* 1978 The first time that Ven. Master Cheng Yi visited the United States is for the consecration ceremony of Fayin Dharma Seal Temple in LA.
* 1982 Ven. Master Cheng Yi visited the U.S. again, along with Master Sheng Yen, the founder of Dharam Drum Mountain. On behalf of College of Chinese Culture, they negotiated a cooperation project of exchange program for teachers and students with Florida State University.
* 1984 Ven. Master Cheng Yi visited Bay Area in California again and saw local Buddhists 甘鎮輝、王本空、吳允良、蔡樹強，胡憲文 and etc. In a gathering, the students 蔡體行，陳明章 and etc. sincerely asked Ven. Master Cheng Yi to set up a temple. Ven. Master Cheng Yi recognized the importance of Dharma propagation overseas and promised to conduct the task. Bay Area is also a place where Chinese people gathers to extend Ven. Master Cheng Yi’s great vow of spreading Dharma to benefit more Chinese in the world.
1993年3月 舉行開光籌備會議。5月美國華嚴蓮社新建佛堂落成典禮暨佛像開光。出席者有米爾必達市市長 Pete McHugh，台灣駐灣區各重要官員，包括詹憲卿處長、傅迪副處長。另悟明長老、雲霞長老、印海長老、淨海長老、靈真長老及成公長老共同主持佛像開光。
Funding and Construction
* 1984.12
On his third visit to the United States, Ven. Master Cheng Yi came to visit the Bay area again. Requested by the local Buddhists, he agreed to open a Buddhist temple and bought a house in San Jose as a temporary shrine.
* 1985.08
Avatamsaka Buddhist Lotus Society (ABLS/華嚴佛教會) was founded.
* 1985.09
Avatamsaka Buddhist Research Center (華嚴佛學研修中心) was founded. This was the first Buddhist temple open a regular course to the public. Lay devotee Buddhist 羅無虛 and Professor 李傳薰 took turns to teach fundamental Buddhism and Sutra studying. Ven. Master Cheng Yi came to give lectures twice a year in summer and winter.
* 1985.10
Lay devotee Buddhist Eva Wu (吳允良) on behalf of ABLS applied for a registration as a religious group.
* 1986.08
To meet the need of lay Buddhists, Ven. Master Cheng Yi moved to a new location in Cupertino to preach Buddhism and to form the Amitabha Chanting Group.
* 1989.04
Four hundred twenty-five thousand US dollars has been fundraised by the leading of Ven. Master Cheng Yi to buy a 0.4-acre land to build the temple.
* 1989.08
The Certificate of religious group is approved in California. Ven. Master Cheng Yi became the first Board Director of ABLS.
* 1990.04.01
The construction of two-story Spanish-style monastery building starts work.
* 1992.05
After the completion of the temple building, ABLS held the ceremony to enshrine the Buddha statues and formed the Recitation & Cultivation Assembly (共修會) and PuGi Charitable Punya Organization (普濟功德會).
* 1992.10
Dharmapala Association (居士護法會) was founded by lay devotee Buddhists.
* 1993.05
The celebration for the new Dharma Hall building (法堂落成) and a consecration ceremony of Buddhas (佛像開光) was held by Ven. Master Cheng Yi and Ven. Masters of Chinese Buddhism in ABLS. The mayor of Milpitas, Pete McHugh, and Taiwanese officials attended the event.
Expanding Construction (Vairocana Dharma Pavilion — 20 South Main St.)
* 1998.09
A Committee was formed for the expansion project to purchase a land.
* 2002.05.08
The permit for the expansion project finally got approved in the public hearing.
* 2003.08.03
Ven. Master Cheng Yi held the groundbreaking ceremony for the new Dharma Hall. He gavea speech about the founding history of ABLS. The construction started after the purifying ritual (灑淨) hosted by Ven. Master Cheng Yi, Ven. Master Chihoi (智海) and Master Hsien Du. In the same day, Master Hsien Du became the abbot of ABLS after Ven. Master Cheng Yi.
* 2004.06.08
The construction of new temple was kicked in after signing the contract with Cinecon Group. It’s estimated to complete the project in 18 months.
* 2005.09.17
ABLS held the celebration for the new Vairocana Dharma Hall (最吉祥殿/普光法堂) and a consecration ceremony of Buddhas (佛像開光典禮) . Many guests were invited including Milpitas mayor, Master Yinhai (印海), the Abbot of Fayin Dharma Seal Temple (法印寺) in Los Anglels, and Director of Taipei Economic and Culture Office in San Francisco.
2006年4 月2日 首次召開50號樓房修建會議。出席者有Steve楊良淵建築師、Dennis 張志禹工程師及 Stone 石龍生工程監管，以及蓮社代表天因、天融兩位法師，初步規劃整修工程分兩期進行，第一期以50號大樓一樓修建為目標，而二樓及外觀部份歸入第二期工程。
Remodeling Construction (Cheng Yi Pavilion — 50 South Main St.)
* 2006.04.02
The first board meeting for the reconstruction project of the building #50 was held.
* 2006.05.15
The application for the permit was submitted for the kitchen and the dining hall.
* 2008.01.30
The reconstruction was kicked in.
* 2009.04.05
The reconstruction was completed and the new building #50 was named after Ven. Master Cheng Yi to honor his founding contribution for ABLS.
* 2010.04.18
The consecration ceremony of Meditation & Contemplation Hall (禪堂開光啟用) was held to celebrate the completion for the second-floor construction of Cheng Yi Pavilion.
2011年7月30日 召開外欄工程第一次會議，與會者有 Dennis 張志禹工程師、Stone 石龍生工程監管、營造商 Moon Chien of Cavestone Marble Inc.，共同商討整體工程計劃，並擬定合約。
The first meeting was held for the periphery construction.
* 2012.02.16
The permit of fence construction was approved.
* 2012.06.29
The gate project was completed.
* 2012.07.02
The final inspection was passed. From now on, the two building are surrounded by a complete fence and a formal gate managed by a computer system.
During the expanding and remodeling periods, people from everywhere have given their supports of money and efforts to make the project smoothly completed on schedule. ABLS is grateful for their contributions. We would appreciate any protecting and supporting for ABLS.
