Shinran Shonin was born in 1173 in Kyoto as the first son of Hino Arinori, a minor aristocrat. It was a time when the Heian Period
(794–c. 1185) was coming to an end and the age of the warring states was just beginning.
At the age of nine, Shinran received ordination at the Shirakawa-bō (the present-day Shōren-in, a temple of the Tendai denomination) in Kyoto and entered upon the Buddhist path with the Dharma Name of Hannen. Later, he entered the Buddhist monastery on Mt. Hiei, the center of the Tendai denomination, where he single-mindedly devoted himself to Buddhist studies for the next twenty years.
In spite of years of strenuous effort and study, Shinran could not find the way to overcome the fundamental human suffering in their teachings. He thus left Mt. Hiei to end his monastic life at the age of twenty-nine in 1201.
In a desperate search for spiritual liberation, he began a one hundred-day retreat at the Rokkaku-dō (the Chōhōji temple) in Kyoto.
At midnight of the ninety-fifth day, he had a profound spiritual experience which led him to meet Hōnen Shōnin (1133–1212), a Buddhist teacher who was sharing his teaching with people from all walks of life in the city. There, Shinran finally encountered the true essence of the Buddhist teaching, which was symbolized by Honen's words, "Just say the Nenbutsu ('Namu Amida Butsu') and be saved by Amida." He began to walk on the Nenbutsu path of the Original Vow.
Shinran listened to the teaching of Nenbutsu under the guidance of Hōnen with other disciples for six years. During this period, Shinran was granted permission to copy Hōnen's main work and also a portrait of Honen. Among his many disciples, there were only a few who were permitted to copy the teacher's writing and portrait.
People from all walks of life gathered around Honen to listen to his teaching. This, however, caused friction with the long-standing Buddhist establishments which led to the government's persecution of Hōnen's commnunity. In 1207, Hōnen was exiled to Tosa province (present-day Kōchi prefecture), and some of his disciples were also exiled to remote places. Four disciples were even sentenced to death. Shinran was exiled to Echigo province (present-day Niigata prefecture), stripped of his priesthood and given the secular name of Fujii Yoshizane. He was never able to meet his teacher Hōnen again.
The life in exile provided opportunities for Shinran to deepen his understanding of the Nenbutsu teaching. While living with his wife, Eshin-ni (1182–c. 1268), and their children, he shared the teaching of the Nenbutsu with the local people. After being pardoned five years later, Shinran was notified of Hōnen's death. Instead of returning to Kyoto, he headed toward the Kantō area (the surrounding region of present-day Tokyo) with his family. While living in a place called Inada in Hitachi province (present-day Ibaraki prefecture), he began writing his major work entitled Kyōgyōshinshō while continuing to share the Nenbutsu teaching with many people.
After living in Kantō for about twenty years, Shinran, in his early sixties, retuned to Kyoto. Although he had to move from place to place in the city, he energetically authored many writings in order to clarify the teaching that he had encountered through Honen and to pass down the path of the Nenbutsu to all to be awakened to their true selves.
On the 28th day of the 11th month of Kōchō 2 (1262), Shinran's ninety years of life ended with his youngest daughter, Kakushin-ni, and some of his disciples at his deathbed. Even though he went through many hardships, he found a way to live his life to the fullest by completely entrusting himself to Amida's Original Vow. He devoted his entire life to clarify the true essence of the Pure Land teaching he encountered through his teacher Hōnen.