The problem is you think you have time---the Buddha…read more This is a beautiful Buddhist temple in the heart of the Mission. I lived over a year in an intentional Buddhist community with 30 folks along with a Tibetan Lama. There are different branches of Buddhism just as there are different styles of jazz music. The nuns here were very kind giving us a tour of the facility. One giant Buddha was here that was quite impressive. One of the Buddhist nuns was doing an interesting ritual carefully lighting heaps of candles. Lovely welcoming place. Be sure to have a look inside and except to be greeted by warm hospitality. The outside architecture is beautiful as well.

A beautiful temple with many unique Buddha statues. The Amitabha Buddha statue on the second floor…read morewas huge and touched my heart. I felt peace right after I looked up at the Buddha. It was nice to have a Spanish-speaking girl or volunteer there to give you a tour and explain some Buddhist history in fluent Spanish. Una amable señorita! I forgot her name but overall, a great experience and tour if you want to visit a Buddhist temple in San Francisco.

My daughter and I were visiting de Young Museum and I saw it on Google map so I decided to check it…read moreout. The place was very small but very authentic. There were free incense that can used for praying and the lady told me I would need 7 sticks of incense for each god. They ranged from Wong Tai Sin (黃大仙, himself), Guan-Yin (觀音), Guan-Yu (關羽), Tu-Di-Gong (土地公), etc. What surprises me was they have a Tai-Sui (太歲) as well. I've only seen on reels made in Asia that especially if one's Chinese zodiac sign lays on the same zodiac sign year, that person's life might be a little difficult for that year, aka Clashing with Tai-Sui (沖太歲). So praying to Tai-Sui helps reducing the hardship that one might experience for that Tai-Sui year. It was exhilarating experience for me to see they have a place for Tai-Sui! It was raining and they just opened when we got there. But, I saw an elderly lady was there, drawing stick seeking for guidance (求籤). They have service providing interpretation of the signatures too. There are donation boxes by each god. Staff are very friendly. Parking: street only

Nice little temple in the heart of San Francisco! You can pray to Wong Tai Sin, Guan Yin, and Guan…read moreYu. You can do your traditional burn the incense and there are some kneeling pads for you to use. There are little Buddhist items you can purchase, which had been blessed by monks. It is said that it would protect the person who is wearing the item. Also, you can ask for (ping on foo), but that would take some time to get (about a week). You would have to give the name and birthdate of the person you want to bless to the staff and they will pass it on to the monks, so the blessing process can begin. To save some time, just call in with the name and birthdate.

This isn't a "tourist trap." It's a living, breathing place of worship. You'll see locals offering…read morefruit and burning joss sticks, providing a profound glimpse into the spiritual life of the community.

This is one of the trustworthy temple that I would recommend for anyone who's interested in…read moreBuddhism! The main temple is called Ten Thousand Buddha Temple in which located in Ukiah. They serve authentic vegetarian food and great classes at a reasonable price for believers to learn traditional Buddhism.

Very clean temple. Everyone there was friendly and polite…read more I was lucky to find a parking spot right in the front when I visited on weekday.

Went here. Clean and…read morehomely place and spacious. There were kids as well as dogs outside the door. I do not see the rock climbing wall! I checked in back and noted with others that they had one in review. Did not find it. These real monks have to go back every few years. They train several years and that is their qualification for coming there. One looked at me though like he didn't like me. Thought they were vegetarian but bhudhists eat meat too. They have all kinds of booklets which available for visitors. Recommended this place to child friend from Iskcon temple of Berkeley. I suggest all visitors of San Francisco come there.

Obon is the time to honor ancestors whose spirits temporarily come back to earth to visit w/…read morebeloved family members. It's kind of like Día de los Muertos for Mexicans to respect their dead on November 1 which may date itself to pre-Columbian cultures before the dreaded Spanish conquest. Japanese Americans have lost much of the rituals & ritual objects relating to Obon from their own home regions in Japan, but the Bon Odori/dancing in a circle to honor the dead is still de rigueur. Along with the dancing festivities comes the food that is Japanese American w/ influences from Hawai'i, East Asia, México. The savory foods at this Buddhist Obon festival is excellent. Their fried chicken in a sweet, slightly acidic Hawai'ian sauce is particularly exemplary. Between Obon dancing I was impressed by culturally authentic performances not usually seen at other fraternal Buddhist Temples in Southern California. One act featured an excellent singer of Ènka/traditional Japanese music similar in sentiment to our country western in emoting the joys and travails of life of the common man. Another act was rather sophisticated in presenting Kyōgen which is a one act comedic interlude placed between tragic acts of Kabuki, Japanese theatre originating from the 16th century, serving as emotional relief from all the pathos. The use of authentic, elaborate Kabuki costumes was a rare touch. The honorable reverend Ron presided over this celebration of respect for ancestors and celebration of life & summer with quiet, benevolent dignity. Great, methodical, well thought out recycling of food waste into compost, plastic, metal cans, paper, etc. to respect & maintain Mother Earth, the only planet we know that can sustain life. Although I live 400 miles to the south, the Buddhist Church of San Francisco's rendition of Obon entices me to return again next year for another go at this welcoming, well organized event.

I was looking into Buddhism and trying to find a Buddhist church. I found this one. Tracey A…read more recommended it to me. I decided to visit on a Sunday. They were honoring a man who led Buddhism. It's a traditional Japanese Buddhist church for a mostly Japanese-American community. It's really nice and quaint. I was probably a minority Chinese at the church. The temple is nice and lightly adorned. Afterwards, I decided to visit the luncheon. I was comped by Mary for a bento box. It was not like the ones you get at the restaurants. It was more traditional. They had Japanese desserts. They had tea. They had mochi. They had a big get-together and I was on my own. The community is a positive community, but this is not for alternative Buddhists---people who want to view Buddhism with alternative culture. It's for families and I probably am not appropriate.

