A globe of Buddhist temples
The places of the Buddha's life, the great monasteries of Asia, and meditation centres around the world, including many near Denver and Minneapolis.
Drag to turn the world · + / − to zoom · click a marker. Map data: Natural Earth (public domain).
Choose a place
Click any marker, or a name below, to read about it here. Photos are sourced from Wikimedia Commons with credit, and every place links to its own website, Wikipedia page and a map.
Near Denver & Minneapolis
- Drala Mountain Center (formerly Shambhala Mountain Center) & Great Stupa – Red Feather Lakes, Colorado
- Naropa University – Boulder, Colorado
- Zen Center of Denver – Denver, Colorado
- Tri-State / Denver Buddhist Temple – Denver, Colorado (Sakura Square)
- Denver Diamond Way Buddhist Center – Denver, Colorado
- Crestone Mountain Zen Center & Tashi Gomang Stupa – Crestone, Colorado
- Minnesota Zen Meditation Center (Ganshoji) – Minneapolis, Minnesota
- Clouds in Water Zen Center – St. Paul, Minnesota
- Hokyoji Zen Practice Community – Eitzen, Minnesota
- Common Ground Meditation Center – Minneapolis, Minnesota
- Watt Munisotaram – Hampton, Minnesota
- USA Shaolin Kung Fu Academy (Shifu Heng Chao) – Denver, Colorado
All places 聖地
Lumbini
Birthplace of Siddhartha Gautama, marked by Ashoka's pillar and the Maya Devi Temple. UNESCO World Heritage.
Tradition: All schools
Mahabodhi Temple, Bodh Gaya
Where the Buddha awakened under the Bodhi tree. The holiest site in Buddhism. UNESCO World Heritage.
Tradition: All schools
Sarnath (Deer Park)
Where the Buddha first taught the Four Noble Truths.
Tradition: All schools
Kushinagar
Where the Buddha passed into final nirvana.
Tradition: All schools
Nalanda Mahavihara
The great monastic university (5th–12th c.) of Nagarjuna's heirs, Xuanzang and Shantideva. UNESCO World Heritage.
Tradition: Mahayana / Vajrayana
Anuradhapura & the Sri Maha Bodhi
Ancient capital where Mahinda brought the Dharma. Its Bodhi tree was grown from a cutting of the original.
Tradition: Theravada
Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic
Keeps a relic of the Buddha's tooth. UNESCO World Heritage.
Tradition: Theravada
Shwedagon Pagoda
Golden stupa said to hold relics of four Buddhas.
Tradition: Theravada
Wat Pho
Temple of the Reclining Buddha and birthplace of Thai massage teaching.
Tradition: Theravada
Wat Nong Pah Pong
Ajahn Chah's forest monastery, mother of over 300 branch monasteries worldwide.
Tradition: Theravada (Thai Forest)
Borobudur
The world's largest Buddhist monument (9th c.), a stone mandala of the path. UNESCO World Heritage.
Tradition: Mahayana (Shailendra)
Bayon, Angkor Thom
Smiling faces of the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara (12th–13th c.).
Tradition: Mahayana → Theravada
Shaolin Monastery 少林寺
Founded 495. By tradition Bodhidharma's cave and the birthplace of Chan, home of Shaolin kung fu. UNESCO World Heritage (Historic Monuments of Dengfeng).
Tradition: Chan (Caodong lineage today)
White Horse Temple 白馬寺
By tradition the first Buddhist temple in China (68 CE).
Tradition: Early Chinese Buddhism
Nanhua Temple 南華寺
Where Huineng, the Sixth Patriarch, taught. His preserved body is kept here.
Tradition: Chan
Guoqing Temple, Mount Tiantai 國清寺
Founding temple of the Tiantai school (598).
Tradition: Tiantai
Lingyin Temple 靈隱寺
One of China's great Chan monasteries, founded 328.
Tradition: Chan
Mount Wutai 五台山
Sacred mountain of Manjushri, bodhisattva of wisdom. UNESCO World Heritage.
Tradition: Chinese & Tibetan Buddhism
Mount Emei 峨眉山
Sacred mountain of Samantabhadra, also home of Emei martial arts. UNESCO World Heritage.
Tradition: Chinese Buddhism
Mount Putuo 普陀山
Island of Guanyin, bodhisattva of compassion.
Tradition: Chinese Buddhism
Mount Jiuhua 九華山
Sacred mountain of Ksitigarbha (Dizang).
Tradition: Chinese Buddhism
Donglin Temple, Mount Lu 東林寺
Where Huiyuan founded the White Lotus Society (402), the start of Pure Land Buddhism.
Tradition: Pure Land
Jokhang Temple
The most sacred temple in Tibet (7th c.). UNESCO World Heritage (with the Potala).
Tradition: All Tibetan schools
Samye Monastery
Tibet's first monastery (c. 779), founded by Padmasambhava and Shantarakshita.
Tradition: Nyingma
Sakya Monastery
Seat of the Sakya school (1073).
Tradition: Sakya
Tsurphu Monastery
Traditional seat of the Karmapas (1189).
Tradition: Karma Kagyu
Ganden Monastery
Founded by Tsongkhapa in 1409. Mother monastery of the Gelug school.
Tradition: Gelug
Tsuglagkhang (Namgyal Monastery), Dharamsala
Residence of the 14th Dalai Lama in exile.
