The City of Ten Thousand Buddhas (CTTB) is a large Chinese Buddhist monastery and educational complex in Ukiah, Mendocino County, California, north of San Francisco. The campus was established in 1976 by the Venerable Master Hsuan Hua (1918 to 1995), one of the most influential Chinese Buddhist masters of the twentieth century to teach in the West. The site is home to the Dharma Realm Buddhist Association (DRBA), an international organization that runs affiliated monasteries, schools, and translation centers across multiple countries. The campus occupies more than four hundred acres of former state hospital land, with dozens of buildings including the Buddha Hall, the Avatamsaka Hall (which gives the city its name, housing ten thousand small Buddha images), monastic residences, schools for elementary through high school, a small university (Dharma Realm Buddhist University), guest accommodations, and large ceremonial halls. The monastic community of bhikshus and bhikshunis is one of the largest in the Western Hemisphere, with strict observance of Vinaya including one meal a day before noon, and many monastics maintaining the additional ascetic practices of vegetarianism for life and not lying down to sleep. CTTB hosts an extensive year-round retreat schedule including Chan meditation intensives ranging from single days to seven-day silent sits, Pure Land chanting retreats focused on Amitabha recitation, sutra study programs particularly around the Avatamsaka Sutra and Shurangama Sutra (the two scriptures Master Hsuan Hua most emphasized), and traditional Chinese Buddhist festivals throughout the lunar year. Major retreats are led by senior monastic teachers in Hsuan Hua's lineage and supported by a large lay practice community. The community is unusual among American Chinese Buddhist organizations for its strict traditionalism, English-language commitment, and insistence on full monastic Vinaya observance. Master Hsuan Hua, who came to America in 1962 from Hong Kong (and originally Manchuria), made it his life's work to establish authentic Chinese Buddhism in the West with full ordination, complete training, and rigorous standards. CTTB continues that mission, with services and study available in both Chinese and English and a growing body of translated dharma materials.
Chan retreats follow the strict Chinese form: long sittings of forty-five to sixty minutes alternated with brisk walking periods (kinhin) in the hall, traditional formal meals chanted in Mandarin and Sanskrit, and dharma talks given in the evenings. The seven-day Chan retreat (Chan Qi) held annually in winter is the most demanding program, with the schedule running from before dawn until late evening and silence held continuously. Some advanced students take on Hsuan Hua's recommended hua-tou practice of the question "Who is reciting the Buddha's name?" as a focus for sustained inquiry. Pure Land retreats center on the recitation of Amitabha Buddha's name, with sustained chanting periods, walking recitation, and prostration practice. The Buddha Recitation Sessions (Fo Qi) are the major Pure Land programs, often seven days in length and conducted in unbroken practice. Sutra recitation programs (especially around the Shurangama and Avatamsaka Sutras) involve daily recitation, study, and dharma lectures. Silence and full eight precepts are observed during retreats. The schedule is conservative and reflects traditional Chinese monastic practice without contemporary adaptation.
CTTB stands in the Chan and Pure Land traditions of Chinese Buddhism transmitted by the Venerable Master Hsuan Hua (1918 to 1995), the ninth-generation patriarch in the Wei Yang Chan lineage and a recognized successor in multiple Chinese Buddhist schools. Hsuan Hua's teacher was the Venerable Master Hsu Yun (1840 to 1959), the most important Chinese Chan master of the modern era. The Wei Yang lineage traces back through generations of Chinese Chan masters to the early Tang dynasty. Hsuan Hua emphasized strict Vinaya observance, complete monastic training, and faithful transmission of traditional forms.
Lay and monastic students drawn to traditional Chinese Mahayana practice in its full form, including strict Vinaya, traditional ritual, and intensive retreat schedules.
Practitioners who have read his commentaries, listened to his recorded talks, or sat with affiliated DRBA centers and want to practice at the founding monastery.
Non-Chinese practitioners drawn specifically to traditional Chinese Buddhism rather than Westernized adaptations, willing to adapt to the cultural and disciplinary forms of the community.
Visitors arrive at the main gate and check in at the visitor center. Day visitors can tour the public halls and the bookstore. For retreats, advance registration is required and arrival is on the opening afternoon. The atmosphere is significantly more traditional and structured than at most American Buddhist centers. Modest dress is required: long pants, sleeves, no bare shoulders or short skirts. Vegetarian-only food rules apply during stays, including no garlic, onion, or leek (the five pungent plants traditionally avoided in Chinese Buddhist monasticism). Mandarin and English are both used; bilingual signage and instruction support non-Chinese speakers.
Accommodation for retreatants is in shared dormitory rooms in dedicated guest buildings, with shared bathrooms on each floor. Some single rooms are available for monastics and senior practitioners. Food is strict Chinese Buddhist vegetarian (no meat, no eggs, no five pungent plants), served buffet style in the dining hall. One main meal is taken before noon during retreats, with light beverages permitted afterward. The campus is large, with extensive walking grounds across former hospital land. Climate in Ukiah is hot and dry in summer, cool and wet in winter.
Most programs run on a donation-supported model with very modest suggested contributions for room and board (typically thirty to seventy-five dollars per night). Day visits and weekly services are free. Major retreats accept whatever practitioners can offer, with no one turned away. Teacher dana is collected separately at the close of programs. The community is supported by a large international donor network across the DRBA system and by income from the affiliated schools. Long-term residency for serious practitioners is possible by arrangement with the monastic community.
Strict Vinaya in California, in two languages, four hundred acres deep.
No. Programs are conducted in Mandarin and English with bilingual support. Master Hsuan Hua specifically emphasized making authentic Chinese Buddhism available in English, and the community has decades of experience supporting non-Chinese-speaking attendees. Major retreats provide English instruction and translated materials. Some festival ceremonies are primarily in Mandarin with brief English explanation.
All meals on campus are strict vegetarian, with no meat, fish, eggs, or the five pungent plants (onion, garlic, leek, scallion, chive) that are traditionally avoided in Chinese Buddhist monasticism. During retreats, only one main meal is taken before noon, with breakfast and afternoon tea or fruit. The community is strict about food rules and visitors are asked not to bring outside food onto campus.
Day visitors are welcome during posted visiting hours and can tour the main halls, the bookstore, and the gardens. Modest dress and quiet conduct are expected. Visitors who want to attend services or meditation should check the schedule in advance. Tours can be arranged for groups by calling ahead. The site is a working monastery and ordinary religious life takes priority over tourism.
Programs range from single-day services to seven-day Chan Qi or Buddha Recitation Qi sessions, with the major retreats clustered around lunar Buddhist holidays through the year. Some programs run for two or three weeks for advanced practitioners. Daily monastic services are open to lay attendees at any time. The full annual calendar is published on the monastery's website.
Compare upcoming retreat dates, prices, and availability for City of Ten Thousand Buddhas and similar centers.
OMP earns a small commission if you book through Tripaneer's network. Editorial ranking isn't affected.