Far Away from Home - A Thai Temple in San Francisco
8000 miles from Bangkok is a house in a quiet neighborhood in San Francisco, a house just like any other on the block apart from the Thai words written across the top of the front door. But for the monks and nuns that live there this Buddhist temple is now their home away from home. Thai temples like this one around the world develop as the local Thai communities grow and the need for monks to visit the area become so great that it is necessary to establish a temple.
Their primary purpose of being in the community is to provide a Buddhist temple for Thai’s abroad, but they also serve the purpose of a missionary to attract new people interested in Buddhism to the temple, and to teach lessons of Buddhism to Americans. Although most of the people that attend the temple are Thai, anyone is welcome to visit the temple. Visitors can visit for lunch, served everyday at 11:00am, or they can walk in anytime to talk with the nuns and monks about anything on their mind. Most of the monks and nuns speak only Thai but there are a couple of them that do speak some English so as to facilitate local newcomers.
The following photos depict the daily life of the monks and nuns that live at the temple in the Richmond District of San Francisco and how they interact with the community. Meditating, studying, meeting with visitors, and chores in the garden are all part of their daily routine.
Wat Dhammaram is located at 473 11th Avenue in San Francisco, California and the head monk is Chitti Dhummavirojano.
