Chinese Buddhist temple

A branch temple of a Taiwanese Buddhist order, written as Fo Guang Shan's (whose Hsi Lai Temple near Los Angeles is its American flagship): Chinese Mahayana Buddhism blending Chan meditation and Pure Land recitation of Amitabha's name with repentance liturgies and rites for the dead, taught as "Humanistic Buddhism" for this life and society. The mother monastery owns the temple through its American nonprofits, appoints the abbess and sends the monastics, who may be moved to another temple after some years; there's no lay board with power over the clergy, unlike a Vietnamese or Theravada temple's. Fully ordained nuns, celibate and strictly vegetarian, live at the temple and lead every rite; most of the order's monastics are women, and many of its temples are led by abbesses. Sunday is the dharma function in the Main Shrine before Shakyamuni, Amitabha and the Medicine Buddha: a sutra that changes each week, chanted standing at the cushions to the wooden fish, with a dharma talk, then a memorial service for the dead and a vegetarian lunch for everyone, its meals sponsored by families. The temple is open daily for visitors to bow and light incense, and the nuns keep their own morning service. Its income is the dead and the year: memorial tablets at every function, yearly lamps renewed at the New Year and read on the 1st and 15th, and the great rites, the Emperor Liang Repentance, Ullambana in the filial month, and the Water and Land, a week of chanting in many halls that is the year's peak. A Chinese school meets on Sundays, the lay association (Buddha's Light) supplies the volunteers, and the kitchen keeps out meat, eggs, onion and garlic. The variant is a Dharma Drum branch (Chan Meditation Center), centred on meditation: weekly sitting groups, Chan retreats, English classes. Whether branches move lunar days to weekends, and what tablets cost, is unverified.

All 80 traditions · its profile in Faiths and traditions, with how to play it and what sets its faith apart; How people feel, what every factor is.

At a glance

Faith	Buddhism
Its words	temple, temple, main shrine; the abbess leads the dharma function; the dharma talk; Sunday; the sutras
Worship	image focus, chanted, high formality (1.00 of 1); seated on standing
Music	organ discouraged; gospel organ discouraged; piano discouraged; band discouraged; brass discouraged; handbells discouraged; chant expected; song leader discouraged
The room's sound	likes a ringing room (organ and choir)
Its year	chinese buddhist; full observance; fasts none
Leans	conservative on moral questions, neutral on economic ones
Polity	hierarchical; leaders come by appointment; property denomination
Leaders	one leader, unpaid (monastics the temple keeps, leading full-time), women only, trained by seminary; marriage any
Belonging	moderate commitment, none discipline, admitted by clergy
Giving	tithing not emphasised; collected by boxes, private, online; also lamps
Way of life	alcohol moderation, dress modest, sabbath relaxed, meat vegetarian, eggs forbidden, onion and garlic forbidden

The week's services

Day	Time	Service	Led by	People look for it
Every day	5:30 am	Morning service (short, and plays quickly: people come 2% as often as to a main service)	the abbess	expected
Sunday	10:00 am	Sunday dharma function (in Mandarin, then vegetarian lunch, free to all, 60 minutes)	the abbess	expected
Every day but Sunday	9:00 am to 5:00 pm	Open to visitors (incense and prayer, open hours: people come when they like, a household together, 6% as often in a day as to a main service, and stay 30 minutes; visitors who don't belong come too, 0.8 times a week's newcomers each day; it plays quickly)	the laity	expected
Saturday	2:00 pm	English dharma class (meditation evening, in English)	the abbess	optional

Leader: an abbess. With none (a vacancy, or no one hired), the temple holds a Lay-led practice in place of its own, led by the laity, which costs everyone at it 0.04; on sabbatical a supply abbess stands in ($800 a month). The short daily services go on whether or not anyone leads them, and move no one's satisfaction. Open hours go on whether or not anyone leads them.
Vegetarian lunch: after the dharma function on Sunday, free to all: everyone there eats, visitors too, and nobody is asked for a donation. A household sponsors each, members taking turns, giving its cost and a fifth more; with none, the congregation pays. It needs a stove and a cook from the volunteers for each 40 there (the sponsors cook too); those it can't feed go without (−0.02), and when it can't be held, or is dropped, its regulars miss it (−0.04).
Its kitchen: without eggs or onion and garlic: meals cost 1.05× as much; no bake sale.
Its table: vegetarian: meals cost 0.85× as much.

