Cancel

    Open app

    Search

    Soka Gakkai International

    2.0 (5 reviews)

    Soka Gakkai International Photos

    More like Soka Gakkai International

    Recommended Reviews - Soka Gakkai International

    Your trust is our priority, so businesses can't pay to alter or remove their reviews. Learn more about reviews.
    Yelp app icon
    Browse more easily on the app
    Review Feed Illustration

    4 years ago

    Helpful 3
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 1
    Photo of Rachel J.
    23
    140
    9

    6 years ago

    Helpful 6
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    7 years ago

    Helpful 5
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 2

    7 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 1
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0
    Photo of M L.
    0
    3
    0

    10 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 1

    Verify this business for free

    Get access to customer & competitor insights.

    Verify this business

    Mahayana Temple Buddhist Association

    Mahayana Temple Buddhist Association

    4.2(29 reviews)
    8.3 miChinatown

    I hope I'm not asking for too much but it is much smaller than I expected based on the grand…read moreexterior. There are only 2 statues inside. You are allowed to light one incense for the first statue at the entrance, but no photo and incense allowed after that. It is quiet inside but it was hard to feel zen at the center of Chinatown and across from the Manhattan Bridge. What I really like is the big bowl of paper predictions. There is a note saying if you donate $1 you can take one. Make a wish and choose your paper!

    Although i am officially not a Buddhist i am a frequent visitor of this temple for years. One of my…read morefavorite places to find peace & quiet in this often times busy and sometimes crazy city! The temple is at the foot of Manhattan bridge, not so appealing on the outside but the inside is colorful,beautiful & worth checking out. It houses the biggest Buddha statue in all of Nyc. It's serene & peaceful inside. i didn't encounter a lot of people on my visits. usually only locals praying & few curious tourists. There are signs posted prohibiting pictures on certain areas but on the main altar pictures are ok i think -as long as done discretely. Theres also a gift shop on the entrance. You can light an incense for a fee. The care takers of this spot leave you alone to explore on your own. Theres no fee to enter, but i see some donation boxes around. Buddhist or not one can find something to appreciate in this not so hidden Chinatown gem.

    Photos
    Mahayana Temple Buddhist Association
    Mahayana Temple Buddhist Association
    Mahayana Temple Buddhist Association

    See all

    Chan Meditation Center

    Chan Meditation Center

    4.8(6 reviews)
    2.5 miElmhurst

    I am a seasoned meditator, who can't go to sangha night in my home sangha because I work. Our…read moresangha is small and as yet has not reached it's full potential. So there's little programed on the weekends either. I've been looking around for another sangha that I can join in with to meditate with others. I'm also a little curious. I'm pretty committed to the Triratana Buddhist Community, but I'm also curious about other sanghas. So on Yelp there are 10 places listed in Queens. I chose to visit two today. I went to Lin Yan Shan Buddhist Temple of New York first. I talked with a monk coming out a door. He was talking to me until some Chinese people walked by and felt he had to open the door for them, and walked away abruptly from our conversation. He'd said that was a Pure Land outfit. I like to chant and all, but this place felt too ethnic for me, and while it seemed like a lovely place, I didn't see anyone who wasn't Chinese. And while the monk was pleasant and nice, he was surprised I knew that he chanted to Amitabha, which I felt was a bit condescending. Yes, westerners can know something about Buddhism, it's not just something of the east. So it's on to the next one. I ended up at the Ch'an Meditation Center in a very interesting neighborhood in Elmhurst. I was scared to walk in, but was warmly greeted by a Hispanic woman, who introduced me to an African American gentleman. I talked a little while with two women monks, with monk outfits and shaven heads, and the three dots on their heads where I speculate candles burnt down in a ritual, but that's just speculation. Then I talked to Dr. Rikki Asher, who seemed very down to earth and encouraging. I think I'm going to go back sometime--I will update if I do. I googled Rikki Asher and she's a professor at Queens college, and does silk art. Reading reviews on Rate My Professor, seems like it's a site for disgruntled students to vent negativity, though there were many that were positive. It's weird I know these things about her now, because I was writing this review, and wanted to know more about her. Her silk screens are pretty cool. My experience of her was that she was warm and open. They have a very active schedule with movie night, beginners night, Dharma classes, one day meditation retreats and Tai Ji Quan (gentle and relaxing Chinese therapeutic exercise). They are connected to a retreat center upstate in Pine Bush. They had free books, I took one on the Bodhisattva vow. Two thirds of the books are in Chinese and the place does have a distinctive Chinese flavor. They have a quarterly magazine. So I walked out of there with a lot of information and their website, and a desire to go back in. A diverse and welcoming place which I hope to go back to.

