Shinnyo-en (真如苑, Borderless Garden of Truth) is a modern global Buddhist School for lay people. Its traditions can be traced back to the Daigoji branch of Shingon Buddhism. It was founded in 1936 by Shinjō Itō (真乗伊藤, 1906–1989), and his wife Tomoji (友司, 1912–1967) in a suburb of metropolitan Tokyo, the city of Tachikawa, where its headquarters is still located.[1][2]
In 2024, Shinnyo-en was reported to have 3,000,000 members, and temples and training centers in several countries in Asia, Europe and the Americas.[3] The temples are characterised by the Nirvana image, a statue of the reclining Buddha.
Central to Shinnyo-en is the belief, expressed in the Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra, that all beings possess Buddha-nature, a natural, unfettered purity that can respond creatively and compassionately to any situation in life.
Shinnyo-en Headquarters
As of 1989 the head of Shinnyo-en was Shinsō Itō (born 1942, also known as 'Keishu'), who holds the rank of Daisōjō, the highest rank in traditional Shingon Buddhism.
History
Shinnyo-en was established in 1936 by Shinjō Itō and his wife Tomoji in the Tokyo suburb of Tachikawa. In December 1935, Shinjō Itō and Tomoji Itō had enshrined an image of Acala believed to have been sculpted by the renowned Buddhist sculptor Unkei and they began a 30-day period of winter austerities in early 1936. Tomoji cultivated her spiritual faculty (霊能, reinō) on February 4, inheriting it from her aunt.[citation needed]
In May 1936, Shinjō Itō was ordained by Daisōjō and Chief Abbot Egen Saeki at Sanbō-in, a temple of the Daigo school of Shingon Buddhism. The Chief Abbot conferred to him the monastic name of Shinjō, meaning "True Vehicle", and the title of Kongō-in, which means "Vajra", in December 1938. Accordingly, he changed his name from Fumiaki Itō to Shinjō Itō in April 1942.[4]
The community was first named Risshō-kaku, then the Tachikawa Fellowship of Achala (Tachikawa Fudoson Kyokai, 1938–1948). Formally registered in 1948 under the Religious Corporations Ordinance (Japanese: Shukyo Hojinrei, enacted in 1945) the name changed to Sangha of Truth (Makoto-Kyodan) with Shinchō-ji as its Head Temple.
In spring of 1949, a young ambitious disciple, who worked in the temple office, filed formal charges against Shinjō in 1950. He claimed he had been beaten during one of the sesshin trainings. Oishi, director of the Federation of New Religious Organisations of Japan, testified that sesshin training does not involve physical abuse, thereby disproving the allegations.
The sangha was permitted to continue, but under a different name. It was reorganized and renamed Shinnyo-en on June 21, 1951, and Tomoji Itō became its administrative head. After the revision of the Japanese Religious Corporation Act in April 1951, Shinnyo-en filed an application in the following year and received approval from the Minister of Education on May 16, 1953.[citation needed]
The first image of the reclining Nirvana Buddha, sculpted by Shinjō Itō, was consecrated on November 3, 1957.
The first Shinnyo-en Sanctuary outside Japan was inaugurated on March 2, 1971 in Mililani, Hawaii, followed by the dedication of temples in Honolulu (1973), San Francisco (1982), Taiwan (1985), France (1985), Los Angeles (1990), Italy (1990), Belgium (1991), Hong Kong (1992), U.K. (1994), Germany (1994), Singapore (1994), and Australia (1999).[5][third-party source needed]
Nirvana is of the present moment and characterized by permanence-bliss-self-purity.
Junna Nakata, the 103rd Head Priest of Daigoji Monastery of the Shingon School,[7] describes the teaching as follows:
If we view the Buddhist tradition as a vertical line, and the world we live in as a horizontal line, Shinjō Itō placed the teachings of Nirvana to work as a link between the two, and proved the validity of the Nirvana teachings.[8]
The teachings integrate elements of traditional Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism, cultural influences characteristic to Japanese Buddhism, as well as practices and rituals initiated by Shinjo Ito, the founder of Shinnyo-en.
As all religious organizations founded since the middle of the 19th century Shinnyo-en is classified by Japanese scholars as a new religious movement.
Organizational structure
The Shinnyo-en sangha is organised into “lineages" (Japanese: suji), which consists of a group of members mentored by a "lineage parent" (Japanese: sujioya). Practitioners usually gather at the temple and training centre for prayer, meditation and training, and, if they so wish, also at home meetings.[9] The sangha as a whole encourages and participates in volunteer activities in the spirit of Buddhist practice.