Rites

Memorial tablet (on request, +0.015 to those there, $50 from the household, asked for 0.8 times a year by a household, 20 minutes): A family asks the temple to set up a tablet for one who has died, a paper one for a ceremony or a lasting one on the memorial wall; the nuns or monks chant before it, the name is read, and the merit is dedicated to the one who died. The family gives the offering the temple lists.
Memorial service for the dead (on request, +0.015 to those there): Chanting for someone who has died: on the seventh days after a death through the forty-ninth, and on the anniversaries after, the family comes before the altar, the names are read, incense, tea, and food are offered, and the merit is dedicated to the one who died. The family gives the temple an offering.
Taking Refuge (per joining, +0.02 to those there): Someone becomes a Buddhist before the abbess: kneeling before the image, they take refuge in the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha, receive the Five Precepts, and are given a dharma name by the teacher who becomes their own.
Buddhist wedding (on request, +0.02 to those there): A couple marries before the Buddha: they offer incense together, exchange vows and rings (and, in Japanese temples, the beads of the onenju) before the abbess, who chants and gives them a short talk.

Joining

Joining: a content regular is received as a devotee after about 8 weeks.
Joining age: 16.
Kinds of belonging: disciples who have taken refuge (may hold office); received by the abbess.
What it means: being received is worth +0.1 to the person, +0.05 to family there, and +0.03 to everyone else at the service. It roots them: a rooted household drifts away only 0.6 times as often, and if it does fall away, it has a 25% chance of coming home at each of its great days (at most once a month) for ten years.

Giving, and what goes up

How its people give and what else comes in, as Money explains it for every faith.

How it's given: the offering, by boxes, private envelopes, and giving online. With no plate passed, members give a tenth less at the boxes than they would into one, and visitors give nothing at the service. Gifts by post or in envelopes come in at the month's start. Those who give online give whether or not they come (8% more a month).
Tithing isn't emphasised: people give 10% less.
The box at open hours: each visit puts about $2 in it.
Lamps: households that belong, and regulars, renew theirs each year at the lunar New Year, $100 a household: 85% of the fully engaged member households, half the regulars', fewer the less engaged.
Rites asked for: households book 1 rite at the prices it lists, from $50 to $50 (below), members half as often again as regulars; the fees go to the Memorial offerings line, in place of a flat stipend.
Fundraisers: any it allows (below).
Owed above: nothing.

The abbess, the staff, and who decides

How the abbess comes: sent by the Fo Guang Shan Monastery, which moves them on; you can't advertise for or dismiss one, but can ask for a move.
Paid: a monastic the temple keeps: unpaid, but a full leader caring for 150; housed by the congregation.
Who they are: trained at seminary; always women; never married (celibacy is required).
Tenure: a term of 6 years.
Ranks: Novice (shami or shamini), Bhikshu or bhikshuni, Senior Dharma master; a candidate holds one by skill, and rises with the years.
Staff it can hire or name (see Staff and volunteers):
- Abbess (unpaid (a monastic the temple keeps); cares for 150)
- Resident monk or nun (up to $2,400; cares for 40 more)
- Caretaker ($18,000–$30,000; slows the building's wear)
- Temple secretary ($20,000–$35,000; runs the office (+50 to the leader's reach, once))
- Youth director ($20,000–$40,000; up to +0.08 for households with young people)
Its boards: the lay advisory committee (advising, over everything).
Renovations: The abbess decides, then the Fo Guang Shan Monastery must consent.
New construction: The Fo Guang Shan Monastery decides, consulting the abbess.
Who votes: no kind of belonging votes, so what would go to the members goes to the board.

Life together

What its Community screen offers it, with the dilemmas only its own faith or family meets; see The congregation in its community.

