The Essentials of Jodo Shinshu
Name of Teaching
Shin Buddhism (Jodo Shinshu)
Object of Reverence
Amida Tathagata (Amida Nyorai)
Scriptures
The Three Pure Land Sutras;
The Sutra of Inmmeasurable Life (The Larger Sutra)
The Sutra of Contemplation on Immeasurable Life (The Contemplation Sutra)
The Amida Sutra (The Smaller Sutra)
Founder
Shinran Shonin (1173-1262)
Shinran Shonin's Writings
The Collection of Passages Expounding the True Teaching, Living, Faith, and Realizing of the Pure Land (the Kyogyoshinsho)
Hymns of the Pure Land
Hymns of the Pure Land Masters
Hymns of the Dharma-Ages
Name of school
Shinshu Otani-ha (Higashi Honganji)
Head Temple
Shinshu Honbyo (Higashi Honganji in Kyoto, Japan)
The Ringing of the Bell (Jōya no Kane)
In Japan a temple Bell is chimed 108 times at the end of the year. Actually, in Japan the end of the old year and the celebration of the new year is a rather big event compared to abroad and lasts for several days.
Coming back to the question, ringing the temple bell can be perceived as a symbol to finish the old year and welcome the new one. At midnight on December 31st, no matter where you are in Japan, you will hear the Joya No Kane, the ringing of the temple or shrine bell 108 times before the New Year starts. The origin of this ritual ending the old year, is thought to help overcome all temptations human beings face in Life.
Actually, each ring represents one of the 108 earthly temptations a person must overcome to achieve Nirvana. The ceremony is said to have originated in the Song Dynasty (960 to 1279 BC) as a Chinese custom and was later brought over to Japan. The Buddhist explanation of this number is the multiple relations of the six senses. The number 108 is created by a matrix of the multiple of the senses (6), the differentiator (3), the outcome of the condition (2) and the timeline (3).
Senses: eyes, ears, tongue, nose, touch and mind.
Perception of the senses: color, voice, taste, smell, touch and logic
Differentiator with its perspective to feelings: not hard/ painful, (like/feeling good), happy/angry, balanced/neutral
Condition: pure, dirty
Timeline: previous life, present life, future
In Jodo Shinshu, we actually cannot eliminate the 108 earthly desires that cause our suffering, but from them we can learn about oneself which is the actual cause of our suffering. We are the source of our own ignorance, desire, and hatred (the three poisons), which manifests in the beast, our darkness.
