Chung Tai Zen Center

Visit once, a lady who named Jill is fantastic person. She spend an hour with me for just introducing everything for me even I was just walked-​in. Appreciated for that.

The most supportive, kind, caring and healthy group you will find !

A kind community welcomed me with free and tender heartedly-​prepared Sunday lunch — I first heard of them from a new friend I met at a Bay Area tech meetup who invited me and nicely offered to share tupperware (bring your own bowl!). The folks there have a wonderful library (asked them for free books after lunch), prayer/​meditation rooms, and offer zen classes, and community-​minded, accepting people. Right next to an Iranian Christian church were I saw kids enjoying their day by the playground. Felt right at home, in the diverse and religiously tolerant, open-​minded Bay Area community where I grew up.

This place is amazing. I never thought I would be taking classes form a Buddhist center. The level one class had at least 80 people in it on the first night! People from all cultures and walks of life attend these classes. You do not have to know anything about Buddhism to attend. The abbott who runs the center and teaches the classes is wonderful. He has a great sense of humor and uses well designed lessons that everyone can understand and relate to. This center does everything it can to keep up with a contemporary society, yet still teach and preserve Buddhist traditions. I just passed the level two class and I’m now moving on to the level three class. The meditation techniques and philosophy I have learned have been invaluable. This center also offers a class for kids and teens! I think this is a must do for anyone wanting a new perspective on life.

I’m not much of a Buddhist. I come from a Catholic background and later re baptist myself as a Christian. I was invited to the Zen Meditation Center by my boyfriend. I hesitated coming here because I thought they will force me to learn the teaching of Buddha but I was wrong. The Zen Meditation is a center to learn how to be self aware, have awareness for your surrounding and other people through meditation. I have been coming for a while now and enjoy coming and look forward to learning more about meditation every week. My boyfriend comes here every Monday to have dinner before attending our meditation class. Everyone here, the staff including the people who visit the center are all very friendly, kind and thoughtful. I can’t wait for the grand opening of the additional Zen Center across the way from us.

I’ve been going there many years and appreciate the teaching by all the Shifu. The volunteers are great and contribute their time to make this temple function well for the public. It’s a good place to learn wisdom and practice team work.

I’ve visited many temples in the past due to my Buddhist mother dragging me, but this temple is the only one that I really enjoy and actually will go on my free will. :P
I took the level 1 meditation class in English, which I find is really rare. The other temples that I’ve been to only speak Chinese or Vietnamese. I don’t understand Chinese very well, so I was very happy to find English courses here.
The teacher is Shifu JianYing, who is a happy and funny monk. The atmosphere is very warm and welcoming. The lectures are enlightening, fun, and enjoyable. I highly recommend taking the class if you have time (once a week for 2 hours for 12 weeks), and it’s free too! :)

Always warm, abundant and welcoming. All faiths are welcome and you should come for lunch and dinner for their donation-​based buffet. Note: be sure to bring your own bowl and utensils for the lunch and dinner.
It’s a great place to learn some of the basics of the type of buddhism Boddhidharma spreaded from India to China. They have free meditation classes for you to take, which typically lasts for 12 weeks. Also a very health-​conscious and minimalistic space.

It is great to have a sanctuary near where you live, so no need for treading long ways just to have access to a place like this. They have regular classes, and also free Sunday meditation sessions open to the public. The place is beautiful, the energy is incredible, and I feel luck to be so close to it.

I’ve always been curious about meditation and decided to give this place a try based on other Unilocal reviews. My husband and I enrolled in the Level 1 Meditation class, which is free, and lasts for 12 weeks. It definitely is a commitment, but we attended all but one class (due to Thanksgiving break) and really found it so enjoyable and fulfilling. To note, this is Zen Buddhism that they are teaching, so if you are particular about that, it’s something to consider.
The Shifu who runs the class is really insightful and funny. (I think he’s absolutely endearing!!) He made the classes fly by. The way they go is that the first half of class is dedicated to teaching you the basics of Zen meditation (chanting, sitting, walking). The second half is lecture in the dining hall, otherwise known as Dharma talks, which teach you a lot of the practical and traditional aspects of Zen Buddhism and meditation.
Overall, going here has helped my hubby and I connect a lot better and learn how to handle stress in a more calm way. We definitely would have joined the level 2 class if we hadn’t moved up north. I try to visit and meditate here whenever I am in the South Bay :)

