Los Angeles has a large Buddhist community, most of it hidden away.
Of course, "Los Angeles" is not simply a city. It is a sprawling megalopolis of neighborhoods, towns, and pockets spanning at least 50 miles from end to end. And in it there is no center, in spite of the fact that visitors might assume downtown holds that designation.
Of course, "Los Angeles" is not simply a city. It is a sprawling megalopolis of neighborhoods, towns, and pockets spanning at least 50 miles from end to end. And in it there is no center, in spite of the fact that visitors might assume downtown holds that designation.
If one takes ZCLA (Zen Center of Los Angeles) as the imaginary center and marks it with a pin on a map, five other Buddhist centers would be pins within walking distance. Just a few blocks away, for instance, is the old Buddhist College and temple complex, now the haunt of Ven. Kusala (urbandharma.org).
Hsi Lai (Going West) Temple, Los Angeles, entrance to massive temple complex (Mcdeez).
To the east is downtown where there are many old Japanese temples, China Town with Mahayana sanctuaries, and further east into the San Gabriel Valley there is the greatest concentration of Asian Buddhists and temples.
To the west there are many American meditation centers. Hollywood, to the north, is the home of Against the Stream Buddhist Meditation Society.
And to the south all the way to Long Beach, at the edge of LA bordering on Orange County there are large Vietnamese, Cambodian, Laotian Buddhist communities. But Long Beach is also home to a Zen temple and one of the country's very few Bangladeshi Buddhist temples.
Counting is difficult due to the very insular nature of many temples. They do not advertise and principally serve an ethnic community interested in keeping cultural traditions alive and serving a specific community over teaching the Dharma to the West.
But it is reasonable to venture that there are at least 100 Buddhist temples in LA County. The largest is larger than the massive Thai temple in North Hollywood. It is Hsi Lai Temple in Hacienda Heights built on a hill separating the San Gabriel Valley from Orange County.
This complex is said to be the largest Buddhist temple in the western hemisphere. But Chaung Yen Monastery (BAUS) in Upstate New York might challenge that claim.
Hsi Lai (Going West) Temple, Los Angeles, entrance to massive temple complex (Mcdeez).To the east is downtown where there are many old Japanese temples, China Town with Mahayana sanctuaries, and further east into the San Gabriel Valley there is the greatest concentration of Asian Buddhists and temples.
To the west there are many American meditation centers. Hollywood, to the north, is the home of Against the Stream Buddhist Meditation Society.
And to the south all the way to Long Beach, at the edge of LA bordering on Orange County there are large Vietnamese, Cambodian, Laotian Buddhist communities. But Long Beach is also home to a Zen temple and one of the country's very few Bangladeshi Buddhist temples.
Counting is difficult due to the very insular nature of many temples. They do not advertise and principally serve an ethnic community interested in keeping cultural traditions alive and serving a specific community over teaching the Dharma to the West.But it is reasonable to venture that there are at least 100 Buddhist temples in LA County. The largest is larger than the massive Thai temple in North Hollywood. It is Hsi Lai Temple in Hacienda Heights built on a hill separating the San Gabriel Valley from Orange County.
This complex is said to be the largest Buddhist temple in the western hemisphere. But Chaung Yen Monastery (BAUS) in Upstate New York might challenge that claim.
- Titanic Thai temple guard, North Hollywood (kriskroshdr)