    My parents are two devoted Buddhists at Chan Meditation Center. You would often see them there on…read moreSundays and Mondays. My husband and I only started going to Chan Mediation Center two years. I enjoy going there on Sundays too, but I guess Monday Buddha Name Chanting is one of my favorites. At the end of chanting, you sit and meditate after a busy working Monday. It feels very tranquil...

    Photos
    Chan Meditation Center
    Chan Meditation Center
    Chan Meditation Center - 2012 Chinese New Year Celebration

    See all

    2012 Chinese New Year Celebration

    Zen Center of New York City- Fire Lotus Temple

    Zen Center of New York City- Fire Lotus Temple

    3.8(6 reviews)
    7.9 miBoerum Hill

    Some people really like this temple, and that's fine. I didn't. Why wear Japanese clothing?…read more We're not in Japan, and most of aren't even Japanese. It seems like they're deliberately making this place feel alien so people have to really buy into their way of engaging with Buddhism. It seems a bit too performative, like I'm worrying more about the rituals and being accepted into the club rather than engaging with my mind and relating to other people in an authentic way. That kind of pull is not good. These are just my two cents. I don't want to sound like I'm trashing it. It might be exactly what you're looking for.

    Short version: odd experience, some of which was within the temple's control and some was not. If…read morethis experience turned you off, do not allow it to define your experience of Zen or Buddhism, because this was a particular manifestation that made me rather uncomfortable and did not seem representative of the practice at large. Noticeable lack of diversity in the actual students, though the public crowd was more mixed. I guess the intentions are good though. Liturgy and sutra chanting is done in English, which is an understandable choice - I guess you want folks to understand what they are chanting. But if you have ever been to a temple where chanting is done in one of the languages where the tradition of Buddhism first developed and flourished (i.e. i.e. Japanese/Chinese/Sanskrit), you'll notice that the syllabic and tonal structure of those languages creates a particularly beautiful aesthetic for chanting which is largely lost in English. The translations were also rather awkward and I found myself more focused on the lack of congruence in the whole situation than the actual content of the sutras, which is unfortunate. A very helpful gentleman was walking up and down the aisle and making sure everyone was on the correct page, which was very considerate. A lady next to me, who'd clearly been before as she had all the liturgies memorized, seemed to take particular pride and zeal in butchering the pronunciation of names when we were reading through the ancestor line. I get that foreign languages are difficult and that human speech patterns are largely set after childhood, and that there's no malice in mispronouncing something, but you'd think a little humility would be called for if you know you're about to pronounce something that you're likely to screw up. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Beginning instruction for zazen meditation was good. They provide you with pillows and cushions and introduce you to various poses. I thought the tone was appropriate and approachable for beginners. However, I perceived the meditation leaders to be overly judgmental during the actual meditation session (which, given the foundational belief that all is simply a construction within your mind and judgement is one of the building blocks of suffering, is rather ironic). The instruction is to sit still, but inevitably people want to cough, or shift around, or scratch their nose. When this happened I would catch the leaders looking around or leaning slightly in one direction or another to see who the "culprit" was, and at some point one of them called out, in a particularly harsh tone, for people to sit still. The general seriousness and gravity with which parts of the ritual are carried out (such as the bringing in of the reading podium) seem to have missed the point that all is temporary. You'd think a funeral was happening here. Lastly - and this is what really ruined the experience for me - my boyfriend had left his glasses on his cushion, and at some point during the walking meditation, they were broken. Again, there is a sad irony in the fact that something was carelessly broken during an exercise that was meant to be about mindfulness in walking - literally, feeling the movement of your foot, the placement on the ground, the shifting of balance, the movement of your joints, etc. I find it hard to believe that the breaking of a pair of glasses could have been missed in such a quiet, deliberate, concentrated exercise, and if someone was aware that it happened, I was profoundly disappointed by the fact that they simply left them there without claiming responsibility. But - all is temporary, judgement causes pain, attachment is the root of all suffering. So I'll let go of the glasses, I'll let go of the awkward English sutra chanting, I'll let go of the fact that people looked waaaaaaay too serious, and I'll let go of this experience. :)

    Photos
    Zen Center of New York City- Fire Lotus Temple
    Zen Center of New York City- Fire Lotus Temple - Exterior shots only, please. (-:

    Exterior shots only, please. (-:

    Zen Center of New York City- Fire Lotus Temple

    See all

    Soka Gakkai International - buddhist_temples - Updated June 2026

    Loading...
    Loading...
    Loading...