Chuang Yen Monastery

Chuang Yen Monastery is the largest Monastery in North America. It's not a tourist destination, and I hope that it never will be. I have been coming to this temple, in Carmel, New York, since I was a child. A few times a year, we would drive from Boston to visit this temple. It is a complex, almost like a college campus, in the middle of the woods in upstate New York. I remember that it used to have signs posted in the woods saying, "No Hunting Allowed." Buddhists typically do not eat meat, since they believe in reincarnation and shouldn't cause harm to any living organisms.

It takes about an hour to drive to the monastery from Manhattan. Run entirely by monks and volunteers, it is a very quiet and peaceful place with fairly few visitors. It seems there are not more than 150 people at a time on the spacious grounds, and we usually go on weekends. Lunch there, which is entirely vegetarian, costs only $6 and is all you can eat. You aren't supposed to waste food (in general, but especially not in a temple), so you should finish your entire plate. The food is simple and healthy.

There are various prayer rooms, as well as Buddhas for different purposes. Notably, there is one room where you can buy tiles for people who have passed away. You can also buy a place holder for yourself, for when you yourself pass away. The place holders are red, while the normal tiles are yellow with names written on them. Multiple people can also share a tile. The tiles cost $1,100.

I'm really glad that the temple has continued to maintain itself for so long, and hope that it will continue to do so. Our family doesn't really go to any temples except for this one, since we are not super religious. It's somewhat of a family tradition for us.

A viewpoint on the way to the temple

An elderly man at the temple's entrance

Statues of important Buddhist figures frame the walkway

The tiles of the buildings were each donations; I was young when they constructed them, and our family bought a tile and wrote our names on it. The tiles are all made up with names from people who came to pray there. I think it was $60 per tile, and that contributed to the costs of construction.

The main room with the large Buddha; it's hard to see, but there are many tiny white Buddhas behind it. The walls are painted with various Boddhisatvas. 

Five Contemplations before Meals. Too bad this photo is a bit blurry. This is an alter placed in the temple cafeteria.

A charm from the gift shop--the items at the gift shop are fairly reasonably priced and proceeds go towards maintaining the temple. Items bought are supposed to be already blessed, but you can also bless them yourself by taking them to the main rooms and anointing them with holy water.