The City of 10,000 Buddhas is adjacent to downtown Talmage. To get there by car, take the Talmage exit off Hwy. 101, about two miles south of downtown Ukiah and 110 miles north of San Francisco. Greyhound buses also serve Ukiah twice a day, and Amtrak provides daily bus service to Ukiah in conjunction with a train ticket. Visitors can make arrangements to stay overnight at the City for a modest fee; however, men and women have separate quarters. There are also many inexpensive motels located within three miles of Talmage.

Please dress modestly (no shorts dresses or pants, or other revealing clothing). Smoking is not permitted on the premises. More information about the city is available at 707-462-0939 or online. Class schedules and the yearly calendar are online at drba.org.

On a hot summer day, most notable upon entering the grounds is the absence of irrigated lawns. Also the blessed shade of huge ancient oaks and a multitude of peacocks. There are few cars and the wind’s music in the trees is blissfully audible here. If you see a golden-robed nun under a large Asian-style bamboo sombrero sweeping the street with a homemade broom, you’ll wonder if you’re still in California.

On Bodhi Way, a 12-foot golden Buddha sits atop the entrance to The Jeweled Hall of 10,000 Buddhas, gazing down upon an enormous incense burner. The elegance within the cavernous hall is startling: it really does contain 10,000 gilded images of the Buddha, each cast from a mold by the Venerable Master Hua. There are also numerous statues from China, including a 10-foot image of Guanshiyin Bodhisattva compassionately guiding worshippers with 1,000 hands and 1,000 eyes.

If you happen to visit during a Buddhist holiday, you will be welcome to join in chanting, meditation or bowing. Usually a kindly nun is available to explain and guide you through the procedures. Visitors from all over the globe join residents for events such as the annual 10,000 Buddhas Repentance when, for 22 days, penitents bow for hours while chanting various forms of the Buddha’s name, for a total of 10,000 bows.

Today the 488 acres encompass a Buddhist university, kindergarten to grade 12 schools, a large Buddhist library, a monastic community, a center for the translation of Buddhist texts, extensive vegetable gardens, tranquil flower gardens and a restaurant.

The most popular dishes include exquisite versions of steamed dumplings, spring rolls and chow mein. But more discerning visitors prefer a Jyun Kang creation, the Jade Roll: crispy vegetables rolled in tofu skin, quickly fried and served with fresh steamed bok choi. The flavors are amazingly vibrant even though garlic and onions are not used in any dishes, in accordance to orthodox Buddhist beliefs.

When day visitors leave around 6pm, a sleepy hush settles on the City. It’s a long day for monastics who rise before 4am for recitation, then work long hours at often-physically demanding jobs, fueled only by one simple meal before noon.

In spite of the well-defined austerity, some visitors end up staying for weeks, months or years. The City doesn’t advertise that visitors are welcome to stay for a very reasonable room and board fee, or that volunteers are invited to stay for free in exchange for helping with numerous projects. Most just find the City at the end of a curious path.

The office that Jin Xi shares with another teacher is prominently decorated with images of the Chinese Guanshiyin Bodhisattva gazing down benevolently in her long white robes. Bodhisattvas are compassionate, enlightened beings who have chosen to give up nirvana in order to save the misdirected humans on earth.

“It blew me away that we were getting up at 3:30am and doing recitations. I only knew about the Chan (meditation). I feel that the guys in the dorm think I need to spend some time in the Buddha Hall. Otherwise I’d just be a guy working here,” explained the soft-spoken young man, as he carefully placed a small piece of ginger root into a peat pot and covered it with soil.

Stone is definitely in the “just visiting” category, but his participation is extremely welcomed by Mr. Fan, the gardener. The limber, 40-something man has great plans to expand the vegetable gardens from two acres to over five, and grow enough organic produce to share with the outside community.

Fan was working endless hours at his construction company in Taiwan, “making and losing money,” when he found a book in a bookstore by Venerable Master Hua, in 1998. “It changed my life. So in April 2001, I came to stay for a Bowing Session for ten days.” Since then, he has only been back for one brief visit to Taiwan. He was smitten by the beauty of the property; Taiwan’s history of colonization has left it with few trees and animals.

This is cache, read story here