Ministries of its own: Chanting group, Hospital and prison chaplaincy, Meditation for beginners, Relief and care drive, Young adults' division.
Ministries every tradition can run that it's offered: Blood drive, Food pantry, Health clinic, Preschool, Youth group.
Fundraisers of its own: Buddha Day, The Water and Land, Ullambana and Sangha Day, Vegetarian food fair.
Shared fundraisers it may hold: Auction, Bingo night, Car wash, Raffle, Rummage sale.
Tenants it can take: A Masonic lodge, A scout troop, A twelve-step group, Dance classes, Parties and receptions.
Auxiliaries: Buddha's Light International Association chapter.
Outreach: invitation Sunday, literature (from a reading room or an office) (Community → Evangelism).
Dilemmas of its own faith (besides those every congregation meets): A hall with a golden roof, Called home, Headquarters' plan for the year, The language of the liturgy, The Water and Land's crowds, Through the fence.
Dilemmas its code of life brings: A raffle for the roof, A recruiter asks for the hall, Champagne at the reception.

What the building needs

required Three BuddhasThe Main Shrine holds Shakyamuni, with Amitabha and the Medicine Buddha, before whom the great services are chanted.
required kitchenThe Chinese Buddhist temple asks every temple for one.
required monks' quartersThe Chinese Buddhist temple asks every temple for one.
expected Ancestor tabletsFamilies sponsor tablets for their dead, remembered at every service and in the great repentances.
expected Lamps of brightnessLamps lit for a year bring blessings on those whose names they bear.
expected Incense burnerIncense is offered before the altar at every service.
discouraged Drum kitA band and drum kit do not belong in this tradition's worship.
discouraged Hammond organA gospel organ doesn't suit this tradition's worship.
discouraged Upright pianoA piano doesn't suit this tradition's worship.
discouraged Pipe organAn organ doesn't suit this tradition's worship.

What people here feel

Architectural style: Colonial brick -0.012; Modern synagogue +0.006; Gurdwara +0.012; Japanese temple +0.024; Islamic +0.03; Shinto shrine +0.03; Chinese temple +0.036; Dravidian temple +0.042; Nagara temple +0.042; Thai temple +0.042; Jain marble +0.048; Gothic +0.054.
Building fit: up to ±0.15 for everyone, the average fit of the characterful items in its worship rooms (the table below).
Acoustics: it wants a ringing room, about 2.8 seconds of reverberation: stone, plaster, a high ceiling. Up to ±0.05.
Seasonal decor: in their seasons, the bon lanterns and new year couplets and vesak lanterns are worth up to ±0.040 (missing them, the minus); out of season, nothing is called for.
The dharma talk lands by its topic and the tradition's leaning (below); the abbess's preaching adds or costs up to 0.08 more.
The daily services move no one's satisfaction: no offering, sermon, or welcome; people come one by one, the retired twice as often, those of working age half as often on a weekday from nine to five.
Open hours: a visit counts a quarter as much as a main service: the building and its worship room, and, for visitors, whether anyone welcomed them. People come at the hour that suits them, the retired twice as often, those of working age half as often on a weekday from nine to five; a visiting household that comes only to open hours takes six visits, not three, to settle in.

How each dharma talk lands

The topics its leader can choose from (some are only for one faith or family), and what each is worth.

Sanctity of Life+0.06
Faith & Family+0.04
Faith of Our Fathers+0.04
Resisting Temptation+0.04
The Five Precepts+0.04
Compassion for All Beings+0.015
Gratitude+0.015
Guanyin, Who Hears the World's Cries+0.015
Hope & Comfort+0.015
Humanistic Buddhism+0.015
Impermanence+0.015
Interdependence+0.015
Reciting the Buddha's Name+0.015
Repaying Our Parents' Kindness+0.015
Stewardship & Generosity+0.015
Suffering and Its End+0.015
The Heart Sutra+0.015
The Medicine Buddha's Vows+0.015
The Noble Eightfold Path+0.015
Care for Creation-0.02
Healing for All-0.02
Welcome the Stranger-0.02
Social Justice Call-0.03
Interfaith Understanding-0.05
Reading Scripture in Context-0.05
Swords into Ploughshares-0.05
Racial Justice & Reconciliation-0.075
Radical Inclusion-0.075

Every item, for this tradition

Fit runs from −1 (jars) to +1 (just right); the building fit is the average over the characterful items in the worship rooms. An item with no character (a table, a toilet) has no fit. A rule applies wherever the item is.