Tradition: Gelug (Dalai Lama)
Boudhanath Stupa
One of the largest stupas in the world, ringed by monasteries.
Tradition: Tibetan schools
Paro Taktsang (Tiger's Nest)
Cliffside temple where Padmasambhava meditated.
Tradition: Nyingma / Drukpa Kagyu
Gandantegchinlen Monastery
Mongolia's principal monastery.
Tradition: Gelug
Haeinsa
Home of the Tripitaka Koreana: 81,258 woodblocks carved 1236–1251. UNESCO World Heritage.
Tradition: Seon (Jogye)
Songgwangsa
Jinul's monastery and "Sangha Jewel" temple of Korea.
Tradition: Seon (Jogye)
Eiheiji 永平寺
Founded by Dogen in 1244. Head temple of Soto Zen.
Tradition: Soto Zen
Kennin-ji 建仁寺
Kyoto's oldest Zen temple, founded by Eisai (1202).
Tradition: Rinzai Zen
Myoshin-ji 妙心寺
Head temple of the largest Rinzai branch.
Tradition: Rinzai Zen
Ryoan-ji 龍安寺
Its dry rock garden is the most famous Zen garden. UNESCO World Heritage.
Tradition: Rinzai Zen
Mount Koya 高野山
Kukai's mountain monastery, seat of Shingon. UNESCO World Heritage.
Tradition: Shingon
Enryaku-ji, Mount Hiei 延暦寺
Tendai headquarters, where Honen, Shinran, Eisai, Dogen and Nichiren first trained.
Tradition: Tendai
Todai-ji 東大寺
Home of the Great Buddha (Vairocana) and the Kegon school.
Tradition: Kegon (Huayan)
Nishi Hongwanji 西本願寺
Head temple of Shinran's Pure Land school.
Tradition: Jodo Shinshu
Plum Village
Thich Nhat Hanh's practice centre (1982), the largest Buddhist monastery in Europe.
Tradition: Thien (Thich Nhat Hanh)
Amaravati Buddhist Monastery
Ajahn Chah lineage forest monastery.
Tradition: Theravada (Thai Forest)
San Francisco Zen Center & Tassajara
Founded by Shunryu Suzuki (1962). Tassajara (1967) was the first Zen monastery outside Asia.
Tradition: Soto Zen
City of Ten Thousand Buddhas 萬佛聖城
One of the largest Chinese Buddhist monasteries in the West (1976), home of the Buddhist Text Translation Society.
Tradition: Chan & Pure Land (Hsuan Hua)
Hsi Lai Temple 西來寺
Large Fo Guang Shan temple.
Tradition: Humanistic Buddhism (Fo Guang Shan)
Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery
Ajahn Chah lineage forest monastery.
Tradition: Theravada (Thai Forest)
Insight Meditation Society
Pioneering Western retreat centre (1976).
Tradition: Insight (Vipassana)
Zen Mountain Monastery
Training monastery in the Catskills.
Tradition: Zen (Mountains and Rivers Order)
Bodhi Monastery
Founded by Ven. Jen-Chun; Bhikkhu Bodhi teaches here.
Tradition: Chinese & Theravada (Bhikkhu Bodhi)
Drala Mountain Center (formerly Shambhala Mountain Center) & Great Stupa
Mountain retreat centre founded in 1971 (renamed Drala Mountain Center), with the 108-ft Great Stupa of Dharmakaya. About 2 hours north of Denver.
Tradition: Tibetan (Shambhala)
Naropa University
Contemplative university founded by Chögyam Trungpa (1974).
Tradition: Tibetan / contemplative education
Zen Center of Denver
Zen practice centre in Denver with zazen, retreats and introductions for beginners.
Tradition: Zen
Tri-State / Denver Buddhist Temple
Japanese-American Pure Land temple in downtown Denver's Sakura Square.
Tradition: Jodo Shinshu (Pure Land)
Denver Diamond Way Buddhist Center
Lay meditation centre in the Karma Kagyu lineage.
Tradition: Karma Kagyu (Tibetan)
Crestone Mountain Zen Center & Tashi Gomang Stupa
Crestone holds many contemplative centres, including a Soto Zen mountain centre and the Karma Kagyu Tashi Gomang Stupa.
Tradition: Zen and Tibetan
Minnesota Zen Meditation Center (Ganshoji)
Founded 1972 by Dainin Katagiri Roshi, on the shore of Bde Maka Ska.
Tradition: Soto Zen
Clouds in Water Zen Center
Lay-led Soto Zen centre in the Katagiri lineage.
Tradition: Soto Zen
Hokyoji Zen Practice Community
Rural retreat land in the bluffs of southeastern Minnesota (MZMC).
Tradition: Soto Zen
Common Ground Meditation Center
Insight meditation community.
Tradition: Insight (Theravada roots)
Watt Munisotaram
Large Cambodian Buddhist temple among the cornfields south of the Twin Cities.
Tradition: Theravada (Cambodian)
USA Shaolin Kung Fu Academy (Shifu Heng Chao)
Shaolin kung fu, tai chi and qigong taught by Shifu Heng Chao 釋恆超, a 35th-generation Shaolin master trained at Songshan. Joseph's own teacher.
Tradition: Shaolin Chan (35th generation)
Details change: please check a centre's own website for current schedules before visiting. Know a place that should be here? Tell me.