WELCOME MESSAGE

We appreciate your interest in the Palo Alto Buddhist Temple.

The heart of our temple lies in what we call the Three Treasures: the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha.

The Buddha refers to the historical Siddhartha Gautama who went on to become the Buddha Sakyamuni after his awakening to the realities and truths of this human life. He then provided a teaching (Dharma) of the Buddha Amida representing the ultimate way in living a life of immeasurable wisdom and unwavering compassion. He shared this Dharma to a community (Sangha) willing to listen and practice.

The Palo Alto Buddhist Temple belongs to a sect of Buddhism called Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji-ha or simply Jodo Shinshu. Shinran Shonin (1173 – 1263) is attributed as the founder of this particular way of Buddhism. He advocated that all that is necessary to attain Enlightenment or Liberation is the reliance upon the Infinite Wisdom and Compassion embodied in the act of reciting Nembutsu - Namo Amida Butsu. Because of this simple practice, this form of Buddhism advocates that one need not be a monk in order to practice the Nembutsu. Our mother temple is located in Kyoto, Japan and our National Headquarters (called the Buddhist Churches of America) is in San Francisco, California.

Our temple programs and services are open to all who wish to observe and participate in them. But in order to maintain these temple activities for the community to enjoy, we rely upon donations and individuals who make an annual financial pledge to maintain the temple operations and administration. If you feel that the temple can be of assistance to you upon your path, I hope you will consider becoming a member of our temple community so that we can continue to offer the Three Treasures to others who may be interested.

If you would like further details or have questions, please feel free to contact me at: 650-856-0123 or e-mail me at: dkoyama@comcast.net.

Again, thank you for your interest, In gratitude, Namo Amida Butsu,

Rev. Dean Koyama
Resident Minister