Chuang Yen Monastery
Kent, New York, United States
A Chinese Pure Land Buddhist monastery in the Hudson Valley whose grounds were laid out by I.M. Pei, home to the Great Buddha Hall and one of the largest indoor Buddha statues in the western hemisphere.
The Buddhist Association of the United States broke ground on its first building here in 1981 and completed the Kuan Yin Hall in 1985; the Great Buddha Hall followed, its groundbreaking in October 1989 presided over by the 14th Dalai Lama shortly after his Nobel Prize, and its grand opening in May 1997. The grounds were laid out by I.M. Pei. The name Chuang Yen means majestically adorned, and the Great Buddha Hall holds one of the largest indoor Buddha statues in the western hemisphere, with a Tang-dynasty wooden Kuan Yin in the older hall.
Monastics and lay practitioners live and practice here; the monastery offers day visits, retreats, Tuesday-evening meditation, sutra study and Pali courses with Bhikkhu Bodhi through the Woo Ju Memorial Library. It is a seasonal place: closed in deep winter, open the rest of the year on the BAUS calendar.
Visiting
The monastery's visit pages carry seasonal hours (open roughly April to January, closed January through March) and the suggested donation ($7 per person); reachable by train from Grand Central to Cold Spring or Brewster, then taxi.
Photo: [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chuang_Yen.jpg), CC BY 4.0, Karmiki.
Associated traditions & practices
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