The leadership in Shinnyo-en follows the Buddhist tradition of Dharma succession from master to disciple:[10]
In Daigo-ji there are two Dharma streams (lineages)—that of lay Buddhism (Ein) and that of monastic Buddhism (Diamond and Womb Worlds). Shinjō Itō succeeded to both from the 96th Dharma-successor and Chief Abbot of Daigo-ji, Egen Saeki. [...] I believe Kyoshu-sama had the intention of merging the two Dharma-streams from the beginning. By doing so, he gave rise to a new Dharma-stream. For Daigoji as well as for the whole of the religious world, the Shinnyo Dharma-stream, which unites the Buddhist tradition and society, is the Dharma-stream in its ideal form.
In 1982 Shinsō Itō (born 1942 as Masako Itō), the third daughter of Shinjō and Tomoji, completed her Buddhist training. Shinjō announced her to become his successor in 1983 and gave her the priestly name 'Shinsō'. After Shinjō's passing on July 19, 1989 Shinsō Itō becomes the head of Shinnyo-en. In 1992, Shinsō Itō was conferred Daisōjo, the highest priestly rank in traditional Shingon Buddhism, by the Daigo-ji Shingon Buddhist monastery. She also received an honorary doctorate from Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University in Thailand in 2002 for her long-standing efforts to foster relations with Theravada Buddhism.[citation needed]
In Shinnyo-en's Dharma School (Japanese: Chiryu-Gakuin) members study Buddhist doctrine and learn ritualistic aspects. After graduating as a Dharma Teacher they can further qualify for undergoing Buddhist ordination (Japanese: Tokudo-Jukai) and receiving traditional monastic ranks.
Social action
Shinnyo-en believes an individual's action can contribute to creating a harmonious society. Working towards this goal, the organization engages in interfaith dialogue, environmental activities, and disaster relief. Shinnyo-en also supports organizations such as Médecins sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders), the Red Cross Society, and the World Wildlife Fund.[citation needed]
In an interview conducted by the Tricycle magazine, Shinso Ito stated:[11]
People who are interested in traditional Buddhist training are always welcome, but volunteer activities provide an additional avenue for Shinnyo-en to contribute to the wider secular community. (Shinso Ito)
Shinnyo-en practitioners are encouraged to practice sesshin training and undertake the Three Practices (三つの歩み, mittsu no ayumi), which are a distillation of the six Pāramitā taught by Shakyamuni Buddha.
Three Practices
The Three Practices (三つの歩み, mittsu no ayumi) are:[12]
Joyful donations (歓喜, kangi, small monetary contribution to the organization)
Sharing the Teachings (お救け, otasuke)
Giving time and service (ご奉仕, gohōshi).
Concretely, this means abiding by the principles of the Teachings, participating in volunteer activities, and donating small sums of money.[13]
Sesshin
Sesshin (the word is composed of the two Chinese characters, "touch" and "heart"[14]) is the central element of spiritual practice for Shinnyo practitioners.[15] This is not to be confused with the sesshin in Zen Buddhism. Whereas in Zen Buddhism, sesshin refers to a period of intensive meditation, with many hours of meditation each day, sesshin in Shinnyo-en has an entirely different meaning.
A sesshin involves receiving guidance from a 'Spiritual guide' (霊能者, reinōsha, medium), a person who has been specially trained and cultivated the Shinnyo spiritual faculty (霊能, reinō'). Sesshin lasts for about three minutes per person, and in most cases, takes place at a Shinnyo-en temple. Its purpose is to enable participants to identify and transmute karmic impediments, develop their Buddha nature, and cultivate permanence, bliss, self and purity, i.e., enlightenment.[16][failed verification]
Dharma School
Practitioners have the opportunity to further their practice by studying at Shinnyo-en's dharma school. After three years of classes and fulfilling various requirements, including passing a written test and assessment of everyday practice, they are granted priestly ranks (僧階 sokai) and become dharma teachers.[citation needed]
Fire and Water Ceremonies
According to the Shinnyo-en website they practice water and fire ceremonies. "While most traditional Buddhist fire rituals focus on personal purification and awakening, the Shinnyo-en ceremony is dedicated to awakening people to their innate compassionate and altruistic nature, transcending all boundaries of age, gender, nationality, ethnicity, and religious tradition, and directing the positive energy of the ceremony outward with the hope that all people can live in a world of hope and harmony."[17]
Other practices
Through mindful observance of events in daily life (muso sesshin), practitioners are encouraged to reflect on themselves and develop loving-kindness, compassion, equanimity and joy.
Shinnyo-en practitioners in pursuing the Path to Nirvana vow to abide by the Five Precepts (Pali: pañca-sīlāni) and follow the Noble Eightfold Path, although no reference can be found of Shinnyo-en teaching Right Mindfulness, nor Right Concentration, these being the last two steps on the Eightfold Path and those which contain traditional Buddhist meditation practice.
