Guan Gong Temple

Small but very friendly. The sifu and staff are very kind, they try their best to listen and help you spiritually. Always nice to stop by.

Sorry to rain on everyone’s parade here, but clearly you don’t live in this building. These are the nastiest self centered monks on the planet. They’re constant incessant feeding of the pigeons have turned the immediate vicinity into a disgusting nesting ground. We have pigeon poop all over the immediate buildings and area. They leave rotten cheap food out on the street all day and have left food out for the rats at night. One night I had to throw debris at my front door to scatter the pack and enter. They also cook the most god awful smelling, rotting food that stinks up the entire building, even leading a friend of mine to be nauseous. All the above points were brought to their attention in a polite and respectful manner only to have them scoff at this. Therefore, 311, the Sanitation dept. and DEP have all been brought in to control the situation. They scowl at me when they see me, and don’t have a spiritual bone in their body. They bang hammers all day sitting at a table in some sort of alien trance, and have no understanding of what the true meaning of Buddhism is. The place looks like a horrific carnival inside and I can’t wait until they become victims of gentrification. I will gladly help them move out, the quicker the better. Nasty, nasty, people who have no respect for their neighbors.

This temple used to be a Guan Gong temple (aka Guandi miao, formerly Guan Kwong Temple), not exactly a Buddhist temple. Gong Gong («Duke Guan»), Guan Di («Lord Guan»), was an historical figure named Guan Yu, a famous general, who later was called Wudi («God of War» (actually Peace), shown with his huge broad sword on a long pole, & Wendi («God of literature»), shown reading a famous history book, & was worshipped separately in his own temples. Also, in almost every Chinese shop & restaurant, you can find a small shrine with a statue of Guan Gong, either high up on the rear wall or on the wall behind the cashier. That’s because Guan Gong is also the patron saint of shopkeepers.
However, this temple has gradually evolved to become more in practice like a Buddhist temple. There is a Chinese Buddhist monk from Malaysia who lives in the temple & serves as an attendant. He speaks some English. And the only regular services conducted here are Buddhist services on Sundays, the 1^st & 15^th of each lunar month, & major Buddhist holidays.
Nevertheless, the main deity is Guan Gong, flanked by smaller statues of his attendants Zhou Cang & Guan Ping. There are also many Daoist deities present: Laozi, Taishang Laojun, Fazhu gong, Lu Dongbin, Zhongli Quan, Jiutian Xuannu, Tian hou shengmu, Bao Gong, the 8 Immortals, Huang Daxian, Qianli yan, Shunfeng er, Zhong Kui, Lu xing. Thus, the original Guan Gong & Daoist roots of this temple remain visually strong.
But now there are also many Chinese Buddhist shrines: Mile, Guanyin, Dizangwang, & Yaoshifo (although the statue is actually Amituofo). There’s a large seated black Amituofo flanked by temple guardians Weituo pusa & Qielan pusa (same as Guan Gong). To the side on the life-​sized standing bronze Guanyin are small statues of Shancai & Longnu:. There is a 18″-high gilt bronze statue of a standing 1000-​armed Guanyin. There is also a red-​robed pottery statue from Shiwan, Guangdong of Bodhidharma (Damo) & a shrine to Tudi gong & his wife Tudi po on the floor. This ecumenical combination of religious deities is not uncommon in many traditional Chinese temples, especially in the South of China & Southeast Asia. In New York, this is unusual, as most temples are either Daoist or Buddhist, or local Fujianese. The deities here are so diverse that there are a few who even the temple attendants cannot identify.
This is an active religious temple. Be respectful. Be sure to light incense & bow to the deity if you wish to ask any questions or take a photograph.

An auspicious beginning to the Year of the Tiger: in Chinatown for Lunar New Year, jostled by crowd and sought refuge in open doorway of the temple of Guan Gong. An elderly woman insisted it was our karma, that we stay for lunch — bowls of vegetables stir-​fried with noodles, oranges and moon cakes. So there we dined, perched on a tiny stool amidst clouds of incense and Buddhist, Taoist and Confucian alters to this warrior saint known as the epitome of loyalty and righteousness. Time slowed to a crawl. Finally, we bowed, made an offering, and walked out into the cold sunlight.

We were fading fast in the humidity as we travelled back to Soho from our fantastic Fried Dumpling jaunt. But I follwed my eyes and darted across the street to this place, with my friend David behind me shouting, «It’s a restaurant supply store, Leib! For Chinese restaurants!»
Well, okay, in an area dominated by restaurant supply stores, I can see why one would think that, whatwith the red and gilt of it all. But it’s actually a (small) Chinese Buddhist temple. Though English communication didn’t seem an option, everyone was very nice, and it must be a year round temple, because it looks as though it has a kitchen in it.
If you’re looking to remind yourself of your commitment to the Dharma, I’d say, sure! Stop in. Can’t say much else about it, though, as everything was in Chinese. But if you find out if there’s a resident monk or if there are weekly Dharma talks, do post it here!