In Buddha’s Path on the Streets of San Francisco

Peter DaSilva for The New York Times FOLLOWERS Meditating in the courtyard at the San Francisco Zen Center. At the Tien Hau Temple, before an intricately carved gilded wooden shrine and ornate Buddha statues, under dozens of paper lanterns, Buddhists in the Chinese tradition still burn pungent incense and leave offerings to the goddess Tien Hau in return for the promise of happiness and a long life. Established in 1852 by Chinese immigrants who came to California during the Gold Rush and named for a 10th-century provincial woman who protected people at sea, the original temple burned down in the fire set off by the 1906 earthquake but eventually found its new home in this three-block-long alley. Over the next 150 years, San Francisco would continue to water those early seeds of Buddhism planted in America, as geography,... [read full story]