Midwest Buddhist Temple

The Midwest Buddhist Temple is a temple of Buddha Dharma and the way of Nembutsu, which is a realization of Oneness of Life in the Infinite Compassion and Wisdom of the Amida Buddha. The temple is affiliated with the Buddhist Churches of America, which is headquartered in San Francisco. The BCA is rooted in the Nishi Hongwanji in Kyoto, Japan, and follows the teachings of the Jodo Shinshu, or The Pure Land School.

Jodo Shinshu, was founded in Japan by Shinran Shonin (1173-1262). It was Shinran Shonin who brought the Buddhist teachings down from the monastery level to the ordinary man who could practice it with his family. The first meeting of young Jodo Shinshu immigrants was held in San Francisco on July 14, 1898.

The Midwest Buddhist Temple was formally founded on July 10, 1944, with a simple but inspirational service at the South Parkway Community Hall on Chicago's South Side, under the leadership and dedication of the late Rev. Gyodo Kono, together with the ambitious devotion of Issei and Nisei (first- and second-generation) Japanese-Americans who had just been released from the U.S. internment camps of World War II.

In September 1950, the three-story building on North Park Avenue was dedicated in response to increasing membership and demands of seekers of the meaning of life from the Buddha Dharma. In November 1971, the present temple, the Temple of Enlightenment, was dedicated. The temple is now in integral part of the community, and the solemn tolling of the temple bell is a familiar sound in the air.