Shinnyo-En

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Shinnyo-En ( Japanese 真如 苑 literally: "Garden of Suchness ") is a new religious community that was founded in Japan in 1936 (official recognition in 1953) and is one of the communities with the highest membership growth rates in recent decades. The group is said to have had around 860,000 members in 2011.

Shinnyo-En is formally part of esoteric Buddhism , but in questions of doctrine it relates to a wide variety of Buddhist traditions.

history

The founder (Kyōshu-sama) Shinjō Itō ( 伊藤 真 乗 , Itō Shinjō ; * March 28, 1906 as Fumiaki Itō, † July 19, 1989) came from a religious family. His father was a follower of Zen Buddhism and the divination tradition Kōyōryū ( 甲 陽 流 ). His mother was a Tenrikyō believer. Shinjō Itō is said to have made contact with the spiritual world from an early age, as he himself relates in his later writings.

In 1932 Itō married his second cousin Tomoji ( 伊藤 友 司 , Itō Tomoji ; also Shōjushin'in; born Uchida, born May 9, 1912, † August 6, 1967). Tomoji also had a religious family background: her father died when she was four years old, after which she was raised by her grandmother who, together with her daughter (Tomoji's aunt), exorcised people possessed by Kitsune as a medium .

Together, Shinjō and Tomoji Itō developed a strong interest in the teachings of the Shingon-shū and were able to initiate their esoteric rites in particular through the deity Fudō Myō-ō . After various visions in January and February 1936, Itō resigned from his position and from then on devoted himself entirely to religious life with his wife. First both founded a religious association called Risshōkaku ( 立 照 閣 ), which was associated with the Narita-san Shinshō-ji in Narita for legal reasons ; In addition, Itō began exercises in the Shingon temple Daigo-ji in Kyoto, which is strongly associated with Shugendō . The death of Shinjō and Tomoji Itō's then two-year-old son Chibun on June 9 of the same year is considered a turning point in the community of Shinnyo-En, after which Shinjō Itō is said to have understood the death of his son as a sign of the beginning of a new era. On June 8, 1938, the first sod was broken for the movement's new headquarters, Shinchō-ji. Because of the legal restrictions imposed by the Law on Religious Associations , this temple had to officially join the Daigo-ji lineage of the Shingon-shu. Despite the later obtained legal independence, Shinnyo-En remained formally in this line to this day. July 1938 Shinjō Itō and his wife received permission to build a temple for the association they founded Tachikawa Fudōson Kyōkai ( 立 川 不 動 尊 教会 ) in Tachikawa , the later main temple of Shinnyo-En. In 1941 Shinjō Itō completed his Shingon studies with the receipt of the highest orders.

On November 4, 1946, a Shinnyo-En follower of Tomoji Itō received for the first time permission to act as a medium. A little later, the Itōs children were also trained in media.

Due to the relaxation of the religious law provisions through the decree on religious societies , the community was finally transferred to the Makoto Kyōdan ( ま こ と 教 団 ) association founded in 1948 . 1950 marked a crisis for the Sangha (community) when a Shinnyo-en follower, after allegedly punished during one of the ascetic practice sessions, filed a legal complaint against Shinjō Itō, who was subsequently sentenced to a brief prison term. Media reports from this period characterized Makoto Kyōdan along with various other contemporary new religious movements (such as Sekai Kyūseikyō and Reiyūkai ) as abusing the new liberal laws. In May 1953, Makoto Kyōdan was named Shinnyo-En under the provisions of the Religious Society Act officially recognized by the Japanese state.

In 1966, Shinjō Itō received the title of Daisōjō ( 大 僧 正 ) from the Daigo-ji , Tomoji that of a Gon-Daisōjō ( 権 大 僧 正 ). In the same year a delegation of Theravada Buddhists from Thailand paid their respects to the community; the Theravada influence from this period has persisted to this day (for example, a Shinnyo-en practice consists of chanting the threefold refuge on Pali ). Shortly after Shinjō and Tomoji Itō traveled to Europe, where they visited the Pope and other religious dignitaries, Tomoji died.

In 1973, the first Shinnyo-En Temple outside of Japan was founded in Hawaii . Shinnyo-En now has several dozen temples, some outside of Japan. a. in the United States ( Honolulu , Burlingame, Yorba Linda , Burien, White Plains , Elk Grove Village), Brazil ( São Paulo ), Republic of China ( Taipei ), Hong Kong ( Wan Chai ), Thailand ( Bangkok ), Singapore , Australia (Lane Cove), France ( Paris ), Italy ( Milan ), Germany ( Munich , Hamburg , Berlin , Frankfurt am Main ), Belgium ( Antwerp ) and England (Long Ditton). A total of 238,985 members were assumed in 1975. In 1993 this number is said to have more than tripled to 711,979; for the same year Shinnyo-En listed 30 temples in Japan and a further 12 overseas. In 1996 there were believed to be over a thousand members in the United States.

