Buddhist Temple of Chicago
| Buddhist Temple of Chicago | |
|---|---|
| Religion | |
| Affiliation | Independent with informal ties to Higashi Honganji branch of Jōdo Shinshū |
| Location | |
| Location | 1151 West Leland Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60640 |
| Country | United States |
| Architecture | |
| Founder | Gyomay Kubose |
| Completed | 1944 |
| Website | |
| www | |
The Buddhist Temple of Chicago (BTC) was founded in October 1944 by Gyomay Kubose,[1] a minister of the Higashi Honganji branch of the Jōdo Shinshū ("True Pure Land School") sect, along with several laypeople who had been released from the Japanese American internment camps.[2] Although the temple is administratively independent, the teaching lineage reflects the progressive Jōdo Shinshū thought of Manshi Kiyozawa and his student, Haya Akegarasu, who was Kubose's teacher.
The temple was originally called the Chicago Buddhist Church and was located in the Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's south side. In the mid-1950s, the temple relocated to the Uptown neighborhood on the north side.
In 2006, the temple dedicated its new building.[3]
The membership base continues to be Japanese American, but from early in the temple's history the number of non-Japanese members has steadily increased. Today the active membership includes a diversity of Asian, European, Latino and African ethnicities.
See also
References
- ^ Rev Gyomay M. Kubose (brief bio, and a remembrance) Retrieved 1 January 2012
- ^ Michihiro Ama (2011). Immigrants to the Pure Land: The Modernization, Acculturation, and Globalization of Shin Buddhism, 1898-1941. Honolulu: University of Hawai'I Press. ISBN 978-0-8248-3438-8.
- ^ "Buddhists' new spiritual home". Chicagotribune.com. 2006-05-19. Retrieved 2011-12-30.