Fo Guang Shan Hsi Lai Temple

Fo Guang Shan Hsi Lai Temple, the North American Regional Headquarters of Fo Guang Shan, was built to serve as a spiritual and cultural center for those interested in learning more about Buddhism and Chinese culture. It is the intention of its founder, Venerable Master Hsing Yun, to propagate Humanistic Buddhism and to create a Pure Land here on earth. Hsi Lai Temple is built to fulfill these goals in the United States. (  FGS Hsi Lai Temple )

The following excerpt is from the Complete Works Of Venerable Hsing Yun 星雲大師全集 vol. 289, pages 39-54, printed in 2017.

 Click here to view the original text. 

[...] In 1976, the 200th anniversary of the founding of the United States, we had the opportunity to visit [the U.S.]. At that time, to congratulate the United States of America, the Chinese Nationalist Party 國民黨 encouraged various religious groups to visit the country. Venerable Bai Sheng 白聖法師, representative of the China Buddhist Association in Taiwan, organized the first group visit. With the support of Mr. Wang Chongren 汪崇仁, Director of the Social Work Department of the Chinese Nationalist Party, I was in charge of the second group. Although I knew the cost would be high, to strive for the vindication of Chinese Buddhism [in Taiwan], I was resolute in my decision to organize the trip.

During the visit, several great opportunities came to me for propagating the Dharma [in North America]. At first, a lay Buddhist from New York, Yingjin Yutang 應金玉堂, sincerely requested that I reside at and manage Dacheng Temple 大乘寺, which she had built. I was also invited by another lay Buddhist from New York, Shen Jiazhen 沈家楨, who had established Bodhi Vihara 菩提精舍 on a 10-hectare farm, with the aim of cultivating future Buddhist leaders. When we arrived in Toronto, Canada, Mr. Zhan Liwu 詹勵吾 was even more passionate; when we first met, he said he would offer me a piece of land as large as 170 mu [28 acres] to build a Buddhist center for propagating the Dharma internationally. Unfortunately, I was not financially capable and there were no English-speaking monastics among us; so I had to respectfully turn them down. 

In Los Angeles, we met a lay Buddhist, Mr. Wang Liangxin 王良信, who was originally from Yangzhou, China as I was. He had a Buddhist altar at home, and his mother was a Buddhist nun. He told me that he had a piece of land in Los Angeles’s Chinatown that he could offer me to build a Buddhist temple. A year later, in 1977, he called and urged us to quickly build a temple in L.A. Initially, I was not quite sure about the seriousness of his offer. After he called, I realized that he was truly willing to offer me the land for the temple. The conditions had ripened, and I cherished this great opportunity. I knew that I was not the most capable for the task. However, propagating Buddhism globally had always been my wish. I therefore told Mr. Wang that I would immediately send people to Los Angeles. 

Because there were many Japanese immigrants in the U.S, Venerable Tzu Chuang 慈莊法師 who was fluent in Japanese, and Venerable Yi Hang 依航法師, who formerly worked at Air Asia, were my best choices. These two venerables spoke fluent Japanese, Chinese, and English, and they would be capable of taking the lead. Therefore, disciples in Taipei set up a farewell banquet at the Grand Hotel 圓山飯店 for Venerable Tzu Chuang and Venerable Yi Hang. Through a collective effort and squeezing money from here and there, we finally pulled together USD $20,000 for them to take to the U.S. to build a temple.

However, when they arrived in the U.S., Venerable Tzu Chuang and Venerable Yi Hang found out that the proposed site was actually in an area that could only be used for building a residential house. The property could not be re-zoned for religious purposes. However, the devotees were so excited to see the Venerables off and enthusiastic about building a temple in the U.S., and I believed the project should not end in this way. I therefore asked them to search for another place.

Several days later, Venerable Hsing Ting 心定法師 (who understood a little English) and I went to the U.S. After we arrived in the U.S., we began to search for a place with the assistance of Mr. Wang and his son. After we drove for the entire day through many areas in L.A., we realized the houses in L.A. were so expensive. The average price was over USD $100,000. Finding a house at the price of $20,000 was almost impossible. At that time, all we had was about $30,000, so we did not dare to even negotiate the price. We had no choice but to stay at Mr. Wang’s motel to figure out our next step. 

One day, as sunset approached, we were on the way back to the motel when Venerable Tzu Chuang told me that a church on the next street was for sale. However, she immediately warned me that the price was well over our budget. I suggested that we go there and take a look in order to get a better understanding of the real estate market in L.A. It was a small church, but the property included a hall for seating over a hundred people, a parking lot for forty cars, a kindergarten for twenty to thirty children, and an individual villa that served as a dormitory. Though the price was $200,000, the structure and layout were quite suitable for a Buddhist center. If we purchased it, then we would have a shrine, monastic dormitory, kindergarten, and parking lot. All our needs would be met.