In 1983 the Dharma line was officially transferred to the two daughters of Shinjō and Tomoji Itō, Masako (also Shinsō; born April 25, 1942) and Shizuko (also Shinrei; born October 5, 1943) Itō. Masako received the title Daisōjō and Shizuko the title Gon-Daisōjō from the Daigo-ji. After the death of her father in 1989, Masako became his first successor (Keishū-sama) and head ( 苑 主 , enshu ) of Shinnyo-En.

Teaching

The Shinnyo-En doctrine is based on the Mahāparinirvāṇa-Sūtra , with which Shinjō Itō had studied intensively since the late 1950s. According to Shinnyo-En, these are the central doctrines of this text

  1. The eternity of Buddha and the immutability of his teaching
  2. The possibility for all living beings to attain Buddhahood (see Buddha-nature )
  3. The four perfections (guṇapāramitās), i.e. H. Permanence, joy, self and purity ( 常 樂 我 淨 , jō-raku-ga-jō )

Another central doctrine is vicarious suffering ( 抜 苦 代 受 , bakku-daiju ), which in Shinnyo-En is mainly caused by the two children (Ryōdōji-sama), i.e. H. the deceased sons Chibun (see above, posthumously Kyōdōin) and Yuichi († July 1952 at the age of 15, posthumously Shindōin), who in the imagination of Shinnyo-En through this vicarious suffering in the spirit world as bodhisattvas, the living beings of this world redeem from their karmic entanglements.

In connection with the Bakku-daiju there is the Shōju ( 摂 受 ; skt. Parigraha ), the embrace and acceptance by Tomoji, which is appropriate for all living beings since their death and is supposed to help them on the way to enlightenment .

practice

A distinct feature in the practice of Shinnyo-En are sesshins (not to be confused with the sesshins in Zen Buddhism), in which through the spirit words ( 霊 言 , reigen ) of media ( 霊 能者 , reinōsha ) with the world of spirits ( 真如 霊 界 , shinnyo reikai ) should be interacted with. These (almost exclusively Japanese) media also usually take on the leadership of Shinnyo-En groups ( 経 , suji ), which consist of at least one hundred families of believers.

The aim of the sesshins is the understanding and elimination of karmic suffering, which can manifest itself in all kinds of personal problems. The groups, which meet at least once a month and are up to 50-60 in size, are instructed by up to 12 Reinōshas who make contact with the spirit world through various esoteric rituals.

The core of everyday efforts are three sacred exercises ( 三 つ の あ ゆ み , mittsu-no-ayumi ):

  1. Otaske ( お た す け or お 救 け , otasuke , German "help"), d. H. Passing on the power of blessing through helping words, not lying, listening ... and proselytizing .
  2. Kangi ( 歓 喜 , also kanki ; Eng . "Joyful giving"), d. H. Making donations to charities, society, and Shinnyo-En
  3. Gohōshi ( ご 奉 仕 ; dt. "Service"), d. H. Work for society, e.g. B. "Physical activity" through services in society or in the temples, cleaning work or the like in the temples or public places

The actual practice of these exercises is intended to help one within Shinnyo-En rise to the rank of Reinōsha (a process that takes about 16 years on average), although this ascent is presented as fundamentally determined by the spirit world. The decision on the award of the Reinōsha title is actually incumbent on a permanent body of Shinnyo-En, the Sōshōeza ( 相承 会 座 ). After that, the new media go through a 12 to 18 month long training course in which only the media take part.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Kawabata and Akiba 2001, p. 5.
  2. ↑ Pokorny 2011, p. 191.
  3. ^ A b c Peter Bernard Clarke: Japanese New Religions: In Global Perspective . Routledge, 2000. ISBN 0700711856 . P. 25.
  4. ↑ Hubbard 1998, pp. 64f.
  5. ↑ Hubbard 1998, pp. 65f.
  6. ↑ Shiramizu 1979, pp. 422f.
  7. ↑ a b Hubbard 1998, 66f.
  8. ↑ Shiramizu 1979, p. 423
  9. ↑ Benjamin Dorman: “ SCAP's Scapegoat? The Authorities, New Religions, and a Postwar Taboo ( Memento of the original of September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ”, In: Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 31/1: p. 133 (PDF file, 296.1 kB; English). @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.nanzan-u.ac.jp
  10. ↑ cf. Spiritual rank in Japan
  11. ^ Hubbard 1998, p. 80
  12. ↑ a b Hubbard 1998, p. 67.
  13. ↑ a b c Peter Bernard Clarke 2000, p. 26.
  14. ↑ Hubbard 1998, pp. 67f.
  15. ↑ Peter Bernard Clarke 2000, pp. 297, 309.
  16. ↑ Hubbard 1998, pp. 68-70.
  17. ↑ Hubbard 1998, pp. 70f.
  18. ↑ Hubbard 1998, pp. 72f.
  19. ↑ Nagai 1995, p. 304.
  20. ^ Hubbard 1998, p. 74.
  21. ↑ Nagai 1995, pp. 308f.
  22. ↑ Kawabata and Akiba 2001, p. 6.
  23. ^ Hubbard 1998, p. 77.
  24. ↑ Shiramizu 1979, p. 434.
  25. ↑ Shiramizu 1979, p. 437.