Gardena Buddhist Church Information

The Gardena Buddhist Church was established in 1926 by the Japanese immigrants of the Gardena Valley in Southern California. Buddhism readily adapts itself to a new land, blending in some of the native cultures and customs into the traditional Buddhist teachings. Buddhism in America is no exception: although of Japanese origin and tradition, we have blended American culture and customs into our services and have created a uniquely American Buddhism of Japanese origin. The Gardena Buddhist Church belongs to the True Pure Land (Jodo Shin Shu) Sect of Buddhism, the Hompa (Nishi) - Hongwanji Division, and is a part of the Buddhist Churches of America. All sects or traditions of Buddhism follow the great teachings of the historical Buddha, the founder of Buddhism. Various sects arose because founders of these sects emphasized specific different teachings of the Buddha as their main thesis of importance. The founder of our sect of Buddhism was St. Shinran (Shinran Shonin, 1173-1263 C.E.), who chose to emphasize the concept of Amida Buddha as the core of his teachings, focusing on three sutras (written teachings) from among an innumerable number of sutras left by the Buddha, as the basis of the sect.