Chinatown’s Scammy Buddhist Temple

There’s a new Buddhist temple in Chinatown and I don’t know what to make of it. Is it a legit temple? Maybe. Is it scammy? I think so. Thus, I’m here to write about this temple in hopes that it will enlighten anyone visiting Chinatown, especially those on the extra curious or nosy side of the spectrum.

The idea of talking “trash” about a religious organization is something I’d prefer not to do but at the end of the day, some religious organizations are more of a business than they are a religious organization. Well, actually, religious sites of worship ARE actually businesses. Non-profit organizations are businesses regardless of whether they are religious in nature or not.

I start off by saying all of this because this new Buddhist temple in Chinatown is on the awkward side of things. Chinatown has a decent amount of Buddhist temples already. There’s Thien Hau and even Xuan Wu San which may be unknown to some since it is located a bit away from the heart of Chinatown. Unlike the temples I’ve mentioned, this temple doesn’t have any history as it is new. Of course, there is a possibility that it has some form of “history” unbeknownst to me but I think it’s safe to say that it has no “history”.

The inside of the temple was deserted save for those associated with the temple. I was hesitant to go in because I wasn’t sure if this was actually a temple or if it was a place that sold Buddhist items. If I recall correctly, the front of the temple’s building says something about selling Buddhist items yet at the same time, it is clearly marked as a temple inside a building that doesn’t look anything like a temple.

Upon noticing a Big Buddha statue from outside, I figured this place was indeed a temple and that it would be safe enough to venture inside. It was “safe” alright, but things were a bit strange from the get go. To be fair, what I found to be strange could partially be from a place of ignorance but I don’t think so since I’ve been to enough places of worship, Buddhist temples included. Honestly, I just wanted to see this beautiful Buddha statue, take a moment to appreciate this space and have a brief meditative moment from the city, for lack of a better word. But before I could even do so, I was told to come and write my name and I’m like wtf. I was confused. It became more clear to me once I’m given a long red fabric to write your name onto along with a wish(es) you’d like to come true. Okay, that sounded do-able to me. At this point, I was under the impression that the temple will bless wish writers. I was cool with the idea of this.

Done with writing out the wish(es), I am led to the front of the table where I’m shown a selection of bougie looking incense tubes. It is at this point that I’m made aware that a cost under the guise of a donation is involved. The staff asked what I wished for in an attempt to match my wish(es) to one of the bougie incense tubes which are around $30 or more. A donation of $30 or more when I just happened to venture into this new temple? Are you kidding me? The funny thing is that my wish(es) didn’t correlate with any of the available bougie incense tubes yet the staff member seemed to be nonchalant about it and tried to gaslight me that there was indeed one for me. Um, no. I believe people commonly visit places of worship in hopes to gain marriage (love) or gain success in business ventures. I’m not going to share what I wrote down but it certainly wasn’t something that matched with whatever they thought most people would come in for. (I mean, my initial intent of coming in here wasn’t to write on a ribbon, afterall.) While having an internal wtf moment, I caught sight of plain looking incense sticks that are found at every Buddhist temple. I inquired about this. This was available with a donation of your choice. Okay, this I could do but I still was turned off by it all. And a part of me feels as if the staff member was slightly upset that I noticed the plain looking incense sticks. LOL

I am instructed on what to do and while I probably needed the instructions, I’m thinking about how instructions (commands) can often be associated with cults or cult-like behavior. I can’t help but to say this because from the get go, I was instructed. Recall how I was told to write my name and wish(es) on a red fabric (ribbon) without any form of explanation on what this was about, along with “having” to make a monetary donation. If someone didn’t have the means to make a donation, what would the staff member tell the visitor to do? (Uncommon for many temples, this temple happens to also accept credit card payments which I found to be weird.) What if some devout Buddhist just wants to bow to the Buddha statue? What if a new age practitioner just wants to meditate inside the temple, away from the hustle and bustle that is Chinatown? What, then? Would they be turned away? These are some of the questions I have in my mind.

If this temple is truly legit and not in it to obtain money from unsuspecting devotees and visitors, I think they need to work very hard on transparency. They can claim that all of their incense sticks are on display with a “price tag” (donation) but if you don’t explain things from the get go, especially to a new visitor, you aren’t being transparent in any way and just using the “temple” as a storefront, for lack of a better word.

I question the legitimacy of this temple further since the staff member had no interest in sharing about the temple. You’d think with the temple being new(er), staff would want to talk a bit about the temple. It’s this that was another red flag in my book. The vibe was very different from other temples and while I might find it that way from a possible place of ignorance, I don’t think so.

For those interested in visiting temples while in Chinatown, I recommend you to skip this one. Walk further to visit a temple that has historical roots in Chinatown.