Lably
Skip to content

Hsi Lai Temple

  • 10 min read
  • 7 chapters

Related on Lably

Through Monastery

Hsi Lai Temple is a branch of Fo Guang Shan, a Buddhist organization from Taiwan. It is the order's first overseas branch temple and serves as the North American regional headquarters for Fo Guang Shan. Hsi Lai Temple was the site of the founding of Buddha's Light International Association, established in 1991. The temple, like its mother temple in Taiwan, practices Humanistic Buddhism.

History

In 1976, Master Hsing Yun, the founder of the order, represented a Buddhist group from Taiwan to participate in America's bicentennial celebration. Master Hsing Yun was asked by American friends to build a monastery in the United States. Therefore, Fo Guang Shan asked the Venerable Tzu Chuang (who, upon the inception of the temple, became the founding and first abbess of Hsi Lai Temple) and Yi Heng to plan and organize the construction of the temple in the Greater Los Angeles area. It was officially chartered in the state of California under the name of International Buddhist Progress Society. Until the temple was complete, Ven. Tzu Chuang bought an old church building, which was to be Hsi Lai's temporary headquarters. The original temple, located in the city of Maywood, was called the Bai Ta (White Pagoda) Temple.

The planning and construction of the temple in the 1980s was met with suspicion and resistance from local communities, many of whom knew little about Buddhism and had unfounded fears of Buddhist practices. Many residents felt that the project was too big for a neighborhood of single-family homes and that the traditional Chinese architectural style would not fit in. The main reasons for resistance to the building of the temple were the impact of weekly services, heavy traffic, noise, and concern about environmental damage.

Originally, the organization had planned to build the temple in Gardena, California but was blocked from acquiring land. They also tried to acquire the historical Pyrenees Castle in Alhambra, California, but also met opposition from the community. The building of the temple at its current location survived six public hearings and more than 100 community meetings. In 1985, the temple was finally granted a building permit. The groundbreaking ceremony was held the following year, and the temple was completed on November 26, 1988.

Negative feelings about the building of Hsi Lai have since diminished, as the general level of awareness has been raised and as the temple and its residents have proven to be good neighbors. In addition, most of the original complainants of the temple project moved out of Hacienda Heights.

Immediately after its opening, Hsi Lai Temple was the venue of many major events. The 16th General Conference of the World Fellowship of Buddhists and the 7th conference of the World Fellowship of Buddhist Youth were held from November 19 to 26, an international Triple Platform Full Ordination Ceremony for monastics was held for over a month, and a Land and Water Dharma Service was held prior to the temple's opening.

In 2008, in celebration of the twentieth anniversary of the opening of Hsi Lai Temple, another international Triple Platform Full Ordination Ceremony for monastics and a Land and Water Dharma Service were held.

In the summer of 2011, Hsi Lai Temple was the starting location for The Amazing Race 19.

On September 4, 2012, Hsi Lai Temple abbot Hsin Bau was elected to the post of head abbot of the Fo Guang Shan order, succeeding Hsin Pei.

Sign in to keep reading

6 more chapters are free with a Lably account.

More in Religion

PinyinRomanization scheme for Standard ChineseHindusAdherents of HinduismTraditional Chinese charactersStandardized set of Chinese charactersLiteral translationWord-for-word translation of a textReligionSocial-cultural systemTheologyStudy of the nature of deities and religious beliefs