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On December 8, 2011 Shinnyo-en celebrated the Feast of Enlightenment, the annual honoring of the achievements of Buddha and other enlightened spiritual masters through the ages who paved the way for us to also aspire to spiritual liberation.

Shinnyo-en Head Priest, Shinso Ito, performed the Shinnyo-en Saisho Homa fire ritual in Taipei, Taiwan on November 27, 2011. The ceremony, which was open to the public, had more than 30,000 attendees and was the largest Saisho Homa ceremony yet performed.

On Saturday, November 5, Shinnyo-en hosted a small, but very fruitful symposium at Ryukyo-in in Kyoto. The symposium centered on issues of globalization and religious pluralism and was led by a panel of four distinguished guests from the United States.

Three years into an extensive renovation and enhancement of the Shinnyo'en Oyasono headquarters temple complex in Tachikawa, the statue of the Mahaparinirvana Buddha was re-inspirited at a ceremony performed by head priest, Her Holiness Shinso Ito. The 16-foot image of the reclining Buddha was sculpted by Shinnyo-en's founder, Master Shinjo Ito, in 1957 and was first inspirited that year marking the beginning of Shinnyo-en as a spiritual community based on the last teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha, the Mahaparinirvana Sutra, as its central text. A second inspiriting ceremony was conducted in 1968 following additions and renovations to the head temple complex in Tachikawa, in western Tokyo prefecture. The most recent renovations of Oyasono were begun in February 2008.

The "Eye Opening Ceremony," the re-inspiriting of the Mahaparinirvana Buddha statue at the Oyasono temple complex in Tachikawa, is the subject of a Huffington Post Religion slideshow, posted October 18, 2011.

About 160 Shinnyo-en Ogen'in Temple Staff and Shinnyo-en Members from several countries had the distinctive opportunity to experience meditation practices from other traditions on Saturday afternoon, October 8th. The two-hour event entailed two guided meditation sessions each followed by a discussion with the meditation leaders.

On October 1 and 2, Her Holiness Shinso Ito, Head Priest of Shinnyo-en, conducted the annual saito homa ritual at a temple near the shore of Lake Kawaguchi in Yamanashi prefecture, Japan. On October 2nd, Shinso Ito conducted the ritual, as she has done since she assumed leadership of Shinnyo-en in 1989, assisted by lay members from Shinnyo-en communities worldwide.

On September 11, 2001, Her Holiness Shinso Ito was in the Chicago, Illinois metropolitan area. On the previous Saturday she had officiated at the opening ceremony of the new Chicago area Shinnyo-en temple. At the time of the attack she was visiting with municipal authorities of Elk Grove Village. On September 15, she led a Shinnyo-en consolatory service in Chicago for all the victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks. The following are Her Holiness Shinso Ito's remarks on the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

On September 7-12, 2011 two members of the Shinnyo-en head temple staff participated in a conference,The Inner Dimensions of Climate Change, held in Rishikesh, India, and sponsored byThe Global Peace Initiative of Women. Approximately 35 attendees from Afghanistan, Cambodia, Japan, India, Korea, Sri Lanka, and Taiwan, aged in their 20s and 30s, participated, representing the Buddhist, Hindu, Shinto, Muslim and Christian traditions.

On August 16, 2011, the Head Priest of Shinnyo-en, Her Holiness Shinso Ito, performed the annual Water Consolatory Service at the Shinchoji Annex temple on the shores of Lake Kawaguchi, Yamanashi prefecture, as part of the traditional Japanese celebration of obon honoring departed loved ones and ancestors.

Yesterday we had more than 40,000 people from around the world gather for the 13th annual Lantern Floating Hawai'i. The ceremony, which honors all those who have lost their lives in war, natural disasters, famine, and disease, drew media attention from all over the United States. We have been following the preparations for the ceremony leading up to today.

On April 24, Shinnyo-en held a monthly spiritual consolatory service officiated by Her Holiness Shinso Ito to offer prayer for victims of Great Eastern Japan Earthquake, March 11, 2011, and all other victims of natural and human-made calamities and wars in the world. The service was held at Shinnyo-en's Yuon Sanctuary located in the Kansai area where the Great Western Japan Earthquake occurred in 1995.

The Shinnyo-en-produced video, Lantern Floating Hawai'i 2010, won the Gold Remi Award in the Culture category and the Silver Remi Award in the Live Events category at the 44^th annual WorldFest Houston Independent International Film Festival. The hour-long documentary focuses on the annual Shinnyo-en-sponsored Lantern Floating Ceremony in Honolulu exploring the personal stories of public participants. WorldFestis the oldest independent film and video festival in North America.