Shinnyo-en
Shinnyo-en is a school of esoteric Buddhism founded by Master Shinjo Ito in Japan in the 1930s. The first Shinnyo-en temple established outside of Japan was dedicated in Hawaiʻi in 1971. There are now over one hundred temples and training centers in or around major cities such as New York, Chicago, Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Sao Paulo, London, Paris, Milan, Munich, Singapore, Sydney, Taipei and Tokyo.
The name Shinnyo-en, meaning “a borderless garden of the unchanging and real nature of things,” reflects the Order’s intention of offering places and methods of Buddhist training that are available to anyone who is interested in cultivating their “buddha nature” or “shinnyo,” the seed of enlightenment that exists in every living being. There are currently more than one million Shinnyo practitioners of diverse national, ethnic, cultural and religious backgrounds worldwide.
The Shinnyo doctrine centers on the Nirvana Sutra, which encourages all to receive each moment amongst family, friends, coworkers and the community as training to develop one’s ability to act with unwavering loving kindness and compassion – or the heart of a buddha. Shinnyo practitioners strive in individual altruistic acts and collectively through the sangha’s philanthropic activities around the world , to create harmony in diversity and work toward happiness and peace for all.
Shinnyo-en is led by Her Holiness Shinso Ito, who succeeded Master Shinjo after his passing in 1989.