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The Shinnyo-en Visiting Professorship

Statement by
The Shinnyo-en Foundation

The Shinnyo-en Foundation is a grant-giving foundation established in San Francisco in 1994.  It is the secular philanthropic branch of Shinnyo-en, an international lay Buddhist order.
It is the secular philanthropic branch of Shinnyo-en, an international lay Buddhist order.  The mission of the Foundation is to bring forth deeper compassion among humankind, to promote greater harmony, and to nurture future generations toward building more caring communities.  We provide financial support and resources to organizations who share our vision for building more caring communities.  Many of the programs supported by the Foundation are educational programs that engage and inspire young people in meaningful acts of service, while teaching children the value of helping others in the spirit of goodwill, without regard to differences of faith or background.

The goals of our grant-making are to engage youth and adults in meaningful acts of service; to guide them in reflecting on their service and its relationship to their growth; to involve families in the social, emotional and spiritual growth of their children; to nurture goodwill between youth and adults of diverse faiths, backgrounds and beliefs, for the good of their schools and communities; and to cultivate values such as compassion, harmony and respect in the culture and environment of public education.

The Foundation’s recent creation of the Visiting Professorship Fund in Buddhist Studies at Stanford University is an exciting new path in supporting educational programs.  We are delighted to embark upon this new journey to support great minds and to provide the opportunity for individuals to thrive and develop their knowledge of Buddhism; we believe that this is an ideal way to develop grant-making and endowment work.  It is our hope that the Professorship Fund will be a bridge between professors of Buddhism all over the world and Stanford University.  We believe that every human being has the ability to build bridges, and that these bridges will ultimately result in a more peaceful and harmonious world.  I feel that The Fund is an ideal vehicle to support Buddhist studies, while creating new bridges between people and organizations.  We are honored and excited to be partnering with Stanford University.

Harumitsu Inouye
Executive Director
Shinnyo-en Foundation