Koyasan Seizanji Temple 青山寺: Japanese Buddhism in Sydney
About the Saito's & Seizanji Temple
Seizanji Temple has undergone many transformations over the decades, much like life itself.
Its roots are inseparable from the life of Rev. Saito, who grew up in post-war Japan in a world shaped by survival, discipline and hardship. As a young man, he found structure and meaning through martial arts and a life of physical rigour. Yet constant fighting: both external and internal, eventually led him to seek a deeper form of refuge.
That refuge was found in Shingon Buddhism, a tradition that did not reject discipline, but refined it.
Rev. Saito was ordained and undertook sustained training connected to Mount Kōya, the heartland of Shingon Buddhism. His practice included repeated engagement with goma fire ritua, a demanding ceremonial discipline traditionally associated with purification, endurance and unwavering presence.
At the age of 54, Rev. Saito became a father.
Harrison Saito grew up within the quiet gravity of this temple space, yet his own path unfolded outward first. Through years marked by intergenerational trauma, identity conflict and searching, he sought answers in many forms: hedonism, over-intellectualisation, and relentless striving through martial arts.
Each pursuit, in its own way, eventually led him back inward.
What emerged was not a sudden revelation, but a recognition: the values he had been searching for: non-separation, presence, and compassion.... had been embodied all along in his father’s Shingon altar.
In Shingon Buddhism, this is often expressed through the principle symbolised by Dainichi Nyorai: not emptiness as absence, but a universe in which nothing stands outside of anything else. A reality where body, mind, action, suffering, and care are not divided.
Harrison was ordained in 2014. While he has not undergone formalised monastic training, his life’s work: as a high school teacher, martial arts coach, and student of Shingon principles has been shaped by the same question that ancient wisdom sought to address: How does one live in a way that reduces harm and increases kindness?
How does one live in a way that reduces harm and increases kindness?
Today, Seizanji Temple stands as a quiet continuation of that inquiry.
Harrison believes his role is to bridge: to honour lineage while making its human essence accessible to contemporary life.
Seizanji is offered as a place of:
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solace rather than certainty
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kindness over correction
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community without pressure
A place to return, to what is already present.