Some relatives were visiting from out of town and wanted to go to SF. We passed by this temple a…read morefew times and since it was around Lunar New Year/Tết they wanted to stop in and visit. I was surprised to learn that it's the oldest Vietnamese Temple in the U.S. We went inside and placed our shoes on the shoe rack. The relatives lit some incense, prayed, and walked around the main temple/floor area. They got to talking to one of the young ladies at a table and the lady was super nice. She even gave each of us some clementines and red envelopes. She was friendly and wasn't pushy. She said that a mediation/prayer time was going to start and invited us to join. We had to get going and she was cool about it. It's easy to donate to the temple if you'd like as they have boxes with slots on either end. I enjoyed reading the history of Buddhism from the wall art. I thought it was cool to see a temple inside a typical SF/Edwardian(?) type home.

It's weird to rate a temple on Yelp!, but I love this temple and just wanted to express that…read more This is a wonderful temple nestled right next to the Castro District. My grandmother used to come here all the time, so naturally, I've spent a lot of time here. I also have several relatives who frequent this temple, and it's always a treat to come here. The altar is upstairs, and it's very beautiful up there. The downstairs part of the temple where people cook and eat is a bit more worn and torn, but probably because of the sheer numbers of people who come to the temple every weekend. San Francisco buildings are all mostly pretty old and dilapidated. The Buddhist monk who heads this temple is a magnanimous, gentle, warm, and inviting man who is originally from Hue, Vietnam. He always is so welcoming to everyone who enters the temple and is very easy to talk to. The Sunday service is always pleasant, and the carpet is very comfortable to sit on for that hour. There are often memorial services on Sundays that start at 12 pm or so. By the way, the vegetarian food prepared here is always delicious. Even my cousins, who don't usually eat Vietnamese vegetarian food, usually wolf down a plateful with nary a comment about missing any carnivorous products. YUM. TIP: Do not park in the Chicago Title Company parking lot next door, even though the title company is closed on Sundays -- you WILL be TOWED. Boo, Chicago!

I didn't take part in the online programs(zoom) with the Zen Center, but I went back tonight for…read moreYoung Urban Zen. Zazen meditation and dharma talk with a small group discussion. Other than St. Ignatius Easter mass, this is the religious activity I did after covid.

I reflected on my experience at the zen center the other day. It was rude of me to say it is not a…read moreplace for people seriously interested in awakening. I think the teachings here have merit (not that I'm the judge). What I *will* say is any sangha in the west has to be prepared for deeply wounded / traumatized / self hating individuals to walk in. I couldn't "let go" until I had access to embodied safety and also self love. The work of Deidre Fay is excellent for this. I needed help building a developmental scaffold to get from where I was to where I wanted to be -- and that was uncharted territory. To the extent that SFZC wants to welcome people with differing levels of access to embodied safety, I would love if each talk had advice tailored to both kinds of people -- those with porous ego structures and those with more "typical" egos as well for whom letting go without any preamble is solid advice.

Integrated Taoist and Buddhist temple started in 1957. It enshrines Immortal Patriarch Lu Sun Yang…read moreas its patron deity. It was started ordained Taoist master of the Quan Zhen tradition and holds regular chanting ceremonies. Authentic sacred space.....like stepping into another spiritual realm and time. Amazing vegetarian food served after ceremonies.

...and it's 5 stars IF...and only IF...you speak Chinese. There is nobody there that speaks…read moreEnglish. I happened to go there because my family was once affiliated with it and I am studying Daoism. Unfortunately, although the love of Dao was passed on to me...the language was not. After speaking to the older man in my broken mandarin chinglish (which by the way, he speaks cantonese...so this was already a bit of a scene as you can see) he repeatedly told me...nobody speaks English. I found this odd though because when I called, they said there was one person that did and could help me learn more. I don't know. It's on the 2nd floor of the building (not the third...the third floor is a place for chinese opera singers to practice. And not the first floor either...although...the first floor is a friendly chinese restaurant "the potsticker"). The temple is open from 10-4pm. I found a website for it...not sure if its applicable: http://www.angelfire.com/anime5/ibisworld/linkgoals.html

They are finally OPEN back! The latest hour update per the call today is: open 9:30am - 2:00pm…read moreeveryday except Thursday. I miss the grandma temple attendant in the temple :) This temple is the oldest Chinese temple in California and it's very promising on your wishes.(For your strong wishes, like wishing your family health or kids' academic success, talk with the elder temple attendant to guide you on the right praying ceremony)

Worth the flight of stairs all the way up. They close at 2 PM and closed Thursdays. Very lovely to…read morecome and spend some time in a serene space. I really enjoyed that Susan was there as she was able to translate my fortune for me when I used the fortune sticks (donation to do so). Soak it all in.

Great Tibetan Buddhist Temple Loved it ! Went for The…read moreMedicine Buddha service. Highly recommend

This place is a hidden gem. The center offers both active programs year-around: they have regular…read moreprograms every Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday, and they have special programs for special guests and events. The center often invites amazing speakers and teachers, and this year, they hosted Robert Thurman and Thubten Jinpa (principal translator of Dalai Lama). The community is warm and welcoming, regardless of your level of interests in Buddhism and meditation. I'm very glad to have this place in the midst of the busy-ness of San Francisco. If you want to explore Tibetan Buddhism and meditation, this is a place to go to.