Fo Guang Shan San Bao Temple (American Buddhist Cultural Society), located in the heart of San Francisco, is one of the overseas temples of Fo Guang Shan.  Its formal name is American Buddhist Cultural Society.  It was founded in 1989.  In 1991, San Bao Temple and Fo Guang Bookstore were officially inaugurated.  Master Hsing Yun; personally came to perform the opening ceremony. 

Since then, we have diligently applied Master Hsing Yun Four Great Principles: using culture to promote Buddhism; using education to cultivate qualified personnel; applying compassion and implementing charity to benefit society; using religious services to sanctify the mind." 

For a Buddhist, practice and study are equally important.  Besides holding meditation classes, classes in Buddhism, and youth Buddhist classes, from time to time, venerables also visit families of the B.L.I.A. members to bring the Dharma into the home.  In an effort to bring the Dharma out of the Temple, San Bao Temple has held many Buddhist lectures in different locations, including Master Hsing Yun Opening of the Grand Seat Lecture in l994 at Foothill College.  The geographic area served by San Bao Temple extends from Sacramento to Fresno. 

In 1997, Hsi Lai University decided to open a campus in San Francisco, inviting professors from famous universities to teach the Buddhism, religious studies and philosophy on the college and graduate level, giving those people who wish to study Buddhism on an academic level an opportunity.  San Bao Temple enthusiastically provides facilities and other support.  So far, classes have met for four quarters, implementing Master Hsing Yun idea of sing education to cultivate qualified personnel." 

San Francisco is located at the crossroads of the East West cultural exchange.  The demographic mixture of the citizens is one third Asian, higher than any other city in the U.S. The non-Asian citizens of San Francisco have greater understanding and acceptance of the Asian religions and cultures than in other cities.  The disciples of San Bao Temple reflect the characteristic multicultural background of the City.  The most common languages used in the temple are English, Mandarin and Cantonese; however, other languages can also be heard.  Despite the language differences, we get alone harmoniously.  The friendship formed among the disciples is based on Dharma. 

Fo Guang Bookstore located in San Francisco, carries Buddhist books and religious articles exclusively.  It offers a large supply of Chinese/English Buddhist Sutras, dictionaries, books, gifts and artifacts to serve the Buddhist community in the Bay Area. 

To bring the Dharma to the comfort of homes, San Bao Temple also sponsors the television programs "Hsing Yun Chan Talk", and "Hsing Yun Dharma Verses" on the local Chinese language channels, and also broadcasts the "Voice of Fo Guang" in Cantonese on the radio; using culture to promote Buddhism. 

Following the increasing Asian population in the State, the Asian prison population has risen accordingly.  In spring of 1997, San Bao temple was invited to the State Prison in Susanville to propagate the Dharma among the prisoners.  In spring 1998, a refuge ceremony was giving at the state prison in Dublin.  At this time, propagating the Dharma in prisons became a top priority of San Bao Temple.  When propagating the Dharma, it is important to take care of both the living and the dead.  Based on Buddha’s teaching, San Bao Temple has performed Liturgy for the soldiers and the civilians killed in connection with the aircraft carrier Oriskany, and the victims of the Nanking Massacre and Pearl Harbor; to alleviate the hatred among both the deceased and the living, to form good connections among the living, and to introduce the boundless compassion of the Dharma to the public, applying compassion and implementing charity to benefit society.  San Bao Temple holds Gratitude and Appreciation Liturgy and the Bright Lamp Liturgy every month.  On Sundays, we hold cultivation liturgies such as Diamond Chan Liturgy, Pure Land Cultivation Liturgy, Great Compassion Repentance Liturgy and more.  At all times, during cultivation, whether it is the recitation of the Sutras, lectures on Sutras or the giving of discourses, all activities are bilingual.  Cantonese translations are sometimes also provided. 

San Bao Temple offers the Refuge ceremony every month to those who wish to learn, and from time to time offers the Five Precepts ceremony and the Eight Precepts ceremony.  The disciples then go forward in practice from studying the precepts. 

In addition to the above events, San Bao Temple holds several annual festivals, including Lunar New Year Eve Family Gathering, Thousand Buddhas Prostration Liturgy, Vegetarian Banquet Offering to the Celestials, Ancestors Memorial Liturgy, Ullambana Liturgy, Medicine Buddha Liturgy and Amitabha Buddhas Liturgy to celebrate special occasions.  On Kuan Yins Birthday, there is an exhibition of Kuan Yin statues.  On Buddhas Birthday, we have the ceremony of Bathing the Buddha and a fair. 

For the past 8 years since its commencement, San Bao Temple has aggressively promoted and propagated Buddhism and has attracted a huge crowd of devotees which in turn has helped it become one of the larger gathering sites of Buddhists in Northern California.  San Bao Temple will strive towards the expansion and strengthening of its Buddhist programs to further benefit all beings.