Reiyūkai

Reiyūkai main hall as seen from Tokyo Tower

Reiyūkai ( Japanese 霊友会 , dt. "Society of Friends of the Spirits") is the name of a new religious phenomenon of Japanese Buddhism that emerged from the Nichiren movement and was introduced in 1925 by Kakutarō Kubo (1892–1944) and Kimi Kotani (1901– 1971) was founded.

The community, organized as a lay community, venerates the Lotus Sutra (Japanese Hokke-kyō ) as the highest expression of the Buddhist message. In her practice she also preserves certain aspects of the ancient Japanese religion of Shinto , attaches importance to ancestor worship, but is also socially and charitable.

The (larger) Risshō Kōseikai emerged from the Reiyūkai in 1938 . After the Second World War, it also became the basis for further new religious movements in Japan .

The Reiyūkai has around 2 to 3 million followers.

Spin-offs

The following companies emerged from the Reiyūkai. The year in brackets is the year of foundation. The German translations are based on the Japanese names of the companies and are not their official names.

Kōdō (孝道教団): respect for parents (1935)

Risshō Kōseikai (立正佼成会): Society for the Establishment of Law and Interpersonal Relations (1938)

Shishinkai (思親会): love / feeling for parents (1938)

Kishinkai (希心会): soul / spirit / feeling / heart without equal (1953)

Nihon keishin sūso jishū-dan (日本敬神崇祖自修団): Japanese self-study group on respect for ancestors (1947)

Fumyōkai (普明会教団): Society of Universal Wisdom (1949)

Reihōkai (霊法会): Buddhist mass for soul / spirit (1950)

Myōchikai (妙智会): Society for Unusual Wisdom (1950)

Bussho-Gonenkai (佛所護念会) (1950)

Hosshishū (法師宗): Priest sect (1950)

Myōdōkai (妙道会): Society for Unusual Paths (1951)

Daieikai (大慧會教団): Great Wise Society (1951)

Seigikai (正義会教団): Society for Law / Justice (1951)

Zaike bukkyō kokoro no kai (在家仏教こころの会): Society of the Mind / Heart of Buddhist Laity (2004)

swell

↑ Komoto Mitsugi: The Place of Ancestors in the New Religions: The Case of Reiyûkai-Derived Groups. ( Memento from April 21, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) In: Inoue Nobutaka: New Religions. (= Contemporary Papers on Japanese Religion 2). Institute for Japanese Culture and Classics, Kokugakuin University, 1991, ISBN 4-905853-00-1 .

literature

Buswell, Robert E., Lopez, Donald S. Jr. (2014). The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, Princeton: Princeton University Press, pp. 443, 449, 709
Helen Hardacre: Lay Buddhism in Contemporary Japan: Reiyukai Kyodan. Princeton Univ Press, 1984, ISBN 0-691-07284-1 .
Helen Hardacre: Sex-role norms and values in Reiyūkai. ( Memento of June 8, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) In: Japanese Journal of Religious Studies. 1979, 6 (3) pp. 445-460.
Kubo Tsugunari, Yuyama Akira: The Lotus Sutra. 2., corr. Edition. Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research, Berkeley, Calif. 2007, ISBN 978-1-886439-39-9 .
Lai, Whalen (1985), Review of: Helen Hardacre, Lay Buddhism in Contemporary Japan: Reiyūkai Kyōdan , Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 12 (4), 358–362

Web links

Commons : Reiyūkai - collection of images, videos and audio files

[1] Komoto Mitsugi: The Place of Ancestors in the New Religions: The Case of Reiyûkai-Derived Groups. ( Memento from April 21, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) In: Inoue Nobutaka: New Religions. (= Contemporary Papers on Japanese Religion 2). Institute for Japanese Culture and Classics, Kokugakuin University, 1991, ISBN 4-905853-00-1 .