1976, Master Xingyun led a delegation to visit the United States on behalf of the Chinese Buddhist Association to spread Mahayana Buddhism. Since then, American Buddhist friends and believers have come to Taiwan Province Province to visit Foguang Mountain, and urged the master to build a temple in the United States to preach the Dharma. 1978, due to the maturity of fate, the master's disciples, Ci Zhuang and Yi Hang, went to prepare related matters first, and named the future Buddhist Dojo "Xilai Temple", which means "Dafa came from the west". Soon, Master Xingyun went to America to survey the land where the temple was built. At the same time, he received an honorary doctorate from Oriental University in the United States. In August of the same year, in order to promote the development of international Buddhism, the master initiated and established the International Buddhist Promotion Association together with internationally renowned Oriental University President Dr. Tianen Vietnamese, Dr. Prudian of the United States, Lawyer Mike, Ananda Bhikhu of Germany, Tibetan Geer Lama, Dr. Prudin of Britain, Mr. Nakagawa Kiyoshi of Japan, Master Akihito of Hong Kong, Argentine Buddhist Wang Zhengguo and Malaysian Buddhist Wu Meiyun, and unanimously elected Xingyun as its president.
Xilai Temple covers an area of 15 mu, with a building area of 102432 square feet. This 30 million-dollar temple organically combines tradition and modernity, and adopts building materials from all over the world, such as Buddha statues, bells and glazed tiles in Taiwan Province Province, ruby floor tiles in Italy, granite temples in Chinese mainland, steel bones in Korea, solemn Buddhist tools in Japan and other materials in the United States. It can be said that it is a solemn Buddhist Dojo built in combination with the world. The main buildings of Xilai Temple are Daxiong Hall, Five Halls, Liao Fang, Zen Hall, Tibetan Scripture Building and Wyatt Hall.
Xilai University, founded in 199 1, is an institution of higher learning founded by Master Xing Yun. It is located in Rosmith, east of Los Angeles County, covering an area of more than 40,000 square meters. The school has departments of business administration, religion, extension education and English, as well as the World Buddhist Institute, the Buddhist Psychology and Consultation Research Center and the Minority and Small Business Research Center. Each department has bachelor's, master's and doctoral courses and recruits international students. The school has advanced teaching equipment and dormitory conditions that a modern university should have, with convenient transportation and beautiful and quiet environment. From the university to the famous scenic spots in Los Angeles, such as the Getty Museum, Huntington Art Museum, Hollywood, Universal Studios, Disney and so on, the traffic is very convenient. In addition to being immersed in a safe and quiet reading space, students can also enjoy various types of multicultural projects. In July last year, the school was officially approved as an associate member of the Western University Alliance, and it is expected to become a full member within two years, which is a key step for the school to become a first-class university in the United States.
New York Temple is the second temple established by Buddhist Shen in the United States. The temple covers an area of125th acre, about an hour's drive from downtown new york. 198 1 Construction started, and a solemn Buddhist Dojo was opened on a barren hill. After more than ten years' efforts, ten thousand Buddha statues have been built around Pilufo Hall, Guanyin Hall, Yin Guanglou, Taixuzhai and Ru Ru Memorial Library. Become one of the most influential Chinese temples in America.
The Great Buddha Hall adopts the architectural style of Tang Dynasty, with wall hanging design. There are no pillars in the whole hall, which is very spacious, bright and distinctive. In the center of the main hall, there is a 37-foot-high Peluzena Buddha statue, which is the largest Buddha statue in the western hemisphere. There are twelve bodhisattvas around Pilufo. There are 10,000 small Buddha statues arranged around the Bodhisattva, and there are two huge murals: one is 104 feet long and eight feet high, depicting the bliss of Amitabha; The other is 500 arhats, which is 144 feet long and 8 feet high. It is very spectacular.
Kannonji was completed on 1985, designed by famous architects in China, and also in the style of Tang Dynasty. The temple is dedicated to the painted porcelain Guanyin statue unearthed in the Ming Dynasty, which is the largest porcelain Guanyin statue in the world and extremely precious. Every year, Buddhist summer camps, pharmacists' dharma sessions, Guanyin dharma sessions, Buddha Seven and other Buddhist activities sponsored by the American Buddhist Association are held in guanyin temple.
To commemorate Mrs. Shen's residence in Yong, Shen named the original library "Yong Memorial Library". The library has more than 70,000 books, most of which are related to Buddhism, including Pali, Sanskrit, Mongolian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, French and German. Dunhuang ancient books (microfilms) and Tibetan classics are also purchased in the museum for people from all walks of life to use.
In addition, there are also buildings in Zhuang Yan Temple, such as Qianliantai, Taixuzhai and Yinguanglou, which have their own characteristics.
Another most representative temple in the United States is Wanfo City in Dharma Town, California. Covering an area of 488 acres, it is the largest Buddhist temple in the United States, founded by the abbot Master Xuanhua. The temple strictly abides by the family style of eating every day and putting clothes in the same place. In addition, since the establishment of 1974, Wanfo City has attached importance to Buddhist education and translation of classics.
