Texas Chinese Buddhist Temples — San Francisco Bay Area Buddhism

Chinese Buddhist Temples in Texas

Austin - Houston - Dallas Fort Worth - and more

德克薩斯州: 奧斯汀 - 休士頓 - 達拉斯
弘護佛法

Xiang Yun Temple (Fo Guang Shan)
佛光山香雲寺
and UT-Austin Young Adults Division
6720 N Capital of Texas Highway Austin TX 78731
ibps-austin.org
https://www.facebook.com/austinyad/

International Buddhist Progress Society Dallas (Fo Guang Shan)
佛光山達拉斯講堂
and Buddha’s Light Private School
佛光山達拉斯人文學校
1111 International Parkway, Richardson TX 75081
dallasibps.org

Dallas Buddhist Association
達拉斯佛教會
515 Apollo Rd, Richardson TX 75081
AMTB-DBA.org

慈濟 Tzu Chi Buddhist Foundation
English: tzuchi.us
中文: tzuchi.org

Tzu Chi Dallas Ft Worth Region
and Tzu Chi Great Love Preschool and Kindergarten
慈濟達拉斯分會
慈濟大愛幼兒園
534 W Belt Line Road Richardson TX 75080
tzuchi.education

Tzu Chi Austin Region
and Tzu Ching Collegiate Association UT-Austin
7221 Northeast Dr. Austin, TX 78723
https://www.facebook.com/groups/TCCA.Austin

Tzu Chi Point Comfort TX
201 Formosa Dr., Point Comfort TX 77978
(mailing address only)

Tzu Chi San Antonio TX
19179 Blanco Rd. Suite 109-2, San Antonio TX 78258
(mailing address only)

Tzu Ching Collegiate Association Texas A&M University, College Station TX
facebook.com/tamutzuchi/

Tzu Chi Houston Region
and Tzu Chi Great Love Preschool
休士頓慈濟大愛幼兒園
6200 Corporate Dr Houston TX 77036
tzuchi.education

Texas Buddhist Association 德州佛教會
Jade Buddha Temple 玉佛寺
American Bodhi Center 菩提中心
6969 Westbranch Drive, Houston TX 77072
29123 Mellman Rd, Hempstead TX 77445
jadebuddha.org
americanbodhicenter.org

Chung Tai Zen Center of Houston
Chung Tai International Retreat Center
中台禪寺: 普德精舍 / 中台國際禪修中心
12129 Bellaire Blvd, Houston TX 77072
100 Chung Tai Road, Shepherd TX 77371
CTHouston.org
CTCMUSA.org

Avatamsaka Buddhist Lotus Society
華嚴蓮社
9369 Wilcrest Dr, Houston TX 77099
(area code) 281 (phone number) 495 - 9700

Chung Mei Temple (Fo Guang Shan)
佛光山中美寺
12550 Jebbia Lane, Stafford TX 77477
houstonbuddhism.org

Amitabha Buddhist Society of Houston
休士頓淨宗學會
8121 Westglen Dr, Houston TX 77063

Buddhist Temple Austin TX — Austin Texas

**奧斯汀** 佛教寺院

Xiang Yun Temple (Fo Guang Shan)
佛光山香雲寺
6720 N Capital of Texas Highway Austin TX 78731
ibps-austin.org
facebook.com/FGSxiangyuntemple

Xiang Yun Temple is a beautiful temple complex on 11 acres near the heart of Austin, capitol city of Texas, with groundbreaking in 1994 and construction completed in 2000. It has a mission to serve those who are interested in learning about Buddhism and to serve as a bridge of cultural exchange between East and the West. Several nuns lead the group. Activities including Dharma ceremonies, meditation classes in English, Chinese cultural events, kung fu and art classes, children’s summer camp, and more!

A subchapter, Young Adult Division (Buddha’s Light International Association YAD) serves college students and young adults at University of Texas Austin.
https://www.facebook.com/austinyad/
https://austinyad.wixsite.com/austinyad

Part of the Fo Guang Shan - Buddha’s Light International Association, “Humanistic Buddhism” network founded by Venerable Master Hsing Yun in Taiwan.

Tzu Chi Austin 慈濟奧斯汀
7221 Northeast Dr. Austin, TX 78723
tzuchi.us
(area code) 512 (phone number) 491 - 0358

The Austin branch of global Tzu Chi Buddhist Foundation operates out of a modest sized building but with a big heart.

