Our family has been coming to this temple for over 30 years. It's my mother's must do list on the…read morefirst day of every Chinese New Year to come here to give blessings, give thanks, and prayers for the Buddha. Quan Yin/ Kwan Ying is the Goddess of Compassion in the Buddhist religion. This temple is dedicated to her. I find this temple is more genuine about the true religion and dedicate to patrons to come here seeking prayers, serenity, peace for their beliefs. Although donations are appreciated it's not expected like some of the Buddhist temples around that make you feel that it's all about the money, how much you donate, and everything and services cost money.

What's up: The family comes to this temple to make prayers and ask for blessings during events such…read moreas beginning the New Year as well as ending the year. It's a bit out of our area, but we like that it's a small temple and that they aren't overly extravagant. Parking: They have a small lot that's up front and is almost always full. But...just because it's full, that doesn't mean the temple itself is. Parking is shared with the America's Vietnamese Chinese Friendship Association. You'll have better luck finding street parking on Gates St or Manitou Ave. Environment: Masks are required. We typically bring our own incense to offer to the gods. If you forget, there are incense available for you to use as people like to donate them. Once you walk in, the incense table can be found to the left. It's recommended to use 12 sticks of incense so you'll be able to at least give 1 stick at the incense pots. We like to bring fruits to offer/bless; there are plates towards the back room if you need to use them. Donation boxes are also available if you like to make one. Restrooms are available in the next building over on the ground floor. Yay/Nay/Meh: Yay. I like that this place feels humble and intimate as opposed to the larger temples. They have the main gods that we would make prayers and offerings to and it's rarely busy unless you come in on one of the major holidays.

Spent the day at Hsi Lai Temple to slow down, clear my mind, and enjoy a peaceful vegetarian meal…read more Hsi Lai Temple was founded in 1988 by Fo Guang Shan, one of the largest Buddhist organizations in the world. It's also one of the biggest Buddhist temples in the United States and is known for its beautiful traditional Chinese architecture and peaceful surroundings. One thing to keep in mind is that photography isn't allowed in many areas of the temple, so be sure to watch for the posted signs and respect the rules. Before heading out, we stopped by the dining hall for lunch. The vegetarian buffet is just $10 per person and you can go back for more if you'd like. The food is simple, comforting, and filling. Just remember to take only what you can finish and avoid wasting food. It's always a peaceful place to visit, whether you're here to pray, take a walk, or simply enjoy a quiet afternoon. Hsi Lai Temple 3456 Glenmark Dr, Hacienda Heights, CA 91745

My mom wanted to do a good luck prayer for the LUNAR NEW YEAR so I searched on Yelp for the nearest…read moretemple to us and found Hsi Lai Temple!... FIRST OF ALL: WOW!! What a gorgeous and magnificent temple this is!! It has about 2 floors of parking and the temple also has additional floors to go up as well. So be expected to walk up quite a few amounts of stairs!! FIRST FLOOR: We did a prayer with a donation and it came with some apples and other assortments in a red gift bag. The red gift bag required a donation of $20 per bag so me and my mom bought 2. Then, their were some nice ladies there who helped guide is on what to do. We prayed in front of 5 statues and posted the red gift bags in the middle... SECOND FLOOR: This is where we can do another prayer with 1 incense. And this is also where the restrooms were as well so make sure you don't back down to the first floor because the RESTROOMS are on the second floor!!! PARKING: Plenty of parking. There are 2 floors available for parking!! This temple really transported us to another country!! It was also very peaceful and quiet!! SATU HSI LAI TEMPLE!!!

Not what you would think of whenever a temple comes to mind but still very much serene, spiritually…read moreuplifting, and serves its overall purpose... Buddha Temple LA is big in size when it comes to the building itself but the space to pray and light incense consists of one large room. Upon going up the stairs and entering, you are met with a table lined up with a plethora of incense. These all come with a specific cost which in return supports the temple. Unlike other temples, this one only has Ong Phat Di Lac [aka the fat, happy Buddha]. No complaints from our family since he is my guy's absolute fave!! 5/5 stars because everyone here is so openly friendly. You aren't pressured to spend any money but donations are very much appreciated. Stop by and say a little prayer for your loved ones and yourself while you're at it.

Peaceful in here and really pretty . I loved how welcoming they were and how they didn't pressure…read moreus to buy anything however we did donate 40$ to the temple and 20$ for a candle .

It's a beautiful temple. We come here to pray, worship and guidance - usually during times of…read morecelebration or need. The people have always been kind and parking never seems to be an issue.

For Vietnamese New Years, my family and I always like to go to many temples to pray for our…read morefamily's well-being for the entire year. Every year I try to find more temples to take my mom and my aunties so when my friend from my temple's youth group posted a picture with her family here, I knew I had to bookmark it for when I had the chance to come by. I believe this is a Chinese temple. The only big difference from the Chinese temples and the Vietnamese temples I have been to so far is that the Chinese temples let you wear your shoes indoors whereas you take off your shoes when you enter the mainhall at a Vietnamese temple. My auntie and I entered the main hall and my auntie was in awe. She was so happy at the architectural beauty and the temple and the amazing Buddhist statues that they have here. She said it resembled a temple back in our hometown in Vietnam that she would come and visit when she came back from the city. She was so excited that she told me to take pictures to show my mom and their other siblings. Of course, I will have to take my mom back here to experience that resemblance first hand. The smell of the incense already filled the air throughout the mainhall so my auntie and I decided to just burn one incense to prevent wasting too many incenses during the festive New Years celebrating. We said our prayers for the family and walked around to admire the temple. I think they had some New Years fortune things, but I am not able to read the writing so there was no point to grab any fortunes. Among the many tables in the mainhall, I saw this interesting table with red ribbon tied to a coin and I asked the volunteer behind the counter what it was for. From what my nonverbal skills could decipher the red ribbon with the coin is $5 each and the purpose is to make a wish and then throw the ribbon onto this wishing tree for good luck. I'm not sure if this is a new year thing or a Chinese Temple thing... but it sounded fun so I gave the volunteer $10 so that my auntie and I could make some wishes to start off the New Year on positive vibes. I don't know if it matters how high we throw it but I made sure to throw it onto a really high branch!! This is a really nice temple to visit if you are looking for a temple to visit in the area or if you are just curious and want to stop by to check it out for yourself. Lunar New Years is definitely one of the most festive times of the year to visit temple and in my opinion the best time to visit even if you aren't Buddhist.

