- MIDWEST BUDDHIST TEMPLE
- 435 W. Menomonee Street
Chicago, IL 60614
Office Hours: 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Mon. - Fri.
Telephone: (312) 943-7801/ Fax: (312) 943-8069
Contact person: Rev. Koshin Ogui, Sensei
The Midwest Buddhist Temple is affiliated with the Buddhist Churches of America, headquartered in San Francisco, rooted in the Nishi Honganji, Kyoto, Japan, practicing the Jodo Shinshu, the Pure Land School. Jodo Shinshu was founded in Japan by Shinran Shonin (1173-1262). It was Shinran Shonin who brought the Buddhist teachings down from the monastery level to the ordinary man who could practice it with his family. The first meeting of young Jodo Shinshu immigrants was held in San Francisco on July 14, 1898.
The Midwest Buddhist Temple was formally founded on July 10,1944, at the South Parkway Community Hall on Chicago's South Side. This was done the leadership and dedication of the late Reverend Gyodo Kono, together with Issei and Nisei Japanese Americans who had just been discharged from the U.S. internment camps of World War II.
In September, 1950, the three-story building on North Park Avenue was dedicated in response to increasing membership. In November, 1971, the present temple was dedicated. The temple is now an integral part of the community, and the solemn tolling of the temple bell is a familiar sound in the air.
Regular services are held for members and for the public each Sunday: Zen Shin Meditation at 8:00 a.m., Dharma School Service for children and their parents at 10:00 a.m., Adult Sangha in English at 10:45 a.m., and a service in Japanese at 11:45 a.m. Seminars, workshops, retreats and public lectures on the Buddha Dharma are periodically hosted.
Cultural programs: Shodo (Japanese and Chinese brush drawing calligraphy),Minyo (folk dance), Taiko (Japanese drum), and Japanese Language School are sponsored. The Obon Dance Festival in July and the Ginza Holiday Festival in August are highlights of the summer in the city of Chicago today.
The present resident minister is the Rev. Koshin Ogui, Sensei, an l8th generation Buddhist priest from Japan. He has served the Buddhist Churches of America for thirty-six years.