[Buddha-l] Shinnyo-En

[Joy Vriens]

First time I hear from this movement. 

Yesterday in Paris a huge ceremony was organised by the Japanese Shinnyo-En movement. It claims to have 800.000 members all over the world and 1500 in France. The ceremony took place in the business heart of France, La Défense and was retransmitted simultaneously in 20 countries. The ceremony is said to have costed 2 million euros. The movement is entirely sponsored by gifts of benefactors. Special attention was given to the monks of Myanmar, without making any political statement, since the ceremony was meant to develop world peace.

http://www.lefigaro.fr/reportage/20071001.FIG000000181_paris_temple_du_bouddhisme_japonais.html


"Shinnyo-en is a Buddhist denomination originally established in Japan. Today it has temples and meeting places in various countries headquartered in Japan. Its name means "a borderless garden of shinnyo". It is, first and foremost, a place for Buddhist training, in which all people regardless of age, gender, nationality, or religious background can cultivate their innate buddha nature, the kernel of enlightenment existing in all beings. 

Founder Shinjo Ito, who became a monk of Shingon Buddhism (Japanese esoteric Buddhism), pursued and established a way for lay practitioners to grasp the essence of Buddhist teachings: liberation from the ignorance and craving that cause suffering in people's daily lives. Along with holding traditional Buddhist services, he developed an effective mentoring framework and sesshin meditative training based on concepts in the Nirvana Sutra."

http://www.shinnyo-en.org/shinnyoen/