However, $200,000 was an impossible price for us. Fortunately, Mr. Wang told us that we could borrow money from a bank and pay the mortgage later. When I heard of this arrangement, I felt hopeful again. The next day, Mr. Wang took us to a bank to gain information and advice. I honestly told the bank manager that, “the church property is for sale for $200,000, but the church cannot sell the whole property to us immediately for another six months, as they are waiting on the construction of its new building. Yet, the owner will allow us to use the kindergarten and villa portions first and is asking us to pay around $80,000 now. We only have $20,000, so we would like to borrow the rest from you.” 

The manager immediately responded: “No problem!” 

Then I said, with Taiwan’s loan practices in the back of my mind, “But we don’t have a guarantor.”

“Why do you need a guarantor?” the manager replied with surprise.

“Doesn’t the bank need any guarantee of the loan?”

“The house is the guarantee, isn’t it?”

“It’s not so bad arranging a mortgage in America,” I told myself when I heard the manager’s response and understood that the house itself served as a guarantee of a mortgage in the United States. Then I told the manager that we were not residing in the US at the moment. 

“So, where are you living?” asked the bank manager with surprise.  

“We are living in Taiwan.” 

Immediately, the manager told us that we could pay the mortgage through their Taiwan branch. That’s the deal we successfully made.

It was a customary practice to wait for three months in order to move in after the purchase of any property in the U.S. due to necessary repairs. Yet we could not wait. “We want to move in tomorrow or the day after.” We asked the owner, “Can we occupy the villa first?” The minister was a nice fellow and allowed us to move into the villa immediately. In this way, we owned a house with four or five rooms, and more rooms for the kindergarten. 

Six months later, we began to use the entire church property. Gradually, more and more devotees began to visit, and we discovered a serious problem. All of the Dharma service participants would not leave until they had lunch. But the church did not have such a big kitchen nor enough dining facilities in order to provide meals for everyone. Consequently, we had to cook outdoors when there was a service. However, it was against the law to do so on a regular basis. Finally, we realized the church was not big enough for our services, and we once again had to search for another place.

Not long after, the price of the temple property went up, and it was sold at $300,000. We then purchased a church in Maywood, which could host two to three hundred people for religious services. We bought it at a price of $700,000, and applied the $300,000 to the down payment. We used the original structure and equipment of the church without any modification. There was the original cross on top of the roof, and devotees suggested that we take it down. But I said no, because it was great for a Buddhist temple to use a Christian church. My tonsure monastery was Dajue Temple 大覺寺 at Baita Mountain 白塔山, and this temple was also painted white. Therefore, I named it Baita Si 白塔寺 or “White Tower Temple”.

America respects individual religious freedom. But growing a temple here is still the same as in Taiwan. About four or five hundred people visited the temple for meals every day, but less than ten people would donate after the meal. The donation from Dharma services also did not cover the expense of the meals. We realized we needed a new approach instead of maintaining traditional Chinese ways of running a temple.

I told Venerable Tzu Chuang that we had to look for a more suitable location for the temple’s long-term development. Later, we found around 30 acres of land in Hacienda Heights. It was an ideal parcel of land for constructing a temple. The land was priced at USD $700,000, but we were able to pay in installments. We then moved on to discuss construction costs. The architect told us the construction was estimated at about USD $500,000. But after he finished the construction plan, he said it would cost USD $700,000. I felt that we could find a way to pay for the extra cost, so I agreed. But right before construction commenced, the cost was increased to USD $3,000,000. However, we already came this far. How could we stop now? 

After thorough consideration, we decided to go for the targeted 3 million. We postponed all Fo Guang Shan construction projects in Taiwan and tried to get through this difficult time. Hsi Lai Temple would play a critical role in promoting Buddhism and cultural exchange internationally; we had to make the sacrifice.

All Fo Guang Shan members saved every dollar for the construction of Hsi Lai Temple. Each time USD $10,000 or $20,000 was saved, it put towards Hsi Lai Temple. But it was like a drop of water in the ocean. The good thing was that some devotees from other branch temples in Taiwan, such as Yuan Fu Temple in Jiayi 嘉義圓福寺, also donated to the construction of Hsi Lai Temple. I really appreciated their kindness.

Moreover, overseas readers purchased books from Fo Guang Publications 佛光文化出版社, and we received checks of $100 or $200. Every time we went to Hsi Lai, we would bring dozens of these checks to the temple. In those two or three years, we bridged the gap little by little. By the time the construction was completed, it ended up costing not 3 million dollars—but 30 million dollars. Because everyone contributed to the same effort, we ultimately succeeded. Xiao Bixia 蕭碧霞師姑 even donated the money from her father’s pension that was left to her. Much of the laity also donated.

