Welcome to the Albany Buddhist Sangha!

Albany Buddhist Sangha is a growing community dedicated to sharing the teachings of Buddha with Buddhists and non-Buddhists of diverse backgrounds and perspectives. The word “sangha” means community, and this sangha was built with you in mind. Albany Buddhist Sangha is an outreach project, or “satellite sangha,” of the New York Buddhist Church in NYC (www.newyorkbuddhistchurch.org). The New York Buddhist Church, was founded in 1938 by Japanese immigrants, and is affiliated with the Buddhist Churches of America (www.buddhistchurchesofamerica.org), a national organization affiliated with the Nishi Honganji School of Shin Buddhism. Come as you are! Let’s celebrate the diversity of the Capital Region by putting the teachings of Buddha into practice!

Shin Buddhism is a lay-oriented and family friendly form of Buddhism founded by the Japanese Buddhist revolutionary Shinran (1173-1263) who rebelled against the elitism and exclusivity of the religious culture of his day to share the teachings of Buddha with women and men of all classes, backgrounds, aptitudes, and abilities. Today Shin Buddhism is the largest form of Buddhism in Japan, and thanks to the pioneering work of generations of Japanese-American immigrant communities, since the late 1800s Shin Buddhism has also been one of the most widely practiced forms of Buddhism throughout North and South Americas. Shin Buddhism has been called the “Buddhism of the Heart,” as it approaches the human condition from a perspective that embraces both wisdom and compassion. Shin Buddhism does not require extensive training or education. There is no rigid discipline, nor rigorous meditation. Shin Buddhism simply teaches that awakening is achievable through setting aside the ego and cultivating a spirit of openness to the naturally arising Life and Light awakening within and around all beings.