City of Ten Thousand Buddhas, Buddhist monastery and educational center in Ukiah, California, United States

The City of Ten Thousand Buddhas is a Buddhist monastery and educational center on 488 acres in Talmage, California, of which 80 acres are developed. Its entrance is a cream-and-dark-red gateway with three arches and a golden-yellow tiled roof; the central facade reads "THE CITY OF TEN THOUSAND BUDDHAS" in gold English letters above gold Chinese characters. Inside, the Jeweled Hall of 10,000 Buddhas, finished in 1982, holds a 20-foot thousand-armed Avalokiteśvara statue and walls lined with 10,000 Buddha images molded by Hsuan Hua.

The site opened in 1889 as the Mendocino State Asylum for the Insane, later renamed Mendocino State Hospital, with over seventy buildings and more than two thousand rooms. The Dharma Realm Buddhist Association bought it in 1974 and had established an international center by 1976. In 1979 the Third Threefold Ordination Ceremony brought monks from China, Vietnam, Sri Lanka and the US to transmit precepts in both the Mahayana and Theravada traditions.

The name comes from the 10,000 Buddha images lining the Jeweled Hall, each molded by Hsuan Hua, who is said to have placed a strand of his hair inside every figure. The hall's 20-foot thousand-armed Avalokitesvara was carved in wood by Wang Taisheng, a sculptor Hsuan Hua invited from Hong Kong. Monastics follow a fixed daily schedule that begins with a 3:30 a.m. wake-up board and ends with lights out at 10:30 p.m.

The grounds cover 488 acres, of which 80 are developed; the main Buddha hall, monastic facilities, schools, kitchen and dining hall, and Jyun Kang Vegetarian Restaurant sit together on the west side of the campus. The rest is meadows, orchards and forest. The monastery is open to the public, but the Hall of No Words is closed except on special days. Guests stay in the Great Compassion Courtyard dormitories.

The gateway's central panel reads "The City of Ten Thousand Buddhas" in gold English letters, with "Tathagata Monastery" on the left and "Dharma Realm Buddhist University" on the right. The 10,000 Buddha images inside the Jeweled Hall were molded by Hsuan Hua himself, and according to tradition he placed a lock of his own hair inside each one.