It is affiliated with the Myōshin-ji school of Rinzai Zen Buddhism.
The temple is named for Donglin Temple (simplified Chinese: 东林寺; traditional Chinese: 東林寺; pinyin: Dōnglínsì) at the base of Mountain Lu near Jiujiang in China.
A festival is held every June to celebrate the sal tree and its flowers.
In 1556, it passed to the Yamana clan, whose family temple it remains to this day, and was moved to its current location within Myōshin-ji and renamed to Tōrin-in.
The current head priest, Nishikawa Genbō (西川玄房), is a researcher of devotional cuisine.