I had the immense privilege to be able to join this temple's celebration of Losar, the Tibetan New…read moreYear. (Tashi delek) is what I heard upon entering this temple, with kindness emanating from the Tibetan monks as well as the Chinese speaking docent of the temple. Services are often conducted in Tibetan, Mandarin, and English, and visitors such as myself are welcome to participate in the Buddhist religious practices, such as the mantra chanting. Buddhists of all ethnic backgrounds come here to be in community with their faith. On this occasion, Tibetans gathered to celebrate their New Year and generously allowed us to celebrate with them.

I'm taking their Beginner's level Tibetan language class here. Their pedagogy is very different…read morefrom other American schools', e.g., Beverly Hills Lingual Institute, UC extension. Instead of the familiar explanatory and full immersion approaches which American schools usually employ, Land of Compassion Buddha's monks pretty much use the most primitive way to teach a new language-recitation, memorization and repeated practices-in class! I basically don't do any revision at home, as I'm busy with other things; and they go over the new things like 30 or 50 times in class with us to make sure we do the work even if after class we don't study ourselves. I'm wondering if it's a monastic way of language learning as self-study may not take up as much time of a student's, at least when they are on elementary level. Just my guess. Venerable Thupten Jangchu is pretty awesome. I honestly don't remember learning like this after graduating from the kindergarten at six. He guarantees everyone in the whole class "gets it" before he moves on to something new so it becomes not only about learning but also practicing patience, which is sometimes even more important to a student. My class becomes something I look forward to through the week. Nothing is better than learning a new thing in a tranquil place filled with beautiful dharma (the teachings of the Buddha) tools and nice people. The accent/dialect Venerable Jangchu teaches is Khampa which is spoken in Eastern Tibet. If you need to learn another accent/dialect, you should ask in advance when you sign up. I think I paid about $200 for a boot camp lasting 1.5 months. The text book costs $15. A steal, right? Oh, no shoes in the center. There's tea for students. Just make sure you clean up after yourself. Volunteer to put the study trays and sitting cushion back to the storage after class. There are no chairs; we sit on the floor so I find pants more convenient than dresses or skirts. As for lunch, the mall with eateries, Starbucks, Westfield and Ikea is 5 minutes away.

Sometimes we need a reset . Our minds are cluttered and we need to take the time to relax. This…read moremeditation center has meditation sessions where it is guided and have one day retreats to learn more about it. The nice thing is that they will be opening up a larger meditation hall! I went to their groundbreaking ceremony and am excited to see when it opens up . I have actually attended this center for decades and the people there are friendly. Check out www.peacepointmeditation.org for their sessions. Included are photos from the groundbreaking ceremony ;)

As a Buddhist of the Thai Theravada tradition, I was excited when I first thought I could attend…read moredharma talks by legit Thai monks here in CA. When I looked into visiting, it was quite odd to me that the website was asking me to pay to reserve a seat before ever even going. This struck me as odd. Only a bit of investigation was needed before I quickly learned this is a cult with tremendous wealth and power. Rather than accepting "Dana," a contribution made of generosity in Buddhism, where no one is turned away due to a lack of funds to meditate, they specifically charge and further proclaim, the more you donate, the 'better your merit. Be careful if you get involved with this group. They advocate for materialism and wealth, which is absolutely not in alignment with the ancient teachings of the Buddha. In fact, his views were *the very opposite*.

I've been coming to this temple since I was young, for almost 20 years now. It's a very peaceful…read moreand quiet place, and I always feel calm whenever I visit. If you would like to offer food to the monks, I recommend arriving around 10:30 AM, when the alms offering takes place. This temple has been a special place for me for many years, and I'm always happy to come back.

My family has been coming here for so long that the monks gave us all nicknames. This temple is…read morevery peaceful and a good place to unwind if you need to get away from the bustle of the city. They have a daily service from 10:30-noon for the community but you can request a short prayer service before or after depending on the monk's availability. If you're familiar with Thai Buddhist tradition and temple culture, people will bring a dish or more for the monks to bless and later partake in, offer up a blessing/alms for those who've passed, then everyone will pray together while the monks receive the offerings (basically eat lunch), then it's potluck time for visitors after. It's a very laid back temple, they do have classes for youngsters on the weekends, holiday events, can also host weddings and funeral prayer services. They have retreat style meditation and also have community fund raising events as well. Please be kind and respectful when visiting, help out when possible as there are no hired janitors, everyone pitches in to help when organizing the service and you will see the system if you look for it. P.S. No shoes are allowed in the praying/service rooms, available shoe shelves are right outside the doors before entering, the shoes should join the shoe community on the shelves...thanks.