By learning to identify with others (or "place oneself in the shoes of another"), practitioners aim to cultivate the virtues of a bodhisattva.[citation needed]
Shinnyo Buddhist ceremonies
Traditional ceremonies, derived from Shingon Buddhism—many of which can be traced back to ancient Vedic and Hindu ceremonies—are an important aspect of Shinnyo Buddhist practice. Rituals are used as means to purify the mind, awaken compassion, or to express gratitude for the chance to develop oneself and practice the Buddhist teachings.
Prayers for ancestors and departed souls, such as the Lantern Floating ceremony, and O-bon (Sanskrit: Ullambana), are believed to also help cultivate kindness and compassion within practitioners.[18]
With the wish of creating cultural harmony and understanding, Her Holiness Shinso Ito, Head Priest of Shinnyo-en, officiated the inaugural Lantern Floating Hawaii ceremony on Memorial Day, 1999.[19]
Traditional fire ceremonies such as homa are performed to help practitioners overcome obstacles that hinder their spiritual progress and liberation.[20]
Shingon is one of the major schools of Buddhism in Japan and one of the few surviving Vajrayana lineages in East Asian Buddhism. It is sometimes also called Japanese Esoteric Buddhism, or Eastern Esotericism. The word shingon is the Japanese reading of the Chinese word 真言, which is the translation of the Sanskrit word mantra.
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↑ International Affairs Department of Shinnyo-en 1999, pp.68–72: "March 2, 1971: Ceremony to sanctify the nirvana Buddha image for the first sanctuary outside Japan is held in Mililani on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. [...] May 13, 1973: Shinnyo-en Hawaii is dedicated in Honolulu. [...] August 29, 1982: Shinnyo-en California is dedicated in San Francisco. [...] September 8, 1985: Shinnyo-en Taiwan is dedicated in Taipei. [...] October 13, 1985: Shinnyo-en France is dedicated in Paris. [...] October 2, 1990: Shinnyo-en Los Angeles is dedicated. [...] November 13, 1990: Shinnyo-en Italy is dedicated in Milan. [...] September 7, 1991: Shinnyo-en Belgium is dedicated in Antwerp. [...] September 17, 1992: Shinnyo-en Hong Kong is dedicated. [...] June 25, 1994: Shinnyo-en U.K. is dedicated in the outskirts of London. [...] October 23, 1994: Shinnyo-en Hamburg (Propagation point) is dedicated. [...] November 19, 1994: Shinnyo-en Singapore is dedicated. [...] September 11, 1999: Shinnyo-en Australia is dedicated.
↑ Shinnyo-en 2012: "In an extraordinary gesture of goodwill and harmony, two current leaders of ancient Buddhist lineages attended the opening ceremonies of the Yushin Center: the Most Venerable Junna Nakata, the 103rd generation Head Priest of Daigoji Monastery of the Shingon School, and the Most Venerable Kojun Handa, the 256th generation Head Priest of the Tendai School, each of whom extended enthusiastic congratulations on the creation of the Yushin Center as well as providing personal remembrances and tributes to Shinnyo-en’s Founder, Shinjo Ito."
↑ Nagai 1995, pp.304, 308–309: "Shinnyoen followers must accept sesshin and undertake three forms of activity (the “Three Activities,” mittsu no ayumi 三つの歩み)： joyful giving (kangi 歓喜， financial contribution to the organization), sharing the Teachings (otasuke お救け)， and service (gohōshi し# 仕）[...] Otasuke (lit.，helping) entails guiding others to the way of the Buddha. [...] Third, gohōshi (service) refers to volunteer work. In a broad sense it includes such tasks as cleaning public areas such as parks, streets or stations, but it usually involves work performed in and around Shinnyo-en facilities. This work is explained as a way of using one’s body for the sake of the Buddha, and as a way to polish oneself by serving others."
↑ "Address by Her Holiness Keishu Shinso, Saisho Homa, Taiwan, October 27th, 2007." 'In Step', Number 7, November 2007.
Sources
International Affairs Department of Shinnyo-en (1999), A Walk Through the Garden. Volume II. Foundations of Shinnyo-en, Tachikawa{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
International Affairs Department of Shinnyo-en (2010), Starting Out: An Introduction to Shinnyo Practice, Tokyo{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
Usui, Atsuko (2003), "Women's 'Experience' in New Religious Movements: The Case of Shinnyo-en", Japanese Journal of Religious Studies, 30 (3–4), Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture: 217–241, doi:10.18874/jjrs.30.3-4.2003.217-241
International Affairs Department of Shinnyo-en (2009), Buddha Ripples: the Vision and Art of Shinjo Ito, Tachikawa{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
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