Phat Bao Temple

05/26/2026

PHAT BAO TEMPLE – PHILADELPHIA
CELEBRATION OF THE BUDDHA’S BIRTHDAY
VEGETARIAN FOOD FESTIVAL 2026

In joyful celebration of the Birth of Siddhartha Gautama Buddha — Buddhist Era 2570, Phat Bao Temple would like to sincerely express our gratitude to all devotees and community members who have generously offered food and beverages for this year’s Buddha Day Vegetarian Food Festival.

With reverence and devotion toward this sacred Vesak season, many Buddhist families and volunteers have lovingly prepared a rich variety of traditional Vietnamese vegetarian dishes and refreshments from fragrant vegetarian pho, crispy spring rolls, and fresh lotus root salad, to traditional Vietnamese desserts, sweet soups, milk tea, Vietnamese iced coffee, salted coffee, and herbal longan tea.

Each dish is not merely food, but a heartfelt offering made in honor of the Buddha’s Birthday and a beautiful expression of compassion, gratitude, and community spirit.

This year’s Vegetarian Buffet Festival will feature more than 40 vegetarian dishes and beverages, creating a warm and joyful gathering space for families, friends, and Buddhist devotees to come together in the peaceful spirit of Vesak.

⏰ Time:
10:30 AM – Sunday, June 7, 2026

📍 Location:
PHAT BAO TEMPLE
6427 Large Street
Philadelphia, PA 19149

☎ Contact:
(267) 760-1228

Phat Bao Temple warmly invites all Buddhist devotees, families, and friends to join us in celebrating Buddha Day, enjoying traditional vegetarian cuisine, and sharing together in a meaningful and peaceful Vesak season illuminated by the light of wisdom and compassion.

“Every dish is a heartfelt offering.
Every flavor carries the joy of devotion during this sacred Vesak season.”

12/18/2025

THOUSANDS OF COMPASSIONATE HEARTS – COUNTLESS ACTS OF LOVE
FOR CENTRAL VIETNAM
(Please see the detailed list)

12/03/2025

11/29/2025

“Donation List of Buddhist Devotees Supporting Flood Relief in Central Vietnam”

11/26/2025

ANNOUNCEMENT – 2026 NEW YEAR PILGRIMAGE TRIP
A Journey of Blessings, Offering, and Peace

Dear Friends and Devotees,
As we welcome the Lunar New Year, visiting Buddhist temples has long been a cherished tradition within Vietnamese culture a meaningful way to begin the year with mindfulness, gratitude, and blessings. In keeping with this beautiful annual tradition, Phat Bao Temple is pleased to announce our 2026 New Year Pilgrimage Trip, offering a wonderful opportunity for our community to pay respect to the Triple Gem, make offerings, cultivate merit, and pray for a peaceful and prosperous year ahead.

This year, our pilgrimage group will visit four Buddhist temples across Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., followed by a special stop at Eden Center the cultural heart of the Vietnamese community for shopping and leisure.

📅 Date & Time

Departure Time: 6:00 AM

Date: Sunday, March 1st, 2026 (13th Day of the Lunar First Month)
Departure Location: Phat Bao Temple – 6427 Large Street, Philadelphia, PA 19149

Planned Itinerary

1. Dao Vien Monastery

2. Giac Hoang Temple

3. Giac Nguyen Temple

4. Eden Center (Virginia) – Shopping and community visit

5. Giac Son Temple

🎫 Ticket Price: $95

Includes breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the entire trip.

📞 Registration & Contact Information

Participants may register directly at the Temple or by contacting:

Phat Bao Temple: 267-760-1228 (Tam Nhan)

Additional Contact: 267-304-8753 (Nhu Ha)

Email: [email protected]

We kindly encourage early registration to help us arrange transportation and meals appropriately.

This pilgrimage offers a precious chance to begin the year with peace, mindfulness, and good intention surrounded by the supportive presence of our Buddhist community. We warmly invite you, your family, and friends to join us on this meaningful journey.
May you be blessed with happiness, good health, and harmony throughout the New Year.

Respectfully,
Phat Bao Temple

10/26/2025

Invitation to the Noble Eight Precepts Retreat

Namo Shakyamuni Buddha.
Dear Friends in the Dharma,
“Whether lay or monastic, whoever lives with restraint in body, speech, and mind, observes the precepts, and cultivates mindfulness and wisdom, that person is walking the path of peace and liberation.” The Buddha, Aṅguttara Nikāya (The Book of the Fives)

Phat Bao Temple warmly invites you to join our Noble Eight Precepts Retreat, a day of mindfulness and renewal through the observance of the Eight Precepts, and the chanting and reflection on the Five Precepts and Lay Bodhisattva Vows.