Item	Fit	Rule
Seating
Box pew	+1
Meditation cushions	0
Meeting bench	no fit
Oak pew	no fit
Row of chairs	-1
Liturgical furniture
Alms bowls	no fit
Buddha image	0
Butsudan with the Gohonzon	0
Columbarium niches	+1
Incense burner	+0.5	expected Incense is offered before the altar at every service.
Lectern	no fit
Onaijin altar	0
Pulpit	no fit
Three Buddhas	+0.5	required The Main Shrine holds Shakyamuni, with Amitabha and the Medicine Buddha, before whom the great services are chanted.
Music
Drum kit	-1	discouraged A band and drum kit do not belong in this tradition's worship.
Electronic organ	-1
Grand piano	-1
Hammond organ	-1	discouraged A gospel organ doesn't suit this tradition's worship.
Handbell table	-1
Kansho	0
Mokugyo	+1
Pipe organ	0	discouraged An organ doesn't suit this tradition's worship.
Sound system	-1
Taiko	0
Temple bell	0
Upright piano	-1	discouraged A piano doesn't suit this tradition's worship.
Decor
Ancestor tablets	+0.5	expected Families sponsor tablets for their dead, remembered at every service and in the great repentances.
Banner	0
Bon lanterns	0
Eternal flame	no fit
Great dome	+1
Guanyin statue	0
Lamps of brightness	+0.5	expected Lamps lit for a year bring blessings on those whose names they bear.
Memorial plaque	no fit
National flag	0
New Year couplets	0
Pagoda	0
Red lanterns	0
Small dome	no fit
Stained glass window	+1
Stupa	0
Thangka	0
Vesak lanterns	0
Furnishings
Alms box	no fit
Amulet counter	0
Coffee pot	no fit
Commercial coffee pot	no fit
Computer	no fit
Crib	no fit
Desk	no fit
Desk chair	no fit
Folding table	no fit
Full-length mirror	no fit
Pillar	+1
Projection screen	-1
Shoe rack	0
Vestment cabinet	+1
Wooden table	no fit
Utility
A/V rack	no fit
Camera	no fit
Cast-iron boiler	no fit
Central air conditioner	no fit
Commercial HVAC plant	no fit
Commercial stove	no fit
Congregation van	no fit
Ductless heat pump	no fit
Electric wall heater	no fit
Gas furnace	no fit
Hearing loop	no fit
Lift	no fit
Packaged heat pump	no fit
Plumbing stack	no fit
Ramp	no fit
Shuttle bus	no fit
Sink	no fit
Solar panels	no fit
Stairs	no fit
Toilet	no fit
Used school bus	no fit
Wall camera	no fit
Window air conditioner	no fit
Grounds
Evergreen tree	no fit
Flower bed	no fit
Fountain	no fit
Garden bench	no fit
Guardian lions	0
Hedge	no fit
Paifang	0
Playground	no fit
Prayer wheels	0
Shade tree	no fit
Temple censer	0

Variants

Chosen when you found the temple:

Dharma Drum branch: its own services: Sunday dharma function, sunday at 10:00 am; Sitting group, saturday at 9:00 am; English meditation class, wednesday at 7:30 pm; Morning service, every day at 5:30 am; its own focus; its own giving

Sources

Hsi Lai Temple, Wikipedia (link)
Fo Guang Shan, Wikipedia; Hsing Yun, Wikipedia (link)
Hsi Lai Temple: Sunday Communal Cultivation, Memorial Dharma Service, Light Offering, Water and Land (link)
Hsi Lai Temple (Chinese site) (link)
Chan Meditation Center: About; Blessing Light; Virtual Blessings (link)
City of Ten Thousand Buddhas: Attending a Session; Daily Schedule (link)
Buddha's Light International Association, Wikipedia (link)
Shuilu Fahui, Wikipedia (link)