Tzu Chi Collegiate Association Austin (UT-Austin student chapter of Tzu Ching)
https://utexas.campuslabs.com/engage/organization/tzuchicollegiateassociation
https://www.facebook.com/groups/TCCA.Austin
tccya.austin at gmail dot com

Notable other (non-Chinese) Buddhist groups in Austin area:
There are several Asian temples in the Austin area, here are two examples:
Sitagu Vihara (Burmese): 9001 Honeycomb Drive, Austin TX 78737
Chùa Linh-Sơn (Vietnamese) : 4604 Duval Rd Austin, TX 78727

Dallas Richardson Buddhism — Dallas Ft Worth

達拉斯佛教寺院

Tzu Chi Dallas Ft Worth (Tzu Chi USA Central Region Headquarters)
and Tzu Chi Great Love Preschool and Kindergarten
慈濟達拉斯分會 / 慈濟大愛幼兒園
534 W Belt Line Road Richardson TX 75080
tzuchi.us
tzuchi.education
https://www.facebook.com/TzuChiCentral/
https://www.facebook.com/Tzu-Chi-Great-Love-Preschool-and-Kindergarten-Dallas-TX-659081010841771/
(area code) (972) (phone number) 680-8869

The Dallas Fort Worth chapter of Tzu Chi USA, dubbed “Central Region”, is one of the larger branches of the global Tzu Chi network in the United States. Established in 1992, the facilities in this former church complex include plenty of space, with an auditorium / Dharma hall, Jing Si Bookstore and Cafe, classrooms for the Great Love Preschool and Kindergarten, and storage for disaster relief supplies.

Dallas Buddhist Association (Amitabha Buddhist Society / Pure Land Learning Center)
達拉斯佛教會
515 Apollo Rd, Richardson TX 75081
AMTB-DBA.org
https://www.facebook.com/DallasBuddhistAssociation/

This center is part of the loosely-connected Pure Land practice centers following the teachings of Venerable Master Jing Kong. The Dallas group was established in 1985, with the current building acquired in 1992. Practices are largely chanting-based, especially of the Amitabha Sutra and Amituofo, or Buddha’s name mindfully recited over and over. While there are no regular events in English, you don’t need any knowledge of Chinese to participate in the regular mindful chanting services - it’s very easy to repeat “Amituofo” as a practice to develop mindfulness.

The Fo Guang Shan chapter in Dallas Ft Worth was established in 1992, with the current temple, a three story glass office building, inaugurated in 1994. It encompasses a main shine, compassion hall, memorial hall, lecture hall, library, dining hall, tea house and a school, as skillful means for benefiting people from all walks of life. Most events are in Chinese, but occasional events are offered in English.

A Young Adults Division (Buddha’s Light International Association YAD) is active for teenagers and college students, and helps put together the summer camp.
The private school is preschool and offers bilingual English/Chinese education, and enrollment is open to everyone.

There are dozens of other Asian Buddhist temples in the DFW area. Here are a few featured ones:

Karma Kagyu Tibetan Buddhist Center Dallas
1000 Armeda Ave, Irving, TX 75061
www.ktcdallas.org

DFW Vietnamese Buddhist temples:
Huong Dao: 4717 E. Rosedale Street, Fort Worth, TX 76105
Lien Hoa: 2014 Rose St, Irving, TX 75061
Tu Dam: 615 Gilbert Rd, Irving, TX 75061
Phap Quang: 1004 Small Street, Grand Prairie, TX 75050
Quang Chieu: 5251 Rendon Road, Fort Worth TX 76140

Houston Zen Meditation Buddhist Temple Texas — Houston

**休士頓** 佛教寺院

Texas Buddhist Association 德州佛教會
https://www.youtube.com/TexasJadeBuddha

Venerable Jan Hai established the Texas Buddhist Association in 1979, making it the oldest Chinese Buddhist association in the Southern United States, and perhaps the first Chinese/Mahayana Buddhist temple founded outside of the West Coast and New York areas. The first temple building, Buddha Light Temple, was in Southeast Houston, but the location was too far removed from the Bellaire and Chinatown areas where most Asian-Americans lived. In 1990, Jade Buddha Temple was inaugurated in southwest Houston near the heart of the Chinese-American community at that time, with Buddha Light Temple eventually sold. After nearly ten years of planning, the American Bodhi Center officially opened in 2009.

