Hsi Lai Temple

Hsi Lai Temple (TC: 西來寺; PY: Xīlái Sì) (approximate pronunciation She Lye) is a traditional Chinese Buddhist mountain monastery in the United States. It is located on the foothill region of Hacienda Heights, California, USA, a suburb of Los Angeles County. The name "Hsi Lai" means Coming West in the sense of the "Great Buddhadharma Coming West." The temple is affiliated with one of Taiwan's largest religious organizations, the Fo Guang Shan Buddh... more

Hsi Lai Temple (TC: 西來寺; PY: Xīlái Sì) (approximate pronunciation She Lye) is a traditional Chinese Buddhist mountain monastery in the United States. It is located on the foothill region of Hacienda Heights, California, USA, a suburb of Los Angeles County. The name "Hsi Lai" means Coming West in the sense of the "Great Buddhadharma Coming West." The temple is affiliated with one of Taiwan's largest religious organizations, the Fo Guang Shan Buddhist order. It is one of the first overseas branch temples, and is often called the "Western torch of Dharma" by order members. 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. In 1976, Master Hsing Yun, the founder of the order,... less