Feel like an ass for being the first Unilocaler to give this place less than 5 stars, but so it goes. Have been here four times.
After a family member dies, we are supposed to come every Sunday for seven straight weeks to pray. I’ve done this at other temples (We usually go to the one in Milpitas) and the sessions there are long, laborious ~5hr things of pretty much non-​stop meditation and constant back and forth’s from standing to the ground on your knees. Totally kills my back, but if it’s important to people who are important to you, you just push that out of your mind and do it.
Here, the sessions are typically only ~30 minutes (HUGE plus for me). I’m sure they have longer ones, but I don’t go to temples unless for events or traditions like paying respect to ones who have passed.
A couple weeks ago they had a larger celebration for something and the session lasted over an hour, but it’s always cool to be surrounded by people who have so much devotion to something like this.
After, they ask you to go eat their food and they have the men sit on one side and the women sit on the other. I didn’t eat much, because I wasn’t a huge fan of any of the food. Funny thing was one week they had a slideshow playing and one of the slides mentioned «food is not for taste, but for health». Was going to make a wisecrack to one of the guys sitting next to me, but obviously wasn’t a place for one of my sarcastic quips, so I zipped it.
The water machine only has paper sleeve things masquerading as cups, but as long as you can drink it, it’s fine.
This place is pretty large, very well maintained and all the nuns and monks are all very nice and helpful in getting you to follow proper protocol.
I helped out in the kitchen for a couple hours the first time I came here, since one of the signs asks people to wash their own dishes (though most don’t) and I ended up helping prep broad beans, but it was cool.
I probably won’t be back since I’m not exactly the most religious guy around, but I have a lot of respect for what the people here are doing and if you are into this stuff, you’d be a fool not to give this place a chance. They are very welcoming and friendly and though they chant in Burmese (I believe?), the words are Chinese characters and they have it phonetically written out in English so you can chant along (though it’s not easy at all) along with the English translations underneath the Chinese characters.

I love this place! I go to meditation and classes. Also volunteer sometimes on the kitchen!

I’ve been here for a total of three times — first time was 2 years ago. I came with my friends because we wanted to «bai-​bai» (I think it was for Chinese New Year).
Beginning from last week, I’ve come here every Wednesday to join their beginner meditation class. The session lasts for 2 hours starting from 7:30 to 9:30 PM. Classes have been great — I enjoyed every session. We usually do about 30 minutes of meditation and there will be Q&A time before we listen to the monk’s presentation on Buddhism.
The reason I came here was because I haven’t been able to sleep for quite some time and one night, it just popped to my head that perhaps meditation would help me resolve my issues (I was heavily stressed out and couldn’t find answers). After some research, I found out that classes here are free and open to the public. They also serve vegetarian dinner at 6:30PM before the meditation class. Everything is free but they do have a donation box and you can donate how much ever you want.
So far, I have found these sessions really helpful — I feel my mind becoming more peaceful (maybe it’s psychological, but hey, it’s working). A lot of their teachings have given me answers/​guidances to my problems. I must sound like some fanatic, but seriously, I am not. I guess I’m just a 20 year old girl who needs some guidance in her life — if you guys ever feel that way, maybe you should give meditation a try — it works for me.
Other interesting facts:
— the organization originated from Taiwan
— the monk that taught the meditation class (in English) has a great sense of humor
— parking can be quite difficult to find sometimes
— everyone there is really nice, friendly and helpful

I just love this place and it made a great difference in our lives! The meditation classes are outstanding. The Shifu’s or monks are very kind and everyone is very nice to you. They teach the ancient religion wisdom in a modern way. They not just talk about Dharma and Buddha’s life but also how to apply it in the modern day-​to-​day life. Just a few classes and listening to their teachings have helped us to be calmer, more focussed and to not get agitated by daily events.
One can also volunteer for cooking food. It helps to understand how to cook vegetarian Chinese food. Their food is «Sattvic», which means Pure in Indian language— they cook without using any meat, garlic or onions. It is extremely nutritious and tasty. The food leaves you feeling light and with more energy throughout the day. I have seen them using 6 – 8 pounds of bok-​choy for cooking just one dish for a meal! They also maintain a lot of discipline here and if you are not sure how to go about things, you can ask the volunteers. They also don’t expect you to pay for anything. everything is earned by donation and goodwill; just like it is in Indian/​Buddhist culture. They also celebrate many days. one was the Chinese New Year. it was great! One should definitely check this place out.