In addition to these financial difficulties, the local community did not approve of the construction. Generally, it was easy to purchase a house in America, but it was not easy to build a temple in the U.S. Because the temple is a religious institution, it is exempt from paying property taxes. Given the size of the land, it would be a big loss of tax income for the neighborhood. The community therefore was opposed to our efforts. Of course, they were not opposed to religion, Buddhism, or Chinese people; but they did not like the loss of tax revenue and had concerns about environmental pollution and traffic.

We were fortunate that the Bodhisattva was always taking care of us. A few local leaders helped us gain the trust of the community. One female Christian entrepreneur said: “I stayed in China for many years. Buddhism is a very upright religion.” A priest spoke many good words about us. His wife was Vietnamese. He noted: “At the time of the Vietnam War, my wife was sad and depressed. She cried a lot every day. Finally, she saw monastics from China and smiled. Our family needs Buddhism.”

After six public hearings and more than 130 negotiation meetings, and with the support of Catholics, Christians, and local Americans who had connections with the Chinese, the government finally gave us the final approval to move ahead with the construction. 

However, another incident happened. [A Buddhist leader] wrote a long letter to the government that claimed that Fo Guang Shan was a cult and made an appeal to the government that it should not allow FGS to build any temples in America. But county officials trusted us and assured us: “Don’t worry. Just build the temple as you have planned. [This person] is not the American government and cannot speak on behalf of the government. We just want you to know about this matter.”

Another group that was opposed to the temple construction was [a large Taiwanese Chinese Christian organization in Los Angeles]. Members of this group banged gongs and played drums every day at the foot of the hill of the proposed building site. They even rented buses and asked their friends to come and protest the construction. Venerable Tzu Chuang and others, in response, asked people to sign a petition in support of Hsi Lai Temple. They went to grocery stores and cinemas and asked people to sign. They eventually gathered more than 20,000 signatures. We got the construction license. 

In 1986, we finally held the groundbreaking ceremony. I named the temple, Hsi Lai Temple 西來寺, meaning, “Chinese Buddhist teachings coming westward to America” 中國的佛法西來美國 or “the Dharma coming to the West” 佛法西來. The total construction area covered more than 2.35 acres. And the temple includes the Main Shrine, Five Bodhisattva Hall, Meditation Hall, Dining Hall, Art Gallery, Memorial Hall, Conference Hall, Lecture Hall, small meeting rooms, Information Center, Waterdrop Teahouse, bookstore, and Hsi Lai School classrooms—all of which serve traditional and modern ways for promoting Buddhism.

Many people asked me why we set up the Five Bodhisattvas Hall. There are four great bodhisattvas in four Buddhist mountains in China. But there is another bodhisattva who is actually closer to us in the human realm—that is the future Buddha, Maitreya. Thus, I set up the Five Bodhisattvas Hall; the four great bodhisattvas represent compassion, wisdom, vow, and practice, respectively, and adding Maitreya bodhisattva, great loving-kindness. 

After ten years of planning and construction, we finally held the consecration ceremony on November 26, 1988.

To celebrate this moment, we hosted a series of events, including the International Triple Platform Full Ordination Ceremony 國際三壇大戒, and the World Buddhist Fellowship Conference. The event received a great deal of media attention. Life Magazine described Hsi Lai Temple as the “Forbidden City” in America and the largest Buddhist temple in the West. The magnificent Hsi Lai Temple became the first global monastery in the United States. From detractors to admirers, I can only say that what I experienced during the process only I know in my heart 如人飲水, 冷暖自知.    

The series of activities for the opening ceremony brought global recognition to Hsi Lai Temple. The General Conference of the World Fellowship of Buddhists had been hosted for many years in Asia until my invitation in 1988—when for the first time it was hosted in America. In the past, the Chinese Buddhist Association 中國佛教會 always tried to prevent me from participating in the conference. Finally, we were able to host the 16th General Conference of the World Fellowship of Buddhists. We had representatives from both Taiwan and Mainland China; this was the first time the two groups came together for the same conference after a separation of forty years. (Four years later, we hosted the 18th General Conference in Fo Guang Shan, Taiwan. And I was selected to be the Honorary President of the World Fellowship of Buddhists.) 

The International Triple Platform Full Ordination Ceremony attracted more than 300 novices from more than 20 countries, such as India, Bhutan, Nepal, and countries in Europe, America, and Southeast Asia. Moreover, we were invited to host a purification ceremony 灑淨儀式 for the California State Legislature, which was the first time a Buddhist ceremony was performed in a U.S. State assembly.

