Hsi Lai Temple

Hsi Lai Temple

The mountain gate of Hsi Lai Temple
Information
Denomination Linji Ch'an / Humanistic Buddhism
Founded 1988
Founder(s) Hsing Yun
Director(s) Hsin Bao
Abbot(s) Hui Dong
Address 3456 South Glenmark Drive, Hacienda Heights, CA 91745
Country United States
Website www.hsilai.org
Hsi Lai Temple
Traditional Chinese 佛光山西來寺

Fo Guang Shan Hsi Lai Temple (Chinese: 佛光山西來寺; pinyin: Fóguāngshān Xīlái Sì) is a traditional Chinese Buddhist mountain monastery, in the U.S. state of California. It is one of the largest of its kind in North America.

The temple complex is located in the northern Puente Hills, within Hacienda Heights, in eastern Los Angeles County. The name "Hsi Lai" means Coming West in the sense of the "Great Buddhadharma Coming West."

The temple is affiliated Fo Guang Shan, one of Taiwan's largest Buddhist organizations. It is the order's first overseas branch temple, and serves as the North America regional headquarters for Fo Guang Shan. Hsi Lai 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, which incorporates all of the eight traditional schools of Chinese Buddhism - especially the Linji Chan and Pure Land schools - to provide guidance deemed most useful to modern life.

History

Hsi Lai Temple and its surroundings

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 registered 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 felt that the project was too big for a neighborhood of single-family home and that the traditional Chinese architectural style would not fit in. The main reasons for resistance against the building of the temple were the impact of weekly services, heavy traffic, noise, and concern about environmental damage.[1]

Originally, the organization had planned to build the temple in the South Bay, Los Angeles area, but were blocked from acquiring land. They also tried to acquire the historical Pyrenees Castle in Alhambra, but also met opposition from the community.[2] The building of the temple at its current location survived six public hearings and numerous explanatory sessions. Finally in 1985, the temple was finally granted a building permit. The groundbreaking ceremony was held the following year, and was completed on November 26, 1988.

The temple was finished at a cost of $10 million. Such 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.[1]

Immediately after its opening, Hsi Lai was the venue of many important 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 the 26th, an international Triple Platform Full Ordination Ceremony for monastics was held for over a month, and a Liberation Rite of Water and Land, the first of its kind in North America, was held prior to the temple's opening.

In 2008, in celebration of the twentieth anniversary of the opening of Hsi Lai, another international Triple Platform Full Ordination Ceremony for monastics and a Liberation Rite of Water and Land was subsequently held.

In Summer 2011, Hsi Lai Temple was the starting location for the 19th season of the Emmy Primetime award-winning reality series The Amazing Race.[3]

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

University of the West

In 1990, in conjunction to the completion of Hsi Lai Temple, Master Hsing Yun founded Hsi Lai University, one of sixteen Buddhist colleges and universities operated by Fo Guang Shan. The university relocated to Rosemead, California in 1996. It is one of the first Buddhist colleges in the United States.

Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts in Buddhist studies, comparative religious studies, and a Master of Business Administration are available at the university.

In 2004, the university changed its name to the University of the West and appointed Dr. Lewis Lancaster, a religion professor at UC Berkeley and longtime member of Fo Guang Shan, as president. Dr. Roger Schmidt became Lancaster's successor in 2006, and was replaced by Dr. Allen M. Huang a year later.

Sites

The Arhat Garden in the temple
A bell within the grounds of Hsi Lai, traditionally used to mark the start or end of daily activities at a monastery.

Dharma services

Regular Dharma services are held on Sunday and weekday mornings, usually chanting various sutras such as the Diamond Sutra or the Amitabha Sutra. Meditation sessions, retreats and Buddhism classes, are held on some days of the week, which are offered in both English and Chinese. Monks and nuns who reside at the temple speak a variety of languages besides Mandarin, primarily English and Cantonese, are available to perform weddings or funerals services.

Many larger services held annually mostly revolve around filial piety, along with the Buddhist, Taoist and Confucian philosophy of worshiping one's parents and ancestors. In the spring, they hold a large service in commemoration of Ching Ming, a traditional Chinese festival where many pay respects to deceased relatives by cleaning their graves. In the summer, they hold a large service in commemoration of Ullambana. During this time, they also hold a ceremony known as Sangha Day, where devotees gather to honor the monastics by offering food to them, as well as offer a public cultural performance, performing classical and traditional Chinese music or elegant solo dances.

Annually, retreats and services are held for taking refuge in the Triple Gem, receiving the five precepts, and a short-term monastic retreat where disciples are able to temporarily experience life as a monastic.

Larger ceremonies and rites

Main Hall.

Hsi Lai offers community service to a variety of people in need of hours. Jobs range from cleaning and sweeping around the temple to serving lunch in the dining room.

1996 campaign finance controversy

A campaign finance controversy centered on Hsi Lai Temple erupted during the 1996 presidential campaign. Vice President Al Gore attended a luncheon at the temple. The U.S. Justice Department alleged that Maria Hsia solicited $55,000 in donations for the Democratic National Committee the following day, which were later reimbursed with temple money.[5] Non-profit groups are not allowed to make political contributions. Hsia was eventually convicted by a jury in March 2000 of making five false statements to the Federal Elections Commission and sentenced to 90 days home detention, a fine, and community service.[6] The Democratic National Committee returned the money donated by the temple's monks and nuns. Twelve nuns and employees of the temple, including then-abbess Venerable Yi Kung who would later resign from the abbotship because of the scandal, refused to answer questions by pleading the Fifth Amendment when they were subpoenaed to testify before Congress in 1997.[7]

Following Hsia's conviction, Republican National Committee Chairman Jim Nicholson said, "it's time to get beyond the small fry and take on the major players (in the scandal) like Al Gore.[8]" No other players in the controversy were ever convicted, although two nuns (Venerables Yi Chu and Man Ho) were indicted for failing to appear at Hsia's trial and are believed to have left for Taiwan and have not returned to the United States since.

Past Abbots and Abbesses

The first abbess, Tzu Chuang. Behind her is Venerable Tzu Tsung, the fifth abbess.

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Pan, Philip P. (1993-08-08). "Good Neighbor : Hemisphere's Largest Buddhist Temple Wins Over Residents". Los Angeles Times.
  2. ↑ http://www.cityofalhambra.org/community/castle.html Pyrenees Castle
  3. ↑ "CBS Announces The Cast For The New Season Of “The Amazing Race,” Premiering Sunday, Sept. 25 - Ratings - TVbytheNumbers.Zap2it.com". TVbytheNumbers. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
  4. ↑
  5. ↑ "Campaign Finance Key Player: Maria Hsia". The Washington Post. January 31, 1999. Retrieved May 4, 2010.
  6. ↑ "2 Nuns at Fund-Raiser Are Indicted After Flight". The New York Times. April 6, 2000. Retrieved May 4, 2010.
  7. ↑ Abse, Nathan, "A Look at the 94 Who Aren't Talking", Washington Post, June 9, 1998
  8. ↑ Eskenazi, Michael, "For both Gore and GOP, a guilty verdict to watch", CNN.com, March 3, 2000

External links

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Coordinates: 33°58′33″N 117°58′04″W / 33.9757°N 117.9679°W