Happy Lunar New Year! I wish onto you, dear reader, happiness, love and prosperity this year!…read more The year of the horse is supposed to be a pretty bad year for my zodiac animal (not a horse). I don't practice Buddhism, but my mother insisted that I lessen my bad luck this year by bringing me to a temple to "An-Tai-Suay" (this is a verb. I think it means to ask my god "pu-sah" to protect my animal?) I'M TRYING! I'm no regular temple-goer, and I've only been to a few temples in my lifetime...but besides Shi Lai, this one has to be my favorite. It's spacious, peaceful, clean & well kept, beautiful, and full of helpful and friendly staff members who can try to explain things to you even if you don't understand (like me). The smell of incense fills most of the buildings' entrances and it really brought me a sense of peace and serenity. I can't really explain it well, but being here kind of made me feel like I had been lifted away from all of hustle & bustle of my day-to-day life and placed in a zen garden. Today, we wrote our family members names on a small card and hung it on a little lantern among hundreds of lanterns. Along with our names, we wrote/asked for happiness and luck this year, and to keep us safe. Then we went to "An-Tai-Suay" and I think they will be posting/hanging something with my name or something in one of the temple buildings for this lunar year. Although I don't normally go to Temples, this is a place I have really enjoyed being at. I do recommend anyone, buddhist or not, to come here at least once and experience this place. You don't have to wait for an unlucky year either.

OK, came here on a visit after moving away from LA back to the East Coast. I love this place. I…read moredidn't realize I was coming the weekend after Ching Ming, and that's why it was so happening! On busy days like this, they have many volunteers to help direct traffic. I learned about their underground parking for the first time, it was so crowded! And they don't pressure you to join service. Be as active as you wish. I miss this airy temple with such positive vibes. The only drawback on this place (and it's ok, I don't need it), is they have no fortune sticks.

Our family has been coming to this temple for over 30 years. It's my mother's must do list on the…read morefirst day of every Chinese New Year to come here to give blessings, give thanks, and prayers for the Buddha. Quan Yin/ Kwan Ying is the Goddess of Compassion in the Buddhist religion. This temple is dedicated to her. I find this temple is more genuine about the true religion and dedicate to patrons to come here seeking prayers, serenity, peace for their beliefs. Although donations are appreciated it's not expected like some of the Buddhist temples around that make you feel that it's all about the money, how much you donate, and everything and services cost money.

What's up: The family comes to this temple to make prayers and ask for blessings during events such…read moreas beginning the New Year as well as ending the year. It's a bit out of our area, but we like that it's a small temple and that they aren't overly extravagant. Parking: They have a small lot that's up front and is almost always full. But...just because it's full, that doesn't mean the temple itself is. Parking is shared with the America's Vietnamese Chinese Friendship Association. You'll have better luck finding street parking on Gates St or Manitou Ave. Environment: Masks are required. We typically bring our own incense to offer to the gods. If you forget, there are incense available for you to use as people like to donate them. Once you walk in, the incense table can be found to the left. It's recommended to use 12 sticks of incense so you'll be able to at least give 1 stick at the incense pots. We like to bring fruits to offer/bless; there are plates towards the back room if you need to use them. Donation boxes are also available if you like to make one. Restrooms are available in the next building over on the ground floor. Yay/Nay/Meh: Yay. I like that this place feels humble and intimate as opposed to the larger temples. They have the main gods that we would make prayers and offerings to and it's rarely busy unless you come in on one of the major holidays.

This is a really nice temple. The people and monks here are pretty friendly. Often times they have…read morevegetarian food for anyone who comes. The view from the top is beautiful as well.

I've been coming to this temple since I was a little girl. Fast forward 30+ years, I am still…read morecoming to this temple. Everyone is extremely nice. Clean atmosphere and like another reviewer said, they often cook vegetarian food on the weekends and it is free to anyone. I highly recommend this temple!

Very friendly, very helpful. Make you feel like you belong to the temple. The Monk is very sincere,…read moredown to earth. I love to visit more often. I will recommend to all my friends go there .

The most beautiful stunning temple. The food is amazing and delicious. The people are kind and I…read morelove it here. 10000000000/5 stars if I could live here I would.

Gwan Yin Temple is a great place to practice mediation and learning the teaching of the compassion…read moreBodhisattva. Our family come here at every Buddhist events and Chinese New Year.