"Never has a book on Jodo Shinshu Buddhism dealt so extensively and passionately with the pressing social issues of today: the challenges facing the LGBTQ+ community, racial and gender discrimination, economic inequities, climate crisis, and more. Even more remarkable is that the author finds in Shinran, the 13th century Japanese founder of Jodo Shinshu Buddhism, an inspiring exemplar for the radically engaged Buddhism of the 21st century for North Americans and beyond. In so doing, this book shatters the image of Pure Land Buddhists as being fixated on birth in the Pure Land after death." Kenneth Kenshin Tanaka, Prof. Emeritus, Musashino University, Tokyo; Jodo Shinshu priest; Chair, Editorial Board of the BDK English Tripiṭaka Translation Project

"In Living Nembutsu, Jeff Wilson provides a much needed work that fills a lacuna between the accounts of everyday Shin Buddhists following the path of Pure Land nembutsu and highly charged accounts of Engaged Buddhism. Instead, he shows how religious life "on the ground" can organically bring about change, based more on the outflowing of compassion from the heart than on the mechanisms of socio-political engagement. While the latter continues to be vital, much of what will convey lasting change comes from those who lead by example, of which Wilson provides many rich accounts." Mark Unno, Professor of Buddhist Studies, Department Head of Religious Studies, University of Oregon