In our busy lives here in the United States, work and responsibilities can easily exhaust both body and mind.
This one-day retreat offers a chance to return to simplicity to nurture stillness, compassion, and clarity through the practice of precepts and meditation.

🗓 Sunday, November 2, 2025 | 🕘 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM
📍 Location: Phat Bao Temple – 6427 Large Street, Philadelphia, PA 19149
🪷 Dharma Teacher: Venerable Thich Giac Gioi

May this day of practice bring peace to your heart and strengthen your connection with the Dharma. We look forward to practicing together in the spirit of mindfulness, compassion, and community. May all beings be well, peaceful, and filled with loving kindness.

Namo Bodhisattva Hoan Hy Tang
(Homage to Bodhisattva Hoan Hỷ Tạng — The Treasury of Joy)

Organizing Committee, Phat Bao Temple
📞 (267) 524-9458

10/26/2025

Namo Shakyamuni Buddha

Dear Venerable Sangha and Dharma Friends,

Phat Bao Temple in Philadelphia is deeply joyful to announce the Fall 2025 Dharma Retreat, hosted by the Council for Dharma Propagation – Division of Buddhist Teaching of the Vietnamese Unified Buddhist Congregation of the United States, to be held at Phat Bao Temple, 6427 Large Street, Philadelphia, PA, on November 15 and 16, 2025 (Saturday and Sunday).

This retreat is a rare and precious opportunity for the Buddhist community to gather, study, and practice the true teachings of the Buddha in a spirit of harmony and devotion.

In the Aṅguttara Nikāya (Book of the Threes, Chapter on the Samaṇas), the Buddha taught:
“One should train in the higher virtue, train in the higher mind, and train in the higher wisdom.
Through these three trainings, greed is abandoned, hatred is abandoned, and delusion is abandoned.”

These words remind us that learning and practicing the Dharma is not merely beneficial it is essential. The cultivation of sīla (morality), samādhi (concentration), and paññā (wisdom) leads directly to the ending of suffering and the realization of liberation.

This year’s Fall Retreat will be especially meaningful, as it will be honored by the presence and teachings of distinguished Dharma Masters:
• Most Venerable Thich Nguyen Sieu – Deputy Secretary of the Council for Dharma Propagation and Head of the Division of Buddhist Teaching in the United States
• Most Venerable Thich Thai Hoa – Secretary-General of the Council for Dharma Propagation, Vietnamese Unified Buddhist Congregation
• Venerable Thich Chuc Dai – Member of the Division of Buddhist Teaching
• Venerable Thich Vien Ngo – Abbot of Dao Vien Monastery
• Venerable Thich Giac Gioi – Member of the Division of Buddhist Teaching and Abbot of Phat Bao Temple

Their compassionate presence and profound teachings are a rare blessing in this vast land of America, offering a unique chance to listen to the Dharma directly from venerable teachers of great virtue, wisdom, and experience.

Throughout these two full days of practice, participants will have the opportunity to engage in sacred sessions of chanting, Dharma talks, meditation, recitation, and group discussions, guided by our honored teachers. Phat Bao Temple will provide lodging and meals for practitioners traveling from afar, so that all may practice peacefully without worry.

For accommodation or general inquiries, please kindly contact the Organizing Committee by phone or text at (267) 524-9458, so that arrangements can be made with care and mindfulness.

May the Triple Gem bless everyone with good health, diligence, and joy in the Dharma. We look forward to welcoming all Dharma friends near and far to Phat Bao Temple to learn, practice, and cultivate wisdom and merit together.

Let us meet again at the Fall 2025 Dharma Retreat, to train in the higher virtue, higher mind, and higher wisdom abandoning greed, hatred, and delusion, drawing closer to Nirvana. With heartfelt wishes for your peace and steadfast Bodhi mind,

Namo Thuong Tinh Tan Bo Tat

Council for Dharma Propagation, Division of Buddhist Teaching, Vietnamese Unified Buddhist Congregation in the United States
Fall 2025 Retreat Organizing Committee
Venerable Thich Giac Gioi, Chief Organizer