Agon-shu
Agon-shū ( Japanese 阿含 宗 , dt. "School of Agama") is a so-called New Religion in Japan , whose teachings are based on the Agama Sutras of Theravāda Buddhism. The organization was founded in 1954 by Seiyū Kiriyama (1921-2016) and legally recognized in 1981. According to its own information from 1989, the Agon-shū had 206,606 members.
When Seiyū Kiriyama was in a difficult phase of life due to illness, he finally felt saved by the Bodhisattva Juntei- Kannon . Thereupon he founded the "Society of the Mercy of Kannon Bosatsu" (Japanese Kannon-jikei-kai ) in Yokohama in 1954 . From then on he devoted himself to the study of fortune telling, lotus Buddhism and Shingon Buddhism , which he reinterpreted in his own way and looked for their roots in the Buddhist traditions of Sri Lanka and India.
In addition to the Juntei Kannon, the Shākyamuni Buddha has been venerated since 1986 , whose relics Kiriyama is said to have received from high authorities in Sri Lanka in 1986. The holy scripture is the Agama, a script of Theravāda Buddhism, which mainly deals with nirvana .
Agon-shū has 1,358 priests (own information from 1989) in three congregations in Japan (which are considered public corporations) who look after the approximately 200,000 believers. The members participate in religious life in particular with the help of the mass media and modern means of communication. This includes areas such as meditations , life counseling, nutrition and others.
literature
- Johannes Laube (ed.): New religions: State of their research in Japan. A manual . Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1995, p. 239.