The Dharma Realm Buddhist Association (shortened to DRBA, Chinese: 法界佛教總會, PY: ''Fajie Fojiao Zonghui'', formerly known as the Sino-American Buddhist Association) is an international, non-profit

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

organization founded by the Venerable Master

Hsuan Hua Hsuan Hua (; April 26, 1918 – June 7, 1995), also known as An Tzu, Tu Lun and Master Hua by his Western disciples, was a Chinese monk of Chan Buddhism and a contributing figure in bringing Chinese Buddhism to the United States in the lat ...

in 1959 to bring the orthodox teachings of the

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha (),* * * was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist legends, he was ...

to the entire world. DRBA has branch monasteries in many countries and cities, including

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

, and

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

, as well as in

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

, and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

History

The Sino-American Buddhist Association was founded in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

in 1959. A small temple, the Buddhist Lecture Hall was started. The Venerable Master

came over from Hong Kong in 1962 by plane, stopping over at

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

and

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

before arriving at

. From 1962 to 1968 the Venerable Master lectured on the

Lotus Sutra The ''Lotus Sūtra'' (Sanskrit: ''Saddharma Puṇḍarīka Sūtram'', ''Sūtra on the White Lotus of the True Dharma'', zh, p=Fǎhuá jīng, l=Dharma Flower Sutra) is one of the most influential and venerated Buddhist Mahāyāna sūtras. ...

, the

Diamond Sutra The ''Diamond Sutra'' (Sanskrit: ) is a Mahayana, Mahāyāna Buddhism, Buddhist sutra from the genre of ('perfection of wisdom') sutras. Translated into a variety of languages over a broad geographic range, the ''Diamond Sūtra'' is one of th ...

, and the Amitabha Sutra among many other Buddhist

sutras ''Sutra'' ()Monier Williams, ''Sanskrit English Dictionary'', Oxford University Press, Entry fo''sutra'' page 1241 in Indian literary traditions refers to an aphorism or a collection of aphorisms in the form of a manual or, more broadly, a ...

and texts. Many of his Dharma talks and line-by-line explanations of sacred Buddhist texts have been published in book form by the Buddhist Text Translation Society, both in the original Chinese and in English translation. In June 1968 he began a 96-day intensive Study and Practice Summer Session for students and faculty from the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

. After the session had concluded, many of the participants remained in

to continue their studies with the Venerable Master. In that year five Americans (three

Bhikshu A ''bhikkhu'' (, ) is an ordained male in Buddhist monasticism. Male, and female monastics (''bhikkhunī''), are members of the Sangha (Buddhist community). The lives of all Buddhist monastics are governed by a set of rules called the prātimo ...

s, two Bhikshunis) were ordained, marking the beginning of the

Sangha Sangha or saṃgha () is a term meaning "association", "assembly", "company" or "community". In a political context, it was historically used to denote a governing assembly in a republic or a kingdom, and for a long time, it has been used b ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. In 1970 Gold Mountain Monastery, one of the first Chinese Buddhist temples in the

was founded in San Francisco, and a Hundred Day Chan Session was begun. Vajra Bodhi Sea, a monthly journal of DRBA about Buddhist topics and teachings, was also founded in 1970. In 1972 the first Threefold Ordination Ceremony for the transmission of the complete precepts was held at Gold Mountain Monastery. In 1973 the Institute for the Translation of Buddhist Texts and Instilling Goodness Elementary School were founded in San Francisco. In the same year, Bhikshus Heng Ju and Heng Yo began a

Three Steps One Bow 3 (three) is a number, numeral (linguistics), numeral and numerical digit, digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious and cul ...

pilgrimage from

to pray for world peace - a hard journey over 1,000 miles. This was the first such pilgrimage in the history of American

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

. The site of the

City of Ten Thousand Buddhas The City of Ten Thousand Buddhas () is an international Buddhist community and monastery founded by Hsuan Hua, an important figure in Western Buddhism. It is one of the first Chan Buddhist temples in the United States, and one of the largest ...

