About Us
About the Humanistic Buddhism College
Venerable Master Hsing Yun
Fo Guang Shan San Bao Temple (American Buddhist Cultural Society) located in the heart of San Francisco, is a temple in the Fo Guang Shan group. It was founded in 1989. In 1991, San Bao Temple and Fo Guang Bookstore were officially inaugurated by Master Hsing Yun, who personally came to perform the opening ceremony.
Venerable Master Hsing Yun, the 48th Patriarch of the Lin-chi (Japanese Rinzai ) line of Ch'an, is the founder of the Fo Guang Shan Buddhist Order and its international headquarters in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. He became a novice monk under Venerable Master Chih K'ai at Ch'i-hsia Shan, a mountain monastery in Nanjing.
Venerable Master Hsing Yun was fully ordained in 1941 and went onto formal monastic training at Ch'I-hsia Vinaya School and Chiao-shan Buddhist College. He has vowed to revitalize Humanistic Buddhism from an early age. In 1949, as Mainland China was enmeshed in civil war, Venerable Master Hsing Yun left his homeland for Taiwan. For nearly a half century the strength of his vow has enabled him to usher in a new era for Humanistic Buddhism. His vision and untiring efforts have influenced Buddhist studies and practices in Taiwan and throughout all five continents
Fo Guang Bookstore located in San Francisco, carries Buddhist books and religious articles exclusively. It offers a large supply of Chinese/English Buddhist Sutras, dictionaries, books, gifts and artifacts to serve the Buddhist community in the Bay Area.
To bring the Dharma to the comfort of homes, San Bao Temple also sponsors the television programs “Hsing Yun Chan Talk”, and “Hsing Yun Dharma Verses” on the local Chinese language channels, and also broadcasts the “Voice of Fo Guang” in Cantonese on the radio; using culture to promote Buddhism.
In addition to the above events, San Bao Temple holds several annual festivals, including Lunar New Year Eve Family Gathering, Thousand Buddhas Prostration Liturgy, Vegetarian Banquet Offering to the Celestials, Ancestors Memorial Liturgy, Ullambana Liturgy, Medicine Buddha Liturgy and Amitabha Buddhas Liturgy to celebrate special occasions. On Kuan Yins Birthday, there is an exhibition of Kuan Yin statues. On Buddhas Birthday, we have the ceremony of Bathing the Buddha and a fair.
Since its commencement, San Bao Temple has promoted Buddhism and has attracted a huge crowd of devotees which in turn has helped it become one of the larger gathering sites of Buddhists in Northern California. San Bao Temple will strive towards the expansion and strengthening of its Buddhist programs to further benefit all beings.