I’ve been attending the meditation and Buddhism classes here and have enjoyed it. The monk who teaches the classes is down to earth and makes the lessons relatable and understandable. The courses are well organized, and they’ve got great volunteers who make newbies feel very welcome. I also like that the students here are pretty ethnically diverse compared to other centers, and those who run the center don’t seem overly focused on collecting donations. They provide free vegetarian dinners here that are pretty tasty. I only wish the classes ended on time – they usually run over and makes for kind of late night when you have to work the following morning.

I like this place. Everything is beautiful in here. The people that work here and the monks are very welcoming. I come sometimes to meditate or to drop in on a lecture class and find it very beneficial. The food is also great… really tasty.

If you are interested in becoming a calmer and more mindful person, this is the place to go. So far, I’ve taken the Level I Buddhism class here and have found it to be extremely applicable to the stresses of modern Silicon Valley life.
The instructor and head monk of these courses is very eloquent and is able to relate complex Buddhist philosophies to your life. His background is quite intriguing actually, undergrad at Caltech and a PhD at UC San Diego and also, at one time, he worked as a computer scientist in industry. I think that his very logical train of thought is one of the many reasons why he is able to so precisely convey these Buddhist concepts to the students here.
Anyways, I highly recommend checking this place out. The free vegetarian dinner here is also very nice and the meditation class is relaxing yet painful since my leg always falls asleep here.
Also, this place is completely free although donations are welcome. Another great thing is all the free texts and audiobook lecture CD’s that they provide here. It’s been a great addition to my morning commute.

I finally tried their regular lunch. They served buffet style with just 5 to 6 dishes to choose from. The dishes taste great and they are vegetarian for Buddhists. When the monks approach, everyone steps aside from the food line. I don’t know if that is a rule or just courtesy.
Silence is observed during meal time. Everyone just chews away. People occasionally whisper only when they need to communicate, but definitely no chatting. If you go with a friend of opposite gender, you don’t need to worry about the silence rule because male and female visitors are seated in separate sides of the hall. Sign language will work well in a distance. The meal is free, but they have a donation box next to the buffet. There is really no peer pressure for you to put anything in the donation box because most people are frequent visitors and they have already donated in volume long time ago. Your donation is really driven purely by your belief in karma and basic social decency. BTW, after the meal, you are expected to take your utensil into the kitchen and wash them in the sink and then put on a shelf to drip dry.

My daughter and I have been going here for about a year now, I think? The kid’s class is sort of late (7:30pm-9:30pm), but we love it so much that it’s never been an issue. I stay to participate and learn more than my daughter does, lol. We come at 7:00 so that we can share the vegetarian meal. If I could cook like that every night, I assure you, we would be vegetarian! Yum!
I have also taken a parenting class here. There really is so much wisdom and love that I feel honored to be there.
We are «white» and don’t speak Chinese, but we have never been treated as outsiders or anything of the sort. All are welcome and treated warmly. I love love love it.

This was open to the public for its grand opening ceremony yesterday (all day Sunday). It wasn’t highly publicized, but the local Chinese and Taiwanese expat population knew about it well before and came here in droves.
Parking was a bit of a disaster but the center volunteers and staff did a great job to locate additional space to accomodate the masses.
Brand new facilitiy that looked like what might have been a former high tech company, based on its layout. There is a small daycare room for parents to leave their kids behind for babysitting, as well as a separate room for future community events/​classes (including arts and crafts for kids) Many politicians state and local did not miss a beat to attend the grand opening and give their warmest congratulations (Hillary would not have been caught dead here because nobody would have been able understand her Kentucky Fried accent anyway).
Oh yes… how can I forget. Food offerings. Everyone got a small vegetarian bento for lunch (free) as well as water and numerous cups of the classic sour plum drink that was very authentic Taiwanese (suan mei tang). Not a huge fan of this as I’ve had horrendous renditions of this before, but I did take a sip and was quite impressed with the flavor. Please note that as «gourmet» as I am, I was not here because of the food and drink (please, I’m not THAT shallow).
Chung Tai Zen is from what I understand a 100% import and transplant of a very well known sect of Buddhism all the way from central Taiwan (near Taichung). Even the huge bells were flown in from there, along with furnishings and many smaller fine details.
This new center is a very welcome addition for the South Bay. Drop by and check it out sometime.