Shinran

(1173-1262) Founder of the Jodo-shin-shu school of Japanese Buddhism; he taught that attempting to attain enlightenment through one's own effort is futile; instead liberation can be attained exclusively through the help and grace of the Buddha Amida (Amitabha); he advocated calling out the name of Amida as the only practice necessary in order to be reborn in his Pure Land.