Jade Buddha Temple 玉佛寺
6969 Westbranch Drive, Houston TX 77072
jadebuddha.org

As one of the earliest Chinese Buddhist groups outside of California and New York regions, Jade Buddha Temple has faced great challenges in getting started, but now established itself prominently within the Chinese and Buddhist communities as an independent temple without a main monastery in Taiwan or Asia. It hosts Dharma services in several languages (Mandarin, Cantonese, Taiwanese, etc), and has added separate English Buddhism and meditation study groups. The temple consists of a main shrine room with American-style pew seating and a large Jade Buddha statue, a traditional courtyard with quarters, offices, and dining hall surrounding it, and a smaller Kwan Yin hall (typically used for the English group). A two-story Chinese community center with auditorium and classrooms for Chinese school classes is behind the temple. Jade Buddha Temple has hosted prominent Buddhist leaders from around the world, such as Venerable Bhikkhu Bodhi; led interfaith events in the Houston community, and funded youth scholarships, summer camps, and charity drives for helping the needy in the community.

(CHECK BACK FOR MORE PHOTOS IN OUR NEXT UPDATE)

American Bodhi Center 菩提中心
29123 Mellman Rd, Hempstead TX 77445
americanbodhicenter.org

After nearly 10 years of planning, the American Bodhi Center officially opened in 2009. A large 515-acre rural complex about 1 hr northwest of Houston and Jade Buddha Temple, it has a vision of becoming an encompassing Buddhist community. Currently, the beautiful facilities include a large meditation hall capable of holding several hundred people, a dining hall, separate male and female dormitories for lay people on retreats, monks and nuns quarters, a Memorial hall for ashes and urns of the deceased, Ashoka’s Pillar, Sun-Moon Lake, and several small houses for lay people to live on site for intense study or volunteer work. Retreats include Theravada meditation, Buddha’s name mindful chanting Pure Land practices, and Chan (Zen) meditation.

Chung Tai Zen Center of Houston
中台禪寺: 普德精舍
12129 Bellaire Blvd, Houston TX 77072
CTHouston.org
https://www.facebook.com/ctzenhouston/

Chung Tai Zen Center of Houston opened its doors on busy Bellaire Ave in 2002 (in what was formerly the offices and printing press of Southern Chinese News Group) and has successfully attracted Westerners and Asian-Americans alike with its well-structured Zen meditation courses. Classes are offered multiple times a week at several levels from beginner to Sutra Studies, and are separately in English or in Chinese. The center also has a small former hotel/apartment building behind it allowing it to host residential Seven-Day Zen Meditation Retreats. In addition to Zen Meditation classes, the center hosts Buddhist ceremonies as well as Children’s meditation, vegetarian cooking classes and other events. A storm blew off the roof of the dining hall building one year, but luckily no one was injured, and food was prepared from a food truck while repairs were underway. Chung Tai Zen Center of Houston is one of the few Chinese Buddhist monasteries that has provided adequate offerings for the English-speaking communities and presented practices suiting the needs of modern American society. Monks also lead some of the meditation sessions as part of the student Zen Circle at UT-Houston and at Rice University.

Part of the Chung Tai Chan Monastery network founded by the late Venerable Grand Master Wei Chueh.

Chung Tai International Retreat Center / Texas Pagoda Chan Monastery
中台國際禪修中心
100 Chung Tai Road, Shepherd TX 77371
CTCMUSA.org

In 2004, Chung Tai Chan Monastery purchased a rural property of 500 acres about 1 hr northeast of Houston, with plans to build a grand international Zen retreat center. However, as of 2020, the property remains mostly undeveloped, with a large pagoda being the primary building constructed to date. A small residence for the few resident monastics has also been completed. One may remark that similarly, the 515-acre American Bodhi Center of the Texas Buddhist Association is also about an hour from Houston. The main purpose of this Chung Tai facility is currently is a Memorial Hall to hold the ashes/urns of the deceased, with occasional retreats, mainly drawing from the main Chung Tai Zen Center of Houston.