was purchased in 1974, and in November of that year the Venerable Master Hsuan Hua led a delegation to propagate the Dharma in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

and other places. The delegation lasted for three months, ending on January 12, 1975. Gold Wheel Monastery was founded in Los Angeles in 1975. In 1976 the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas completed the second Threefold Ordination Ceremony. Developing Virtue Secondary Schools and Dharma Realm Buddhist University were also founded. The next year Dharma Masters

Heng Sure Heng Sure (恆實法師, Pinyin: ''Héng Shí'', birth name Christopher R. Clowery; born October 31, 1949) is an American Chan Buddhism, Chan Buddhist monk and a senior disciple of Venerable Hsuan Hua. He serves as the managing director of B ...

and Heng Chau (now Martin Verhoeven) began a second Three Steps, One Bow pilgrimage from Gold Wheel Monastery to the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas.

Branch Monasteries

Note that this is only a partial list of all branch monasteries of DRBA.

United States

* The

萬佛聖城 - Talmage, CA * The City of the Dharma Realm 法界聖城 - West Sacramento, CA * Gold Mountain Monastery 金山聖寺 -

, CA * Institute for World Religions & Berkeley Buddhist Monastery 法界宗教研究院 - Berkeley, CA * The International Translation Institute 國際譯經學院 - Burlingame, CA * Gold Wheel Monastery 金輪聖寺 -

, CA * Long Beach Monastery 長提聖寺 -

Long Beach Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...

, CA * Blessings, Prosperity & Longevity Monastery 福祿壽聖寺 -

, CA * Gold Sage Monastery 金聖寺 - San Jose, CA *

Gold Summit Monastery Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal, a group 1 ...

金峰聖寺 -

, WA * Avatamsaka Vihara 華嚴精舍 - Bethesda, MD

Canada

* Avatamsaka Monastery 華嚴聖寺 -

Calgary, Alberta Calgary () is a major city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a Metropolitan area, metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the List of ...

, Canada * Gold Buddha Monastery 金佛聖寺 -

Vancouver, British Columbia Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

, Canada

Malaysia

* Dharma Realm Guan Yin Sagely Monastery 法界觀音聖寺 -

Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur (KL), officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, is the capital city and a Federal Territories of Malaysia, federal territory of Malaysia. It is the largest city in the country, covering an area of with a census population ...

, Malaysia * Prajna Guan Yin Sagely Monastery 般若觀音聖寺 -

, Malaysia * Lotus Vihara 蓮華精舍 -

Selangor Selangor ( ; ), also known by the Arabic language, Arabic honorific Darul Ehsan, or "Abode of Sincerity", is one of the 13 states of Malaysia. It is on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and is bordered by Perak to the north, Pahang to the e ...

, Malaysia * Fa Yuan Sageley Monastery 法緣聖寺 - Seri Kembangan,

, Malaysia * Malaysia Dharma Realm Buddhist Association -

Penang Penang is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia along the Strait of Malacca. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the Malay Peninsula. Th ...

Branch 馬來西亞法界佛教總會檳城分會- Penang, Malaysia

Hong Kong

* Cixing Monastery 慈興寺 * Buddhist Lecture Hall 佛教講堂

Taiwan

* Dharma Realm Buddhist Books Distribution Society 法界佛教印經會 -

Taipei , nickname = The City of Azaleas , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Taiwan#Asia#Pacific Ocean#Earth , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country ...

, Taiwan * Amitabha Monastery 彌陀聖寺 - Hualien, Taiwan * Dharma Realm Monastery - Liouguei, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

Australia

* Gold Coast Dharma Realm 金岸法界 -

Gold Coast, Australia The Gold Coast, also known by its initials, GC, is a coastal city and region in the state of Queensland, Australia, located approximately south-southeast of the centre of the state capital, Brisbane. It is Queensland's second-largest city a ...

References

External links

Dharma Realm Buddhist Association

Dharma Realm Buddhist University

Buddhist Text Translation Society

Dharma Realm Buddhist Young Adults

DRBA

DRBA App
{{Authority control Buddhist organizations based in the United States