Rinshoin Zen Temple – Japan – Zen Meditation in the middle of the great city of Tokyo
Rinshoin is a large and historically significant Rinzai Zen temple in the heart of Tokyo, right next to Tokyo University and not far from Ueno Park. Rinshō-in is associated with the Myōshin-ji branch of Rinzai Zen Buddhism and offers early morning meditation five days a week to the public. The quiet, green grounds of the temple are very popular with the people of the area as an oasis of calm in the crowded city. Rinshō-in originated in the Tentaku-ji Temple, founded in 1624 by Lady Kasuga no Tsubone Kasuga no Tsubone (1579-1643), one of the most influential Japanese nobles of the 17th century.
At Tsubone's request, Tokugawa Iemitsu (1604-1651), the third Tokugawa shogun, bequeathed 3.3 hectares of land for the temple and also donated his father Tokugawa Hidetada's (1579-1632) Edo mansion to use as the temple's living quarters to serve. The first abbot of Tentaku-ji was Tsubone's nephew, the priest Shinryū, who was soon forced to retire due to illness. At this time, Tentaku-ji was appointed the family temple of Tsubone, with Isen honored as the founding abbot.
In 1634 Tsubone received ordination under Isen and received the Buddhist name Rinshōin Den Nin'en Ryōgi'ni Daishi. That same year, Tokugawa Iemitsu donated an estate that provided Tentaku-ji with an income of 300 koku (45,000 kilos) of rice a year. After Tsubone's death in 1643, the temple's name was changed to Rinshō-in, Tsubone's Buddhist name.
Rinshoin Zen Temple - Japan - Tokyo - 臨済宗 妙心寺派 天澤院 麟祥院
The founding abbot of Rinshō-in, Isen Shūryū, was born in 1565 in Oyama, a town in Yashū (present-day Tochigi Prefecture). He received ordination under Tandō Shōgeki, the priest of Kōzen-ji in the city of Utsunomiya, also in Yashū. Isen He was later trained by the Zen master Motsugai Shōhan (also known by his title Hanyō Daikyō Zenji).
After an extensive pilgrimage through Japan, Isen became the priest of the Ryōkō-ji Temple in Ōkaki, and Yashū succeeded Tandō Shōgeki in Kōzen-ji where he served as a priest until receiving Tsubone's invitation to Tentaku-ji Abbey in 1630. In 1644, two years after his death, he was bestowed the imperial title of Zen Master Honjaku Jōkō Honjaku Sadako Zenji.
Zazen - Zen Meditation
Rinshoin offers early morning zazen (Zen meditation) to the public every weekday, Monday through Friday.
