Fo Guang Shan Hsi Lai Buddhist Temple - Timeline Event
Time Period
1988
Description
It took 10 years to plan and build Hsi Lai Temple, spread over 15 acres in Hacienda Heights, near Los Angeles. Fashioned after the ancient Chinese monasteries, the temple became the largest of its kind in the West when it opened in 1988.
Hsi Lai ("coming to the West") is part of the Fo Guang Shan Buddhist Order, a Chinese Buddhist new religious movement founded in Taiwan in 1967 to spread a "humanistic Buddhism." The order has more than 100 temples internationally, along with 1,300 monks and nuns.
The $30 million Hsi Lai Temple has some 20,000 members. The spiritual and cultural center offers a diverse array of programs -- from a Dharma school for children to meditation for beginners and English Buddhist chanting classes. The temple also is active in the community, offering flu shots, giving away baby food and hosting a Boy Scouts troop.
Hsi Lai ("coming to the West") is part of the Fo Guang Shan Buddhist Order, a Chinese Buddhist new religious movement founded in Taiwan in 1967 to spread a "humanistic Buddhism." The order has more than 100 temples internationally, along with 1,300 monks and nuns.
The $30 million Hsi Lai Temple has some 20,000 members. The spiritual and cultural center offers a diverse array of programs -- from a Dharma school for children to meditation for beginners and English Buddhist chanting classes. The temple also is active in the community, offering flu shots, giving away baby food and hosting a Boy Scouts troop.
Interactive Timeline(s)
Browse Related Timeline Entries
Religious Groups
Timeline Entries for the same religious group: BuddhistBuddhist: Other ARDA Links
Buddhist: Religious Family Tree
Photographs
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Hsi Lai Temple- Wikimedia Commons- photo by Aaron Logan (CC BY 1.0)
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Ven. Tzu Chuang, founder and first abbess of Hsi Lai Temple- Wikimedia Commons- photo by Thetruthaboutfgs (CC BY-SA 3.0)
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Hsi Lai Temple gate- Flickr- photo by Brandon Fick (CC BY 2.0)
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Hsi Lai Temple, Arhat garden- Flickr- photo by Aaron Logan (CC BY 2.0)
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Hsi Lai Temple bell- Flickr- photo by donielle (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Book/Journal Source(s)
Tweed, Thomas A. and Stephen Prothero (Eds.), 1999. Asian Religions in America New York: Oxford University Press.Melton, J. Gordon, 2009. Melton's Encyclopedia of American Religions, Eighth Edition Farmington Hills, MI: Gale.
Web Source(s)
http://www.hsilai.org/en/index.phpHsi Lai Temple website
Web Page Contributor
Sandi DolbeeAffliated with: Former Religion and Ethics Editor, The San Diego Union-Tribune
