A new Buddhist Community Center is set to open in the city of Sunnyvale, California, a community just east of the city of San Jose. The center will be home to a branch of the Soka Gakkai International, which has operated a branch in nearby Santa Clara since 2003.
In the coming months, members of the Soka Gakkai hope to move into their new space, which is more than three times larger than their current home. They plan to use the new location to host study sessions, group prayers, religious services, faith-related discussions, and youth activities.
The Soka Gakkai congregation plans to open the community center daily, with services held on weekday evenings and during the day on weekends. The largest meeting is scheduled for the first Sunday of the month and is expected to attract 175–250 attendees.
The owners of the new community center have written a letter to the city of Sunnyvale, describing expected noise levels from their new religious space. “None of the activities held within the facility create any significant noise levels or noise that could be heard beyond the facility,” the letter states. “Most activities create noise levels equal to what occurs in a typical office setting with small group meetings or gatherings.” (East Bay Times)
Taking the place of a former fitness center, the building’s existing parking lot will be remade to hold 93 parking spaces, which will include four handicap-accessible spaces. The surrounding area is home to a variety of industrial buildings, stores, and multi-family residences. US Highway 101 is a short distance away.
The Buddhist Community Center, which is near an established Buddhist temple, the Chung Tai Zen Center of Sunnyvale, marks the continuance of a trend in the South Bay area that has seen several Buddhist places of worship pop up throughout the region.
San Jose City Council approved a US$25 million project in 2023 that involves the construction of a Buddhist temple for ethnic Cambodians, after four years of deliberation. Located in San Jose’s Evergreen neighborhood, the temple will be the largest built in the region for Cambodian Buddhists.
Last year saw the grand opening of a Vietnamese Buddhist temple, Tam Tu Metta, near Morgan Hill, 35 kilometers south of San Jose
The Soka Gakkai (Society for the Creation of Value) is a Buddhist religious organization founded in Japan in 193. Its founder, Tsunesaburo Makiguchi, was an author, educator, and devotee of Nichiren Buddhism who hoped to reform the Japanese education system. The Soka Gakkai International (SGI) was founded in 1975 as an umbrella organization for Soka Gakkai, and has since grown to become the most diverse form of convert Buddhism in the world. Today, the organization is known for vocal efforts toward nuclear disarmament, environmental awareness, and interfaith dialogue.
According to a census by PRRI in 2020, American Buddhists made up about 1 per cent of the US population. They are located in a number of regions, but the largest concentrations are in Hawaii and numerous counties in California, including Alameda, San Francisco, San Mateo, and Santa Clara. The Pew Research Center stated that the US had the 13th-largest Buddhist population in the world in 2010, however this is forecast to rise to the 10th largest by 2050, with a projected population of 5.5 million Buddhists.
See more
Sunnyvale religious center to replace former gym (East Bay Times)
Legacy of the Founding Presidents (Soka Gakkai)
2020 PRRI Census of American Religion: County-Level Data on Religious Identity and Diversity (PRRI)
The Future of World Religions: Population Growth Projections, 2010-2050 (Pew Research Center)
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