Avatamsaka Buddhist Lotus Society
華嚴蓮社
9369 Wilcrest Dr, Houston TX 77099
(area code) 281 (phone number) 495 - 9700

This independent Buddhist temple has a decent sized building, which includes a main shrine room and a smaller memorial room for the urns of the deceased. Activities, primarily chanting services and lectures, are in various Chinese dialects; they do not offer much in English. (PHOTOS COMING SOON)

Chung Mei Temple (Fo Guang Shan)
佛光山中美寺
12550 Jebbia Lane, Stafford TX 77477
houstonbuddhism.org
https://www.facebook.com/Chung-Mei-Temple-佛光山中美寺-162584227202464/

Opened in 2001, the Fo Guang Shan Houston temple is named Chung Mei Temple, a play on the Chinese words for Central USA as well as beauty. It is a new-build gorgeous facility in the traditional Chinese style, including a main shrine, dining hall, classrooms, tea house cafe, library, and separate Columbarium (memorial hall for the urns of the deceased). There are some activities in English, including regular weekly chanting services, though most activities are in Chinese.

Amitabha Buddhist Society of Houston
休士頓淨宗學會
8121 Westglen Dr, Houston TX 77063

Part of the loosely-connected Pure Land practice centers following the teachings of Venerable Master Jing Kong. Practices are largely chanting-based, especially of the Amitabha Sutra and Amituofo, or Buddha’s name mindfully recited over and over. No regular events in English. This group meets in their own space within a commercial/office building.

Tzu Chi Houston (Tzu Chi USA Southern Region Headquarters)
慈濟休士頓分會
6200 Corporate Dr Houston TX 77036
tzuchi.us
https://www.facebook.com/TzuChiSR/

Tzu Chi Great Love Preschool Houston
休士頓慈濟大愛幼兒園
tzuchi.education
https://www.facebook.com/tzuchigreatlovepreschoolandkindergarten/

Tzu Chi Houston was founded in 1991 and serves as headquarters for the Southern Region of Tzu Chi USA Foundation. The facilities near the Bellaire/Chinatown area include an auditorium / Dharma hall, Jing Si bookstore, and preschool center. Tzu Chi Houston participates extensively in disaster relief, raising hundreds of thousands of dollars and sending volunteers to Mexico, Nepal, Indonesia, Taiwan, and other places in need. Over US$10 million in cash was distributed to Hurricane Harvey relief efforts, as well as thousands of blankets, food supplies, and medical care. Tzu Chi Houston also has a scholarship program for high school seniors, and other outreach activities.

Other Notable Temples in the Houston region:
There are many Asian Buddhist temples representing almost every ethnicity. Here are a few featured ones:

Drepung Loseling Institute of Texas - Tibetan Buddhist temple with English meditation classes
11510 South Garden Street, Houston TX 77071
https://www.drepungloseling.com and drepungloselingusa.org
https://www.facebook.com/drepungloselinginstitute/

Trung Tâm Phật Giáo - Chùa Việt Nam, Vietnam Buddhist Center in Sugar Land
10002 Synott Rd, Sugar Land, TX 77498
http://www.vnbc.org/

Opened in 1990, this is one of the larger Vietnamese temples, of the several dozen in the Houston region.

Tzu Chi Point Comfort TX
201 Formosa Dr., Point Comfort TX 77978

Tzu Chi San Antonio TX
19179 Blanco Rd. Suite 109-2, San Antonio TX 78258

Tzu Ching Collegiate Association at Texas A&M University, College Station TX
https://www.facebook.com/tamutzuchi/

Note that these small Tzu Chi branches in Point Comfort and in San Antonio do not actually have buildings / staffed facilities associated. They report to the Houston division, so please call the Houston office for latest activities.
https://tzuchi.us/offices/houston
https://www.facebook.com/TzuChiSR/

Unfortunately we have not identified any Chinese Buddhist temples in other cities in Texas outside of the Austin, Houston, and Dallas Ft Worth areas. There are Thai, Lao, Cambodian / Khmer, Sri Lankan, Vietnamese, Korean, Japanese, and other temples around the state.

In San Antonio, there are three Vietnamese temples; we are not familiar with them, but the first two seem to offer meditation groups in English as well.
Đạo Tràng Liên Hoa: 5043 Excalibur Drive San Antonio, Texas 78218, https://www.daotranglienhoa.com/
Phước Huệ Buddhist Temple of San Antonio: 6292 Lockhill Road San Antonio, Texas 78240, http://www.phuochuesabuddhisttemple.com/
Đạo Tâm Buddhist Temple: 1410 West Klein Rd. New Braunfels, TX 78130, http://www.daotambuddhisttemple.com/