Hsi Lai Temple
Hacienda Heights, California, United States
A Fo Guang Shan Buddhist monastery in Hacienda Heights, widely described as the largest Buddhist monastery in North America, built in Tang-dynasty-inspired style and opened in 1988.
Construction began in 1986 and the temple opened in 1988: a Fo Guang Shan monastery of the order founded by Venerable Master Hsing Yun, built in Tang-dynasty-inspired style in the hills east of Los Angeles. The name Hsi Lai means coming to the West, and the temple carries Hsing Yun's Humanistic Buddhism, bringing Chan Pure Land practice into daily life: monastics in residence, daily morning and evening liturgy, weekend Dharma services open to the public, a Chinese school, and a large volunteer community. After Hsing Yun's death in 2023 the temple held major memorial services.
The temple is widely described as the largest Buddhist monastery in North America and often cited as the largest in the Western Hemisphere, claims the entry attributes rather than asserts.
Visiting
Hsi Lai's visiting pages list grounds open 9am to 5pm, free, with modest dress required, weekend guided tours, and the vegetarian cafeteria on some days.
Photo: [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hsi_Lai_Temple_Hacienda_Heights,_CA,_USA.JPG), CC BY-SA 4.0, PLawrence99cx.
Associated traditions & practices
Visitor stories