xei xei. In loving memory of Dr. Li, an amazing and selfless physician, husband, father, son,…read morebrother and friend.

Sometimes, it takes more than Google Maps for me to find where I'm going. This temple on New Ave…read morewas so nicely decorated on the exterior and welcoming that I decided to enter the vicinity. The parking lot was small. There were some people leaving.... Service must have ended. I parked and asked for directions to the Chinese New Year 2017 Rooster Celebrations. Friendly group. And apparently, due to weather conditions... the festivities were changed to January 28th & 29th instead. Also, this place was not a temple. This was a beautifully decorated Buddha Monastery. The inside was gorgeous too. Yellow gold and red were prominent colors. There were lots of incense, flowers and fruit offerings to the statues. Peaceful. Happy Chinese New Year / Happy Spring Festival

Happy Lunar New Year! I wish onto you, dear reader, happiness, love and prosperity this year!…read more The year of the horse is supposed to be a pretty bad year for my zodiac animal (not a horse). I don't practice Buddhism, but my mother insisted that I lessen my bad luck this year by bringing me to a temple to "An-Tai-Suay" (this is a verb. I think it means to ask my god "pu-sah" to protect my animal?) I'M TRYING! I'm no regular temple-goer, and I've only been to a few temples in my lifetime...but besides Shi Lai, this one has to be my favorite. It's spacious, peaceful, clean & well kept, beautiful, and full of helpful and friendly staff members who can try to explain things to you even if you don't understand (like me). The smell of incense fills most of the buildings' entrances and it really brought me a sense of peace and serenity. I can't really explain it well, but being here kind of made me feel like I had been lifted away from all of hustle & bustle of my day-to-day life and placed in a zen garden. Today, we wrote our family members names on a small card and hung it on a little lantern among hundreds of lanterns. Along with our names, we wrote/asked for happiness and luck this year, and to keep us safe. Then we went to "An-Tai-Suay" and I think they will be posting/hanging something with my name or something in one of the temple buildings for this lunar year. Although I don't normally go to Temples, this is a place I have really enjoyed being at. I do recommend anyone, buddhist or not, to come here at least once and experience this place. You don't have to wait for an unlucky year either.

OK, came here on a visit after moving away from LA back to the East Coast. I love this place. I…read moredidn't realize I was coming the weekend after Ching Ming, and that's why it was so happening! On busy days like this, they have many volunteers to help direct traffic. I learned about their underground parking for the first time, it was so crowded! And they don't pressure you to join service. Be as active as you wish. I miss this airy temple with such positive vibes. The only drawback on this place (and it's ok, I don't need it), is they have no fortune sticks.

What a beautiful and peaceful temple this is. They remodeled the temple about a few years ago and…read moreit is much better now. Now they have a big yard in the back of the temple with several parking spaces. They have more decors now. Looks great both inside and out.

Chua Xa Loi is one of the most nicest place to be. The people are very friendly. They are very…read morehelpful to my family. Recently we just lost 1 of our family member. They helped and guided us thru difficult time. They taught and guided us how to prepare for our love departed one. They were there for us all the way. Yes, They are small but they make us feel like there is someone out there care for us and make us feel welcome. They answer all our questions and they listen to us. Thank you. I would highly recommend this temple to all my friends and anyone who need a place to pray without any hesitation.

This gorgeous temple serves as a spiritual and community center for the Buddhist community in Los…read moreAngeles. I visited for the first time to support the Brew Ha Ha 5.0 fundraiser; as you may have guessed, the fundraiser involved drinking beer (and eating snacks served at "yatai", mobile food booths common in Japan). Any temple that serves beer in the community hall is all right with me, and these pairings of snacks/beer knocked it out of the park. This is a can't miss fundraiser to support the community and truly unique in the L.A. area. The grounds are stunning, beautifully maintained, and with historical features named on informational plaques. I was unable to visit the interior of the temple, but if the exterior is any indication, it's beautiful. Very ample parking. Absolutely wonderful asset to the community; hope to visit again soon.

Call me biased, as this is now my home temple. But from the very first day I wandered in, I knew…read morethere was something special here. Whether you are an experienced practitioner or new to Buddhism completely, the folks at LAAHBT will take great care of you. The services are comforting. The ministers are friendly and very approachable. And they offer a range of classes on a donation basis. Jodo Shinshu Buddhism is not as well known in the USA as other schools like Zen or Tibetan, but it is a Buddhism that embraces the here and now. It sees us in all of our imperfections and differences and welcomes us each as we are. Services are in both English and Japanese and the congregation (sangha) is diverse. They offer special celebrations that are open to the public as well. If you have never been to an Obon Festival, you need to come dance with the folks at LAHHBT! And did I mention how beautiful the temple is inside? You should see it for yourself