Three Wheels is a Shin Buddhist temple in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, founded in 1994. It is the London branch of , a temple in

Fukuoka Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Fukuoka Prefecture has a population of 5,109,323 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,986 Square kilometre, km2 (1,925 sq mi). Fukuoka Prefecture borders ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, which has affiliations with the larger

Higashi Hongan-ji , or, "the Eastern Monastery of the Original Vow", is one of two dominant sub-sects of Shin Buddhism in Japan and abroad, the other being Nishi Honganji (or, 'The Western Temple of the Original Vow'). It is also the name of the head temple of t ...

(

Ōtani-ha Ōtani-ha (真宗大谷派, ''Shinshū Ōtani-ha'') is a Japanese Buddhist movement. It belongs to , also known as Shin Buddhism (or True Pure Land). The movement has approximately 5.5 million members. The headquarters of Ōtani-ha are in Kyoto,< ...

) branch of Shin Buddhism. The temple was founded by Kemmyō Taira Sato, a former pupil of D. T. Suzuki, supporting both the local

Japanese diaspora The Japanese diaspora and its individual members, known as Nikkei (, ) or as Nikkeijin (, ), comprise the Japanese people, Japanese emigration, emigrants from Japan (and their Kinship, descendants) residing in a country outside Japan. Emigration ...

and non-Japanese attendees. The temple is spread across three buildings, with a main building holding the primary altar and two separate buildings used for events and hosting guests, alongside a

Zen garden The or Japanese rock garden, often called a Zen garden, is a distinctive style of Japanese garden. It creates a miniature stylized landscape through carefully composed arrangements of rocks, water features, moss, pruned trees and bushes, and us ...

. The Zen garden was designed by John White, art historian and professor at

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

, and it opened in 1997. Three Wheels conducts daily services, meditation sessions, twice-yearly ''shokai'' retreats (a term coined from two

characters Character or Characters may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk * ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to Theoph ...

meaning "to flow" and "to open") involving communal meals,

dharma talks A Dharma talk (Sanskrit) or Dhamma talk (Pali) or Dharma sermon (''Japanese'': , ''Chinese'': ) is a public discourse on Buddhism by a Buddhist teacher. In Theravāda Buddhism, the study of Buddhist texts and listening to Dhamma talks by monks o ...

, and chanting, and services such as funerals and weddings. The temple also hosts bi-monthly ''eza'' gatherings, which feature dharma talks in English. The term "''eza''" means "to meet and sit" and is a distinctive practice within the Shogyōji lineage of temples, compared with the wider Shin Buddhist movement. Since 1997, Three Wheels has conducted a yearly ''Annual Ceremony to Pray for World Peace and Reconciliation between British and Japanese War Veterans''.

Notes

References

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External Links

Three Wheels Shin Buddhist Temple

Shogyōji (Japanese)
{{Buddhism topics Buddhist temples in London Jōdo Shin temples