Welcome to Our place for Dharma practice
Ching Kwok Temple, Introduction in Brief
Welcome to Ching Kwok Temple of Toronto. We were founded and established in 1985 as a registered charity organization in Canada. Originally, our temple was named Tai Bay Buddhist Temple of Toronto, located at 960 Dundas Street West.
Since then, we had a huge growth of followers and grow out of the old temple. As a result, the temple was relocated in 1994 to its present location at 300 Bathurst Street, just minutes away from its previous location.
- Ching Kwok Temple, exterior.
Left: Before renovation. Right: After renovation.
Our temple has one Main Hall dedicated to veneration of Trailokya Buddhas (Buddhas in Trinity), with Shakyamuni Buddha in the centre. To Shakyamuni Buddha’s left and right are Bhaisajyaguru Buddha of the East and Amitabha Buddha of the West, respectively.
This is the centre of our practice. Our Dharma activities, including services and ceremonial rites, monastic ordinations, receiving Refuges and Precepts, sangha dana, mindfulness practices, lectures and talks, and festive celebrations all take place right here in this Main Hall.
-Ching Kwok Temple,Main Hall.
Behind the Main Hall is the Hall of Merits and Virtues which consists of two areas, the Ksitigarbha Area and the Bhaisajyaguru Shrine.
There are two Ksitigarbha Bodhisattvas here, one sitting on the counter to the right and the other on the adjacent counter across the other side of the room. The Ksitigarbha Area is dedicated to ancestral memorials. The tablets sitting on the wall shelves are the deceased whom families come to pay respect to occasionally and on special anniversaries.
-The Ksitigarbha Area
Here we see Bhaisajyaguru Buddha, also known as the Medicine Buddha, in a white marble statue. This area is for the offering in veneration to the Medicine Buddha, as a wish of blessing for good health, peace, goodness and wisdom. One can donate and have their name inscribed on the tablets behind the buddha statue. The proceedings are used for charitable causes such as benefiting the community, or promoting Buddhist studies.
-The Bhaisajyaguru Area
Below the Main Hall in the lower level is the dining hall, also known as the Hall of Five Contemplations. Every Sunday after the morning Dharma service, we offer free lunch meals to anyone visiting the temple. This has been our tradition of community offering for the past 28 years and we are the only Buddhist temple across the Greater Toronto Area to practice such meal offering to the community.
-The Hall of Five Contemplations
Our goals are to: promote Buddhist teachings and filial piety; we recite sutras and practice repentance ceremony to cultivate ethical conducts; and achieve tranquility of the mind with samatha meditation.
We are a Mahayana Chinese Buddhist temple, a serene environment in a bustling city, locating within the heart of downtown Toronto, we are a community for Buddhist practice on mutual understanding and mutual respect in collective efforts.
-CKT Main Hall with Bhaisajyagurus
