Lineage & History
Saisho Ein Sanmaya Horyu (最勝恵印三昧耶法流), the "Supreme Wisdom-Seal Samaya Dharma Lineage”), Ein Horyu for short,
refers to a stream of Tozan-ha (Shingon) Shugendo teachings transmitted historically at the Sanboin subtemple of Daigoji in Kyoto.
Daigoji was founded in 874 by the monk Shobo (832–909), posthumously known as Rigen Daishi. Ein Horyu is said to have begun when Rigen Daishi, who greatly revered Jinpen Daibosatsu (En no Gyoja, the Shugendo founder), awakened to the truth of the teachings that unify mikkyo (esoteric Buddhist practice) with mountain prayers and rituals. Tradition records that he transmitted the Ein Horyu practices, and these over time became a core ritual lineage within Daigoji/Sanboin Tozan-ha Shugendo.
Ein Horyu has its own esoteric transmission (denju and kanjo, teaching and empowerment) practiced within the lineage, and is a complete Shugendo system encompassing deity practices, goma, saito goma, mountain training, and many other miscelleneous practices for diverse purposes.
During the Meiji period (late 19th century), state policies of shinbutsu-bunri (enforced separation of Shinto and Buddhism) and suppression of Shugend0 significantly disrupted many mountain ascetic communities, including those at Daigoji. But the teachings were preserved, and in the early 20th century (around 1910 / Meiji 43), Ein initiations and ritual transmission were revived and re-established within the Daigoji Sanboin. Today, Ein Horyu continues to transmit this heritage founded by Rigen Daishi.
In 2025, after some years of practicing various streams of Shugendo and receiving Shingon and Tozan-ha Shugendo ritual transmissions including saito goma, two of our ISA directors received the complete Ein Horyu dento (lineage transmission) from Tenshu Dai-ajari in Saitama, Japan. This unusual transmission was given, Dai-ajari stated at the time, because he felt there was a danger that Ein Horyu would die out in Japan.
Charged thus to promulgate legitimate Shugendo practices widely and establish gyoba (Shugen training area) outside Japan, International Shugendo Association was born. The religious name used for our organization is Kosei (光成, こうせい, "Bright Attainement") Shugendo.