On May 16th, 1992, Buddha’s Light International Association World Headquarters 國際佛光會世界總會 was founded, and the first assembly was hosted in Los Angeles. Members came from Europe, America, Asia, Africa, and Australia. The theme of this conference was, “Joy and Harmony.” I hope BLIA can spread seeds of joy and harmony throughout the world. I also wrote the following verses for the occasion: 

A heart with compassionate vows to save sentient beings

My body is that of the Dharma ocean that binds no boats

Ask me what have I achieved in this lifetime? 

May the Buddha’s Light shine over the five continents. 

(Humanistic Buddhism Glossary 中英人間佛教詞彙, 2018)

心懷度眾慈悲願，身似法海不繫舟  

問我平生何功德 ，佛光普照五大洲 

This is the narrative of the first time Fo Guang Shan set up a branch temple outside of Taiwan. We encountered many challenges, especially financial difficulties and the constraints brought on by local laws, but we overcame them all. Although American society claims that we are all equal no matter what our religion or ethnicity, there still is a distance in people’s minds. However, thanks to the open-mindedness of many Americans, we have been able to come this far today.

Venerable Tzu Chuang was the first abbess of Hsi Lai. Then the abbess or abbot was: Hsin Ting 心定和尚, Yi Kong 依空法師, Tzu Jung 慈容法師, Yi Heng 依恆法師, Hui Chuan 慧傳法師, Hsin Pao 心保和尚, and Hui Dong 慧東法師 respectively. Among them, Venerable Hsin Ting later became the fifth and sixth Abbot of Fo Guang Shan, and Venerable Hsin Pao became the ninth Abbot. Moreover, we also appreciate the support of the laity. Because of their willingness to share their professional knowledge, they helped Hsi Lai Temple thrive. Many well-known people were also regular visitors to Hsi Lai Temple, such as March Fong Eu 余江月桂 (California State Secretary), Cheng Pei-pei 鄭佩佩 (actress), Liu Haisu 劉海粟 (painter and calligrapher), Qian Jiaju 千家駒 (economist), Tong Tekong 唐德剛 (historian), Li Zijian 李自健(artist), He Shan 何山 (artist), Charles Wei-Hsun Fu 傅偉勳 (philosopher), and Dr. Lewis Lancaster. 

Master Xuan Zang 玄奘大師 brought Buddhism to the East [China]. Thirteen centuries later, we followed in his steps and facilitated Buddhism going to the West. In 1991, I founded the first university sponsored by Buddhists in Los Angeles. It was the first international university founded by Chinese Buddhists in the United States. In 1995, the government gave permission to the university to issue I-20s to recruit international students. We became a registered member of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) in 2006. I hope Hsi Lai University [now University of the West] can promote the cultural exchange between the East and the West and contribute to the development of the humanities in America. 

In 1996, we founded the Fo Guang Shan International Translation Center at Hsi Lai Temple to spread the seeds of Humanistic Buddhism in the West. The center is dedicated to translating and publishing books related to Humanistic Buddhism. In 2001, we expanded our efforts and Buddha’s Light Publishing was established. Venerable Yi Chao 依超法師 is the Director of the Translation Center; and Venerable Miao Hsi 妙西法師 is the Executive Director in charge of Buddha’s Light Publishing. The Translation Center has translated more than 150 works; and Buddha’s Light has published more than 60 English brochures that have been distributed freely around the world. The translated materials have become introductory texts through which many westerners have come to know Buddhism. 

Today, the various [FGS] translation centers around the world translate books into different languages, such as Portuguese, Spanish, French, German, Russian, Thai, Japanese, and Korean, etc. Although Buddhism might take more than a century to be localized, we believe that as long as we dedicate ourselves to the task, Buddhism will become the people’s shared spiritual faith in the future.

With Hsi Lai Temple as the hub, we subsequently established more branches upon the requests of the laity in San Diego, San Francisco, Las Vegas, New York, Denver, North Carolina, Boston, Huston, Dallas, Austin, Miami, Kansas, Saint Louis, Chicago, Orlando, Hawaii, and Guam. We also constructed the Buddhist Memorial Complex in Rose Hills Memorial Park in Whittier, California, not far from Hsi Lai Temple, in the hope that it provides devotees and their families a final resting place for cremated ashes.

Now we have forty branch temples and centers in America. I appreciate everyone who helped the spread of Buddhism in America. The current abbot, Venerable Hui Dong, was born in Beijing and [studied Buddhism] at University of the West. He has known Humanistic Buddhism for a long time and understands that “inspiration, teaching, benefit, and joy” is the foundation of practice in the human world. I believe Hsi Lai Temple will open up a new path for American Buddhism.

— exerted from the Complete Works Of Ven. Master Hsing Yun 星雲大師全集 vol.2

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