What caught my attention during my ventures in Chinatown was the Buddhist temple, the Mahayana Temple, on 133 Canal St. The temple is actually a branch of the original Buddhist temple, The Eastern States Buddhist Temple of America Inc., which is located 64 Mott St. Annie Ying founded the official temple in 1962 along with her husband, James Ying. The temple is the oldest Buddhist temple on the eastern coast. Before that, the Temple had its first services in a 20 by 20 space at 1544 Broadway, at the rear of James’s store while the other activities were held at the basement. In 1962, the Temple was officially registered and moved to 64 Mott St.
Annie later decided that she needed to expand the Buddhist temple. As a result, a 114 acres land (now 130) in South Cairo was purchased for just that purpose in 1971. The Retreat Mahayana Temple, on 710 Ira Vail Rd, Leeds, NY 1245, was created and is served as a retreat for the Eastern States Buddhist Temple of America.
After around 25 years, Annie saw that most of the Buddhist temples in New York were still mostly storefront, which were too small to serve any real purposes. To celebrate her husband’s 83rd birthday, Annie went and built another temple, the City Campus Mahayana Temple. This time, it’s located in the middle of Chinatown on 133 Canal St. It was established in 1997.
When asked about it, Annie said that one of the main motivations for her to create these temples was to help the elderly men sitting on the streets who were doing nothing but wait. According to her, these men came to the United States and planned to return in a few years after they have earned some money. Unfortunately, the communist revolution took place during their stay here. The relationship between China and United States got worse to the point where people here can’t return to their home country. In a few years, most of these men will retire while still unable to adapt to the American culture. As a result, they no longer have a place to call a home so they do nothing but wait. Annie founded the Temples not only for religious purposes, but also to provide a place for these men to gather and socialize.
I focused on the City Campus Mahayana Temple for my research. The design of the temple is amazing and it overshadows everything around it. One can tell that it’s relatively new because it has not yet been worn away by the weather. When I entered this marvelous temple, a beautiful golden mediating Buddhist statue greeted me. The whole atmosphere of the temple gave a soothing sense of peace. In the entrance hall, there was a donation box. When a person donates some money, they can take a slip of paper with a fortune written on it. Even though the serv
ices are in Chinese, the fortunes are written in English, showing that the Temple welcomes everybody to join, not just Chinese. Funny thing was, both Kevin and I (both Chinese) were blessed with excellent luck while Tomasz and Tom got horrible fortunes. Could this be a sign that China will take over the world?
I went during the weekly services that the Temple offered every Sunday at 10 am. The monks were chanting while hitting a bell and people were allowed to pray with them. The chanting supposedly helps people to fall into a meditation state, where they can get closer to enlightenment and spiritual freedom. Unfortunately, the monks were busy with the service so I asked an old lady upstairs, who was in charge of the souvenirs store and does not want to share her name. She has been working there for a many years now so I asked her about the temple’s history and what sorts of people come here. It was through her, that I learned that this temple is actually an extension of the original Buddhist Temple. As for the people, she said that it’s mostly Chinese that come here to pray while “foreigners” tend to come here for the entertainment. The old lady jokingly said that foreigners spend more time in the souvenir store than the actual temple itself. “In fact, just yesterday there was this one man who spent 100 dollars on a Chinese dictionary.” However, there are always exceptions. She told me that she does know a young American man who comes to temple everyday to pray along with his son.
Besides the weekly services, the temple also opens its doors during Chinese New Years. It’s traditional in China for people to go to Buddhist temples in order to get blessed with good luck for the new year as well as burn incense to cleanse away the old bad luck from the previous year. The old lady described that the line would extend from inside the temple all the way into the streets. The wait is so long (usually hours) that people will bring “steam buns or dumplings with them in case they get hungry.”
The Buddhist temple also offers funeral services as well. Family, and friends can pray for the deceased for a better afterlife while burning an incense offering. Monks will bless/pray for the deceased to have a safe passage. It’s believed in China that the deceased will receive anything that’s burned while mourning him or her. For example, the family will burn fake paper money and gold because they believe the deceased can use that money in the afterlife.
What people don’t realize is that people can also get married in the Temple. The process involves a monk praying, blessing, and instructing the groom and bride to pray to their ancestor, the heavens and earth, and their parents. Traditionally, the couple will be dressed in red, corresponding with fire that symbolizes good fortune and joy. However, more and more people have adopted eastern customs where the bride and groom will wear the modern wedding dress and tuxedo/suit.
The inhabitants of Chinatown rarely venture outside of their neighborhood since they can get all their religious needs in Chinatown. Chinatown has become an isolated place that resembles a lot of mainland China. Because of this, they can survive in America without even uttering a single word of English.
