The Shinnyo Buddhist Tradition
What is Shinnyo?
Shinnyo is reality, or the true nature of all things. It is the innate goodness, wisdom, and compassion inherently at the core of every living being. Shinnyo is the light that exists in all, without exception.
Shinnyo also can be understood as external forces, vibrant and infinite, that compassionately lead us to moments of awakening – those serendipitous moments of feeling present and inspired.
When we become aware of shinnyo existing in and warmly encompassing us all, we can appreciate how interconnected we are. Each of us is unique, like “Many Rivers,” and equally embraced in the “One Ocean” of our wonderfully diverse world.
We hope that you’ll use Shinnyo Lantern Floating Hawai‘i to celebrate the shinnyo in those you are remembering, awaken to its existence inside yourself, appreciate it in others around you, then decide how you will “Share Your Light” through tangible acts to bring about hope and a brighter future for all.
Her holiness Shinso Ito
Her Holiness Shinso Ito is the current head of Shinnyo-en. She is one of the few women to become a Buddhist master and attain the highest priestly rank of Daisojo.
When the founder of Shinnyo-en, Master Shinjo Ito, visited Hawaiʻi in 1970, he paid respects at Punchbowl and the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial. Profoundly moved by this experience, he was inspired with the wish to hold a lantern floating where people could share their hopes for peace.
Recognized as Master Shinjo Ito’s most accomplished disciple, Her Holiness Shinso Ito succeeded him as the head of Shinnyo Buddhism after his passing in 1989, and carried out his wish in the form of Shinnyo Lantern Floating Hawaiʻi on Memorial Day, 1999.
Profoundly aware that a spiritual path must be meaningful for people living today, Her Holiness teaches an engaged form of Buddhism where practitioners see their daily surroundings as their training ground for cultivating their innate “buddha nature,” the seed of enlightenment that can blossom through giving joy to others.
Read her address given at this year’s ceremony. We hope that her message inspires you to share aloha with those around you.
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.
For more information, visit Shinnyo-en’s official website, shinnyo.org.