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Adelaide Shin Buddhist Dojo

What is the difference between a dojo and a temple?

Sainenji Ibaraki

Sainenji (temple) in Ibaraki prefecture, Japan. It is built near the site where Shinran lived and began to compose his major treatise, 'The True Teaching, Practice and Realisation of the Pure Land Way' in 1224, thereby initiating the Shin Buddhist School of Pure Land Buddhism.


A dojo is a dedicated space in a home or public hall that is set aside for the study and practice of Buddhism.

Dojos are set up by a group of Dharma friends and those who wish to join them.

If a dojo gains an enduring membership with the potential to continue into future generations, a suitable large hall may be built and dedicated as a temple.

In the early days of Shin Buddhism followers met in dojos.