Agon Shu
Encyclopedia
Agon Shu is a Buddhist organization based on Agama (Agon) Sutras which Shakyamuni Buddha originally taught to his disciples. Its main center is in Kyoto
In modern Buddhist scholarship, the principles of Buddhism found in the Agon Sutras are fomally classified as Original Buddhism.
After the death of the Buddha, for hundreds of years there was great confusion over what his teachings meant. This confusion resulted in an apparent split in Buddhistphilosophy, a split between te so-called Mahayana and Hinayana schools.
Mahayana means "greater vehicle". It is the name used by a massively popular off-shoot of Buddhism that was created in the centuries after the Buddha died. This as the form in which Buddhism spread to China. In China, this Mayahanism became what is now mainstream Japanese Buddhism.
Hinayana literally means "lesser vehicle". It is a derogatory term of disrespect, used specifically by the Mahayanists to refer to the kind of Buddhism based on the original principles given by te Buddha in the Agon sutras. Ths original Buddhism of the Buddha got left behind in the great surges of mass religious fashion surrounding the Mahayanist popularizations of Buddhism in China and Japan in the centuries after the death of the Buddha.
Up until the past two decades or so, Buddhist studeis had been heavily influenced by the Mahayanist doctrines,primarily the mainstream Chinese and Japanese orthodoxy. As a result, in both the academic world and in the mind of the general public, Buddhism throughout the world came to be classified into these two types-Mahayana, the great popular religion of the masses, and Hinayana, a sort of quaint archaic cousin.
Recently, however, great breakthroughs in Buddhist studies and in th linguistic analysis of the original language of the sutras, have shown that this view of Buddhism is inappropriate. Now, Buddhist scholars have rejected the Mahayana-Hinayana classification; instead they refer to the split in Buddhist philosophy as one between Original Buddhism and the later Mahayanist of-shoots. The Agon-shu is this Original Buddhism.
After a long spiritual search and rigorous training, Seiyu Kiriyama Kancho rediscovered the actual method to attain enlightenment in the Agon Sutras and founded Agon Shu in 1987 to spread this truth. He has written more than 50 books which sell millions of copies, in which he expounds the beliefs, significance and goals of Agon Buddhism.
Although profoundly rooted in ancient Buddhist insight and wisdom, at the same time Agon Buddhism is contemporary in that it demorcatically makes higher wisdom available to a greater number of people. It takes teachings that were secret and available only to the few and brings them into the modern world accessible to everyone.
As a new school of old Buddhism, Agon Buddhism is bringing together three major currents of Buddhist thought: Northern Buddhism, Southern Buddhism and Esoteric school of Tibetan Buddhism, responding to the needs of men and women today and helping them to prepare for th challeges of the 21st century.
Kiriyama Kancho led up a Buddhist organization called Kannon Jikeikai for 30 years or so until 1978. This Kannon Jikeikai was based on the Kannon Sutra in Mahayana Buddhism. He later founded Agon Shu.
Agon Shu now has about 580,000 members. It combines study of the Agamas (called Agon in Japanese, Shu simply meaning school/sect/denomination) with the practice of esoteric rituals.
Agon Buddhism is described as the "Original Buddhism."
The Agon-shu is a Buddhist faith that takes its principles directlyfrom the Buddha's teachings, the Agon Sturas. In the original Sanskrit language, these are called the Agamas or the Agama Sutras, literally meaning "the teaching of the Buddha".These sutras are known to be the only true rcords of the teachings of Gautama Buddha.In modern Buddhist scholarship, the principles of Buddhism found in the Agon Sutras are fomally classified as Original Buddhism.
After the death of the Buddha, for hundreds of years there was great confusion over what his teachings meant. This confusion resulted in an apparent split in Buddhistphilosophy, a split between te so-called Mahayana and Hinayana schools.
Mahayana means "greater vehicle". It is the name used by a massively popular off-shoot of Buddhism that was created in the centuries after the Buddha died. This as the form in which Buddhism spread to China. In China, this Mayahanism became what is now mainstream Japanese Buddhism.
Hinayana literally means "lesser vehicle". It is a derogatory term of disrespect, used specifically by the Mahayanists to refer to the kind of Buddhism based on the original principles given by te Buddha in the Agon sutras. Ths original Buddhism of the Buddha got left behind in the great surges of mass religious fashion surrounding the Mahayanist popularizations of Buddhism in China and Japan in the centuries after the death of the Buddha.
Up until the past two decades or so, Buddhist studeis had been heavily influenced by the Mahayanist doctrines,primarily the mainstream Chinese and Japanese orthodoxy. As a result, in both the academic world and in the mind of the general public, Buddhism throughout the world came to be classified into these two types-Mahayana, the great popular religion of the masses, and Hinayana, a sort of quaint archaic cousin.
Recently, however, great breakthroughs in Buddhist studies and in th linguistic analysis of the original language of the sutras, have shown that this view of Buddhism is inappropriate. Now, Buddhist scholars have rejected the Mahayana-Hinayana classification; instead they refer to the split in Buddhist philosophy as one between Original Buddhism and the later Mahayanist of-shoots. The Agon-shu is this Original Buddhism.
Agon Buddhism and Kiriyama Kancho (Chief Abbot of Agon Shu)
Agon Shu is a Buddhist organization based on the Agon Sutras, that hand down the original doctrines the Buddha taught. Agon Shu and Agon Buddhism points to their origin in the Agon Sutras, where the Buddha taught his disciples a method known as the "7 Systems and 37 practices for attaining Supreme Wisdom", a method that Agon Buddhists practice.After a long spiritual search and rigorous training, Seiyu Kiriyama Kancho rediscovered the actual method to attain enlightenment in the Agon Sutras and founded Agon Shu in 1987 to spread this truth. He has written more than 50 books which sell millions of copies, in which he expounds the beliefs, significance and goals of Agon Buddhism.
Although profoundly rooted in ancient Buddhist insight and wisdom, at the same time Agon Buddhism is contemporary in that it demorcatically makes higher wisdom available to a greater number of people. It takes teachings that were secret and available only to the few and brings them into the modern world accessible to everyone.
As a new school of old Buddhism, Agon Buddhism is bringing together three major currents of Buddhist thought: Northern Buddhism, Southern Buddhism and Esoteric school of Tibetan Buddhism, responding to the needs of men and women today and helping them to prepare for th challeges of the 21st century.
Kiriyama Kancho led up a Buddhist organization called Kannon Jikeikai for 30 years or so until 1978. This Kannon Jikeikai was based on the Kannon Sutra in Mahayana Buddhism. He later founded Agon Shu.
Agon Shu now has about 580,000 members. It combines study of the Agamas (called Agon in Japanese, Shu simply meaning school/sect/denomination) with the practice of esoteric rituals.