicted the notion of reliance on Amitābha. However, Shinran taught that his followers should still continue to worship and express gratitude to kami, other buddhas, and bodhisattvas despite the fact that Amitābha should be the primary buddha that Pure Land believers focus on. Furthermore, under the influence of Rennyo and other priests, Jōdo Shinshū later fully accepted honji suijaku beliefs and the concept of kami as manifestations of Amida Buddha and other buddhas and bodhisattvas.

Jōdo Shinshū traditionally had an uneasy relationship with other Buddhist schools because it discouraged the majority of traditional Buddhist practices except for the nembutsu. Relations were particularly hostile between the Jōdo Shinshū and Nichiren Buddhism. On the other hand, newer Buddhist schools in Japan, such as Zen, tended to have a more positive relationship and occasionally shared practices, although this is still controversial. In popular lore, Rennyo, the 8th Head Priest of the Hongan-ji sect, was good friends with the famous Zen master Ikkyū.

Jōdo Shinshū drew much of its support from lower social classes in Japan who could not devote the time or education to other esoteric Buddhist practices or merit-making activities.

Outside Japan
During the 19th century, Japanese immigrants began arriving in Hawaii, the United States, Canada, Mexico and South America (especially in Brazil). Many immigrants to North America came from regions in which Jōdo Shinshū was predominant, and maintained their religious identity in their new country. The Honpa Hongwanji Mission of Hawaii, the Buddhist Churches of America and the Jodo Shinshu Buddhist Temples of Canada (formerly Buddhist Churches of Canada) are several of the oldest Buddhist organizations outside of Asia. Jōdo Shinshū continues to remain relatively unknown outside the ethnic community because of the history of Japanese American and Japanese-Canadian internment during World War II, which caused many Shin temples to focus on rebuilding the Japanese-American Shin sangha rather than encourage outreach to non-Japanese. Today, many Shinshū temples outside Japan continue to have predominantly ethnic Japanese members, although interest in Buddhism and intermarriage contribute to a more diverse community. There are active Jōdo Shinshū sanghas in the United Kingdom, such as Three Wheels Temple.

During Taiwan's Japanese colonial era (1895–1945), Jōdo Shinshū built a temple complex in downtown Taipei.

Shin patriarchs
The "Seven Patriarchs of Jōdo Shinshū" are seven Buddhist monks venerated in the development of Pure Land Buddhism as summarized in the Jōdo Shinshū hymn Shoshinge. Shinran quoted the writings and commentaries of the Patriarchs in his major work, the Kyogyoshinsho, to bolster his teachings.

The Seven Patriarchs, in chronological order, and their contributions are:

In Jodo Shinshu temples, the seven masters are usually collectively enshrined on the far left.

Branch lineages

 * Jōdo Shinshū Hongwanji School (Nishi Hongwan-ji)
 * Jōdo Shinshū Higashi Honganji School (Higashi Hongan-ji)
 * Shinshū Ōtani School
 * Shinshū Chōsei School (Chōsei-ji)
 * Shinshū Takada School (Senju-ji)
 * Shinshū Kita Honganji School (Kitahongan-ji)
 * Shinshū Bukkōji School (Bukkō-ji)
 * Shinshū Kōshō School (Kōshō-ji)
 * Shinshū Kibe School (Kinshoku-ji)
 * Shinshū Izumoji School (Izumo-ji)
 * Shinshū Jōkōji School (Jōshō-ji)
 * Shinshū Jōshōji School (Jōshō-ji)
 * Shinshū Sanmonto School (Senjō-ji)
 * Montoshūichimi School (Kitami-ji)
 * Kayakabe Teaching (Kayakabe-kyō) - An esoteric branch of Jōdo Shinshū

Major holidays
The following holidays are typically observed in Jōdo Shinshū temples:

Major modern Shin figures

 * Nanjo Bunyu (1848–1927)
 * Saichi Asahara (1850-1932)
 * Kasahara Kenju (1852–1883)
 * Kiyozawa Manshi (1863–1903)
 * Jokan Chikazumi (1870–1941)
 * Eikichi Ikeyama (1873–1938)
 * Soga Ryojin (1875–1971)
 * Otani Kozui (1876–1948)
 * Akegarasu Haya (1877–1954)
 * Kaneko Daiei (1881–1976)
 * Zuiken Saizo Inagaki (1885–1981)
 * Takeko Kujo (1887–1928)
 * William Montgomery McGovern (1897–1964)
 * Rijin Yasuda (1900–1982)
 * Gyomay Kubose (1905–2000)
 * Shuichi Maida (1906–1967)
 * Harold Stewart (1916–1995)
 * Kenryu Takashi Tsuji (1919-2004)
 * Alfred Bloom (1926–2017)
 * Zuio Hisao Inagaki (1929–present)
 * Shojun Bando (1932–2004)
 * Taitetsu Unno (1935–2014)
 * Eiken Kobai (1941–present)
 * Dennis Hirota (1946–present)
 * Kenneth K. Tanaka (1947-present)
 * Marvin Harada (1953-present)

Literature

 * Bandō, Shojun; Stewart, Harold; Rogers, Ann T. and Minor L.; trans. (1996) : Tannishō: Passages Deploring Deviations of Faith and Rennyo Shōnin Ofumi: The Letters of Rennyo, Berkeley: Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research. ISBN 1-886439-03-6
 * Bloom, Alfred (1989). Introduction to Jodo Shinshu, Pacific World Journal, New Series Number 5, 33-39
 * Dessi, Ugo (2010), Social Behavior and Religious Consciousness among Shin Buddhist Practitioners, Japanese Journal of Religious Siudies, 37 (2), 335-366
 * Dobbins, James C. (1989). Jodo Shinshu: Shin Buddhism in Medieval Japan. Bloomington, Illinois: Indiana University Press. ISBN 9780253331861; OCLC 470742039
 * Ducor, Jerome (2021): Shinran and Pure Land Buddhism; San Francisco, Jodo Shinshu International Office; 188 pp., bibliography (ISBN 978-0-9997118-2-8).
 * Inagaki Hisao, trans., Stewart, Harold (2003). The Three Pure Land Sutras, 2nd ed., Berkeley, Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research. ISBN 1-886439-18-4
 * Lee, Kenneth Doo (2007). The Prince and the Monk: Shotoku Worship in Shinran's Buddhism. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press. ISBN 978-0791470220.
 * Matsunaga, Daigan, Matsunaga, Alicia (1996), Foundation of Japanese Buddhism, Vol. 2: The Mass Movement (Kamakura and Muromachi Periods), Los Angeles; Tokyo: Buddhist Books International, 1996. ISBN 0-914910-28-0
 * Takamori/Ito/Akehashi (2006). "You Were Born For A Reason: The Real Purpose of Life," Ichimannendo Publishing Inc; ISBN 9780-9790-471-07
 * S. Yamabe and L. Adams Beck (trans.): Buddhist Psalms of Shinran Shonin, John Murray, London 1921. e-book
 * Galen Amstutz, Review of Fumiaki, Iwata, Kindai Bukkyō to seinen: Chikazumi Jōkan to sono jidai and Ōmi Toshihiro, Kindai Bukkyō no naka no Shinshū: Chikazumi Jōkan to kyūdōshatachi, in H-Japan, H-Net Reviews July, 2017.

title: Jōdo Shinshū