About Us

Who We Are

The Grand Rapids Buddhist Temple is an American Mahayana temple.

• We are the founding temple of the HeartSide Mindfulness School of Mahayana Buddhism. 

• We draw our inspiration from our foundational scripture The Heart Sutra. 

• We embrace the rich diversity and history of the practice of Buddhism.

• We honor this tradition by making it accessible to our community while adapting it to address the needs and conditions facing modern practitioners. 

As a community, it is our wish to be ordinary people of great aspiration embodying the Dharma qualities of humility, honesty, friendship, and integrity, and to inspire others to live within the wise view of complete unimpeded difference, the unconditional openness to the way things are, and the spiritual equality of all beings.

The Teachings:

The Four Noble Truths

The Noble Eightfold Path

The Three Jewels

The Five Precepts

Cause and Effect

Interdependent Interbeing

The Four Noble Abodes (The Four Immeasurables)

The Three Marks of Existence

The Three Poisons

The Scriptures:

The Heart Sutra (our foundational scripture)

The Dhammapada

The Diamond Sutra

The Lotus Sutra

and The Vimalakirti Sutr 

Our Practice 

We serve our Sangha and the greater West Michigan community by offering Buddhist teachings that are relevant to today’s social challenges. 

We emphasize practical applications of the Buddha’s teaching because our Sangha consists primarily of working individuals and families. We work to offer practical approaches to the Buddha’s teachings in the form of Sunday Dharma Talks, meditation, basic and advanced Buddhism classes, and retreats. Social gatherings are held after each dharma talk, and periodically throughout the year, potlucks to observe Buddhist holidays and receptions to celebrate ordinations. 

In keeping with our practice of generosity (dana), our temple operates solely from donations and volunteer service of its members. We hope that every person who participates with us will find it of value and will support our efforts by sharing their time and by making a donation. 

Our collective goal is to not only share Buddhist teachings with the Sangha in a variety of forms and expressions but also to serve the spiritual health and well-being of the Sangha. We carry out our vision through an inclusive, welcoming approach to Buddhism that allows the Sangha to best integrate the Buddha’s teachings into their own lives through their own experience and practice.

We welcome everyone to the Buddhist path.