What is "shinnyo-en"

is a Japanese new religion in the tradition of the Daigo branch of the Shingon Buddhism. It was founded in 1936 by Ito Shinjo (, 1906-1989) and his wife Tomoji (, 1912-1967) in a suburb of metropolitan Tokyo, the city of Tachikawa, where its headquarters is still located.

It is open to lay and monastic practitioners alike. Its principal teachings are based on the Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra. They also integrate elements of traditional Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism as well as teachings and practices initiated by the founders of Shinnyo-en, Shinjō Itō (born as Fumiaki Itō), a great master (大阿闍梨 dai ajari) of Shingon Buddhism, and his wife Tomoji Itō (born as Tomoji Uchida), the first woman in the thousand-year history of Daigo-ji in Kyoto to receive the rank of Daisōjō as a laywoman.

In 2011, Shinnyo-en was reported to have 860 000 members, and temples and training centers in several countries in Asia, Europe and the Americas. The temples are characterised by the Nirvana image, a statue of the reclining Buddha.

Central to Shinnyo-en is the belief, expressed in the Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra, that all beings possess Buddha-nature, a natural, unfettered purity that can respond creatively and compassionately to any situation in life.

the head of Shinnyo-en was Shinsō Itō (born 1942, also known as 'Keishu'), who holds the rank of Daisōjō, the highest rank in traditional Shingon Buddhism.