Attaching importance to Buddhist education is based on Xuanhua's profound idea of cultivating Buddhist follow-up talents. After years of hard work, Wanfo City now has four levels of educational institutions, namely, general Sangha lay training courses, primary schools, middle schools and universities, and has become a typical temple in American Buddhism.
The Sinhalese lay training course was established in 1982. The term lasts four years. The main courses are Buddhist classics, law, theory and other elective subjects, with special emphasis on promoting a clean jungle life. The Sangha training class trains monks, who mainly take precepts and participate in the training of Buddhist rituals, so that they can hold various positions in monasteries after the completion of their studies, engage in the work of promoting Buddhism and benefiting students, and practice according to precepts and continue Buddhist wisdom. The training course for laymen is to train laymen at home. The main contents of the course are: doing one's duty in Buddhist groups or social life, both protecting and practicing, affecting colleagues and friends in schools, hospitals, universities, companies, societies and so on. Do self-interest and altruism with your own words and deeds.
1974 Yu Liang primary school not only uses general textbooks, but also takes books on China's traditional moral thoughts such as Three Amethyst and Disciples Rules (Chinese and English versions) as subjects that students must be familiar with, learning the truth of dealing with others, and letting children receive education in a subtle way. The primary school provides students with a pure environment and bilingual teaching, which is gradually accepted by local citizens. For more than 20 years, parents in many nearby communities have sent their children here to study. The school has also added games and sports equipment for all grades, so that students can grow up in an all-round and healthy way.
Peide Middle School is a middle school founded by master Xuanhua in 1976. The motto of the boys' and girls' schools is "Don't argue, don't be greedy, don't seek, don't be selfish, don't lie", which is full of Buddhist spirit. In addition to referring to the general standards in California, the curriculum of this middle school also takes Chinese as a second language, offering Buddhist and meditation courses, and all schools are vegetarian, emphasizing that education is to teach students enlightenment, not to pursue fame and fortune. As Master Xuanhua said, "Educating students can not teach them to understand in a day or two, but to have a long-term mind and teach them how to be a good person and how to lay a solid foundation of personality. Instead of teaching students how to find a good job, earn more money and enjoy themselves. ..... Educate students how to learn benevolence, righteousness and morality, and they will serve the society. No matter where you go, you can do things according to benevolence and morality, and you will never collude with others, nor will you do anything that harms others. "
Because Peide Middle School implements unique education and cultivates students' determination and ideological depth, it becomes a very favorable condition when applying for a university. Many graduates have entered famous universities such as Stanford University, Berkeley University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology for undergraduate or postgraduate study. From 65438 to 0999, the alumni of Peide Middle School organized a "Youth Buddhist Society" to discuss the truth of life, and often went back to school to coach their younger brothers and sisters, help primary and secondary school students to set up summer classes, or serve as voluntary teachers in Wanfocheng boys' and girls' schools to give back to their alma mater.
The highest institution of learning in Wanfo City is Dharma Buddhist College. The school was founded in 1976, with benevolence and morality as its purpose and compassion as its goal. We should not only impart professional knowledge, but also pay attention to cultivating character and virtue, so as to purify the soul, open up self-wisdom and compassion, and give full play to everyone's greatest potential.
Dharma Buddhism University registered by the California government can issue student visas, offer bachelor's and master's courses in Buddhist research and practice, Buddhist translation and China studies, Buddhist education, and China and China studies, and award degrees. Courses include precepts, Buddhism, Buddhist philosophy, Buddhist history, comparative religion, Buddhism and western philosophy, psychology, Chinese (such as Chinese, English, Sanskrit, Japanese, Vietnamese, etc. ), as well as the Analects of Confucius, Mencius, Laozi, the University, the Book of Changes, China's calligraphy, painting and Taiji Chuan. Monks and their families can apply for admission, and those with insufficient financial capacity can also apply for scholarships.
In addition, Dharma Buddha College also actively carries out exchange activities with other universities. Every spring and autumn, dozens of students from the University of Hamburg, located in northern California, come to visit the university and experience the life of the Dojo in Wanfo City on weekends to exchange ideas and spirits. Students who are interested in Buddhism, such as Berkeley University and San Francisco State University, will also come here regularly to attend university seminars to learn vegetarian food, meditation and Tai Chi, so as to gain different physical and mental experiences.
In order to let more people in the world know the true meaning of Buddhism, Master Xuanhua vowed to translate all twelve Buddhist scriptures into English. Therefore, he established the International Academy of Scripture Translation in San Francisco on 1973, and then moved to Wanfo to merge with Dharma University. Up to now, hundreds of volumes of master Xuanhua's Buddhist scriptures and related notes have been translated into English, French, Western and Vietnamese languages, laying a certain foundation for the spread of Buddhism in the West.