A Most Cordial Welcome to All...
Ekoji will be a place where the differences of race, color or creed will disappear. Ekoji will be open to all who earnestly seek the Dharma.
- Rev Kenryu Tsuji, Founding Minister, 1981
Welcome to our Buddhist temple - Ekoji. It is our great pleasure to greet friendly visitors like you.
Ekoji means “The Temple of the Gift of Light.” Our mother temple is Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji-Ha in Kyoto, Japan and our denomination is commonly known as Shin Buddhism. A Japanese monk named Shinran established this form of Buddhism in the 12th century. Our temple was founded in 1981 in Northern Virginia and moved to this facility in 1998. The aim of our fellowship is to live the life of gratitude, and share the rejoicing of it with others, having awakened to the fact that we are being taken care of by the Immeasurable Light and Life, the Wisdom and Compassion of Amida Buddha.
Please browse the website to learn more about Shin Buddhism and the temple’s various activities, including the regular Sunday services.
There are many cherry trees around our temple. They are still young but blossom beautifully when the spring comes. Please come and enjoy them. The road to Ekoji is wide and has no gate. We welcome you at any time.
In Gassho,
Reverend Shojo Honda, Minister
About Ekoji
In Buddhism, it is said that there are more than 84,000 different paths to Enlightenment. Amongst these paths, Ekoji shares the Pure Land Buddhist teachings of Shinran Shonin, a 12th century Japanese Buddhist monk whose path is based on the Nembutsu Teaching of Amida Buddha (the Buddha of Infinite Light and Life). The Nembutsu Path is to become aware of the ignorant self and to rely upon the Infinite Wisdom and Compassion of Amida Buddha, which is expressed in sincere gratitude through the recitation of the Nembutsu, Namu Amida Butsu.
The Ekoji Buddhist Temple was founded in 1981 by Rev, Kenryu T. Tsuji and philanthropist Rev. Dr. Yehan Numata. The name Ekoji was chosen by the late Reverend Numata and means “The Temple of the Gift of Light.”
Ekoji Buddhist Temple is a member of the Buddhist Churches of America (BCA). In addition to overseeing temples throughout the U.S., the BCA administers the Buddhist Award program for the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, and Campfire Girls and is the only authorized organization to place Buddhist ministers as military chaplains. The BCA, in turn, is the U.S. representative of the Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji- Ha, located in Kyoto, Japan. Hongwanji is the headquarters of Jodo Shinshu, the largest of the Buddhist sects in Japan. The literal translation of Jodo Shinshu is the “True Pure Land Sect.”
The Ekoji Vision
Our vision is for our temple to house a warm and supportive sangha (community), to minister support for the practice of Shin Buddhism, and act as a source of education and contemplation in Buddhism for people throughout the national capital area.
2011 Buddhist Churches of America (BCA) Theme: May Peace and Tranquility Prevail Throughout the World