Everyone here is so kind and every time I visit, they greet me with a smile. Going inside, the…read morearchitecture and treasures are beautiful, and they offer many Buddhist recordings and readings. Its's a very welcoming space, and I would recommend anyone else to come if they're interested in culture.

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.

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.

Checked out the S.F. Dhammaram Temple (Wat San Fran) on Lincoln Way & 28th Ave, SF on Sun 5/31/26…read more I took the N-Judah and got off af 28th Ave and walked 2 blocked to the building. They had a special event Visakha Puja Day and sold Good Kamma Lunchbox Fundraiser. First to enter temple u need to take off your shoes. I wore mixed matched socks, oops. Will do better next time. Someone told me the food being sold was dowbstairs, so I went. Bought $51 in food: pork skewers w/ sticky rice, pork salad w/ sticky rice, pandan jello dessert, mushroom in little bags, and chive rice noodle dish. All very tasty. Went outside to give cooked rice from a cup to the monks, then knelt down to give food to the main monk, bow. He gave a sermon on being selfish but in a smart way: if u want kindness we need to give kindness, patience we need to give to get. After that the blessing. Then there was a potluck, 2 lines. Better stay in the back to get food first, I was in the back and good stuff gone. There was more things to do, but I left after eating. Other special days: June 5, 7, 8-14 July 29, 30 Aug 2 Sept 6 lunchbox fundraiser Oct 4 lunchbox fundraiser Nov 1 lunchbox fundraiser Dec 6 lunchbox fundraiser

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.

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!

SFZC practitioners are friendly and serious about the practice. The teachings here are excellent…read moreand have helped in my spiritual exploration. Also the food is delicious.

Sexual harassment, psychological abuse, negligence, dishonesty, and poor ethics. Please please…read morebeware if you are looking for something real. They are not unbiased, are prone to dangerously self-interested thinking, and lack integrity. Unfriendly to meditation practice that is not thoroughly dominated by their teachers, who are less equipped than they want you to think. Very manipulation-prone and small-minded community - you are likely to be scapegoated and abused if you are internally healthier than the people who are running things. They will take any opportunity to gaslight you into hating yourself and doubting your sanity, if you aren't insecure enough. A few bright spots but not enough to assuage the aggressive onslaught of egotism and brutality from a few genuinely unstable people who want to run the show and mimic wisdom without embodying or truly respecting it. They have a hard time listening when it matters - will aggressively force you into sharing more of yourself than you want or feel comfortable with in order to exploit and dominate you. They will not tell you they're doing this. Serious narcissism and cult dynamics. They equate wisdom with social power, which is why they're so threatened by anyone who seems to possess any - because it could meaningfully topple their own place in a hierarchy they've built their sense of self on. They will do this with new students who mean no harm. Do not come with faith in their ability to wield power well - the staff and teachers abuse it, and they give you no options for dialogue, after claims that you're the problem to imagine that they don't. Please watch out for triangulation dynamics. Very very toxic, and it's baked in, so it's hard to avoid even if you just want to sit, work, and enjoy the beautiful setting - if you appear to have any openness to people, or if you unintentionally trigger them for any reason - for being too peaceful - they will draw you into intensely toxic dynamics you have no interest in, then blame you for their unhealed parts. These are the staff and teachers who do this - everyone here generally needs real therapy and a reality check, and you'll know because if you are sane, they will tell you you're the problem. The role of the scapegoat is to absorb and express the toxic dynamics in the environment - if I'm saying it, it's happened, and if they don't "see" it, it's because part of the toxicity is in their giving their dysfunction over to me. The abusive mechanism is to blame the one who holds the trauma - the messenger - and absolve true perpetrators of emotional responsibility - which plays into patterns of avoidance and manipulation others may also be prone to. Scapegoating is possible because of the amount of people benefiting from it, who choose to Dorian Gray their suffering instead of dealing with it. It is abusive and dysfunctional, not wise. This message is for anyone who may be seeking true refuge and who doesn't want to fall prey to toxic spiritual communities. My experience here was about 10 months cumulative in residence, ongoing close contact with a teacher, and friendships with others who have spent time in residence. Be very very wary of their ability to treat you well. Sexual assaults and suicides committed in residence, probably more than I know, without care for victims or meaningful resolution. There is something wrong here, and they work hard to cover it up - do not give them the benefit of the doubt and end up psychologically brutalized like I did. I came here at 25 on multiple recommendations, from a trusted friend and from my therapist, and I was immediately roped into their problems without mercy. I was sexually aggressed and assaulted as a new guest student, in 2019, and a good friend killed herself last spring after spending time here in residence - she may have been in residence at the time. They will not communicate with me about either of these events, following aggravated attempts on their part to get me to open up, be vulnerable with, and talk to them. If you have anything going for you, do not come here. They want to be able to eat your soul.

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

Built in 1852, Tin How Temple is the oldest surviving Taoist temple in Chinatown and one of the…read moreoldest operating Chinese temples in the United States. Everyone is welcome to enter, and we walked up three or four flights of stairs to find it. No photographs are allowed inside. As you enter, you'll see incense urns, or censers, ahead of you, out on the balcony, and around the room. I don't speak Chinese, but the lady at the counter spoke English and explained the customary donation and asked whether I would like to buy incense or have my fortune told using Kau Cim, traditional Chinese fortune-telling sticks. It was extremely reasonably priced--around $5 for the donation and incense, with an additional charge for the fortune telling. You receive a bundle of incense sticks and can light them one at a time. You face the altar and can bow once or three times. I didn't know the proper protocol, so I simply prayed and placed my lit incense stick upright in the incense urn. Tin How, or Tian Hou (Mazu), the Empress of Heaven, is traditionally associated with protecting seafarers and travelers, although I didn't know that when I visited. I prayed to God and let God handle the distribution of prayers as needed, while keeping reverence in my heart for the deities depicted in the statues around me. I also tried the Kau Cim fortune-telling sticks. It was surprisingly tricky to shake just one stick out without dumping the entire container. The patient lady warned me several times not to tip it too far and seemed quite relieved when I finally managed to get one stick out without all the others toppling onto the floor. The stick has a number on it, and she gives you the corresponding paper containing rather old-fashioned sayings that you interpret in relation to your question. Mine wasn't particularly good news in response to what I had asked, but that was okay. I wasn't there because I needed a fortune to tell me what to do. It was simply fun to respectfully participate in a tradition that was completely new to me. For me, that was part of what made Tin How Temple worth visiting. It wasn't just another historic building to look at. For a few dollars and a willingness to try something unfamiliar, I was able to participate, however briefly, in traditions that have been practiced in Chinese temples for generations.

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)

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.