Available from the Honpa Hongwanji Bookstore, $15.00

Like Zen, Tibetan and Theravada, Shin Buddhism is a living tradition in modern America. Against the dramatic background of Japan's medieval Kamakura Period, "The Monk Who Dared" tells the powerful story of the early years and spiritual struggle of Shinran, founder of Shin Buddhism.

Shin scholar Alfred Bloom, Dean Emeritus of the Institute of Buddhist Studies, calls "The Monk Who Dared" a "vivid and imaginative portrayal of Shinran's early life (his life in the monastery on Mt Hiei, tutelage under Honen, and his epochal marriage as a monk). Ruth Tabrah puts flesh and blood on the bony data of historical analysis. Distant events that gave birth to a vital faith in the unconditional compassion of Amida Buddha come alive on the pages of her novel."

George Gatenby, essayist and Buddhist priest in Australia writes, "Paradoxically, although 'The Monk Who Dared' has singular contemporary relevance, Ruth Tabrah's penultimate skill lies in her ability to evoke the living cultural context of her narrative ... From the opening paragraphs of her novel until the very last sentence we find ourselves immersed in the world Shinran inhabited yet, at the same time, we can identify our own experience in his."

Dr. Richard St. Clair (Shaku Egen), of the Boston Shinshu Sangha, noted: "'The Monk Who Dared' ... took my breath away. ...It is extremely well written, vivid, flowing, and is an impassioned and realistic (or meta-realistic) account with full details that present life in Shinran's time and what it must have been like for him to encounter the teachings of Honen, who taught the Nembutsu-only school. ... Woven together with imagination, this novel is a joy to read and contains a verisimilitude of factuality that satisfies nearly as much as if it were historical fact. One is left with the impression, Shinran's life COULD have been like this, and may very well HAVE been."