Жапон буддалық жаңа діни қозғалысы: Синньё-эн

Japanese Buddhist new religious movement

Shinnyo en (真如苑) is a Japanese Buddhist new religious movement in the tradition of the Daigo branch of Shingon Buddhism. It was founded in 1936 by Shinjō Itō (真乗伊藤), and his wife Tomoji (友司) in a suburb of metropolitan Tokyo, the city of Tachikawa, where its headquarters is still located. In 2011, Shinnyo en was reported to have 860,000 members, and temples and training centers in several countries in Asia, Europe and the Americas. 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. as of 2017 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.

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) on February 4, inheriting it from her aunt. 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. 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 (, 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 man who worked in the temple office, filed formal charges against Shinjō in 1950. His primary claim was that he had been beaten during one of the sesshin trainings. Shuten Oishi, director of the Federation of New Religious Organisations of Japan, testified that sesshin training does not involve physical abuse. Shinjō was given a sentence of eight months in prison, suspended for three years. 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. The first image of the reclining Nirvana Buddha, sculpted by Shinjō Itō, was consecrated on November 3, 1957. Wat Paknam Bhasicharoen, a Thai Buddhist temple, presented Shinnyo en with śarīra (sacred relics of Lord Buddha) on July 30, 1966. 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).

Shinnyo en practitioners are encouraged to practice sesshin training and undertake the Three Practices (三つの歩み), which are a distillation of the Pāramitā taught by Shakyamuni Buddha.

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.

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."

Through mindfulness and seated meditation, practitioners reflect on themselves and resolve to practice harmony, gratitude, kindness, and acceptance. The school teaches that one realizes his or her true potential by acting with compassion and concern for others. Therefore, practitioners are encouraged to cultivate mindfulness and self reflection, and to apply in daily life the insights gained in seated meditation. 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.

In Shinnyo en a school for the training of missionaries has been developed, and lectures are given on the Shinnyo en doctrine, history, and missionary methods. Students take three years to complete the prescribed course of study. The system of missionary ranks is called sokai or “stages in Buddhist discipleship.”

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. 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. Traditional fire ceremonies such as homa are performed to help practitioners overcome obstacles that hinder their spiritual progress and liberation.