Three Wheels Temple

{{Short description|Shin Buddhist temple in London, England}}

{{Infobox religious building

| name = Three Wheels

| image = Three wheels zen garden.jpg

| image_upright =

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| caption = Zen garden at Three Wheels Temple, London, UK

| religious_affiliation = Shin Buddhism

| sect = Higashi Hongan-ji

| patron =

| consecration_year = 1994

| functional_status = Active

| location = Acton, London

| country = England

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| coordinates = {{coord|51.503704|-0.285351|}}

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| website = https://threewheels.org.uk/

}}

Three Wheels is a Shin Buddhist temple in London, England, founded in 1994.{{cite journal |last1=Matsunaga |first1=Louella |title=Jōdo Shinshū in the UK: Impermanence, Precarity, and Change |journal=Journal of Religion in Japan |date=14 July 2021 |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=1–27 |doi=10.1163/22118349-01002007|s2cid=237745705 }} It is the London branch of {{Nihongo|Shogyōji|正行寺}}, a temple in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan, which has affiliations with the larger Higashi Hongan-ji (Ōtani-ha) branch of Shin Buddhism.{{cite journal |last1=Kolata |first1=Paulina |title=Navigating inclusion: 'home-making' in the UK Shin Buddhist community |journal=Religion, State and Society |date=27 May 2023 |volume=51 |issue=3 |pages=283–299 |doi=10.1080/09637494.2023.2212578|doi-access=free }}{{rp|286}}

The temple was founded by Kemmyō Taira Sato, a former pupil of D. T. Suzuki,{{rp|10}}{{rp|291}} supporting both the local Japanese diaspora and non-Japanese attendees. The temple is spread across three buildings, with a main building holding the primary altar and two separate buildings used for events and hosting guests, alongside a Zen garden. The Zen garden was designed by John White, art historian and professor at University College London,{{cite journal |last1=Watson |first1=Sophie |last2=Zanetti |first2=Oliver |title=Religion as practices of attachment and materiality: the making of Buddhism in contemporary London |journal=Culture and Religion |date=2016 |volume=17 |issue=3 |pages=257–278 |doi=10.1080/14755610.2016.1211544|s2cid=152187733 |url=https://oro.open.ac.uk/47261/1/culture%20and%20religion%20Buddhism%20article%20pdf.pdf }}{{rp|15-16}} and it opened in 1997.{{rp|290}}{{cite web |title=The Zen Garden |url=https://threewheels.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Zen-Garden-04Jan2016.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220811104837/https://www.threewheels.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Zen-Garden-04Jan2016.pdf |archive-date=2022-08-11 |website=Three Wheels |access-date=18 March 2024}}

Three Wheels conducts daily services, meditation sessions, twice-yearly shokai retreats (a term coined from two characters meaning "to flow" and "to open") involving communal meals, dharma talks, and chanting,{{rp|297}} and services such as funerals and weddings. The temple also hosts bi-monthly eza gatherings, which feature dharma talks in English.{{rp|289}} The term "eza" means "to meet and sit"{{rp|296}} and is a distinctive practice within the Shogyōji lineage of temples, compared with wider the Shin Buddhist movement.{{rp|289}}

Since 1997, Three Wheels has conducted a yearly Annual Ceremony to Pray for World Peace and Reconciliation between British and Japanese War Veterans.{{cite web |title=2013 Foreign Minister's Commendation - Reverend Professor Kemmyo Taira Sato and Mr Keisaku Sano |url=https://www.uk.emb-japan.go.jp/en/webmagazine/2013/12/fm.html |website=Embassy of Japan in the UK |access-date=11 February 2024}}{{rp|11}}