Please email us if you encounter information in this website for which you know there is an update or correction. Thank You!

Buddhism in Los Angeles County

There are about 145 Buddhist centers in Los Angeles County and an estimated 70,000 practicing adherents.
Buddhism was introduced into Los Angeles County in the early 20th Century by Japanese immigrants. The oldest
Buddhist temple in Los Angeles, the Nishi Hongwanji Temple, was built in 1925. The structure is now part of the
Japanese American National Museum.

According to Dr. Diana Eck, Professor of Comparative Religion and Indian Studies at Harvard University,
Los Angeles, with its Thai, Korean, Sri Lankan, Vietnamese, Zen, Chinese, and Japanese Buddhist communities,
has become the most complex Buddhist city in the world.

Representative Buddhist Organizations in Los Angeles County

Listing of Buddhist Temples & Centers in the Los Angeles Area

L.A. Dharma, Los Angeles (non-sectarian Buddhist organization)

Hsi Lai Temple, Hacienda Heights (Taiwanese) (largest Buddhist temple complex & monastery in the Western Hemisphere)

Dharma Zen Center, Park La Brea (Korean)

Khemara Buddikaram, Long Beach (Cambodian)

Wat Thai Buddhist Temple, North Hollywood (Thai) (largest Thai temple in the United States)

Chua-Viet Nam, Los Angeles (Vietnamese) (oldest & largest Vietnamese Buddhist temple in United States)

Nichiren Shoshu Myohoji Temple, West Hollywood (Japanese)

Karma Kagyu Study Group  Santa Monica (Tibetan)

Khandakapala Buddhist Center, Los Angeles (Kadampa Buddhism - Western tradition derived from Tibetan Buddhism)

Rissho Kosei-Kai Buddhist Church of Los Angeles, Boyle Heights (Rissho Kosei-kai believers and practitioners)

According to a December 1993 Los Angeles Times article, comparative religion scholars and demographers see Los Angeles
becoming a capital of American Buddhism in the 21st Century.

The Hsi Lai Temple, located in the hills of Hacienda Heights, was inaugurated in November 1988 and became the largest
Buddhist monastery in the United States.

Copyright © 1998-2008 by Given Place Media, All Rights Reserved.