Our Temple

A sanctuary in the city of Sarasota

Everyone Welcome!

The modern Buddhist Temple at KMC Florida was designed by Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, our Founder, as part of the International Temples Project and was opened in 2011. The Temple’s unique design is based on the celestial palace of Heruka, the Buddha of Compassion. The design also represents all the stages of the spiritual path to enlightenment. Just seeing it reminds us that we have the potential to improve our human nature and qualities through developing the capacity of our mind. 

Our Community

Our community consists of residents – people who live on-site at KMC Florida, including ordained monks and nuns – and others who live in the local area. You will find a warm, friendly community here, who strives to exemplify Buddhist practice through public service. This includes providing everyone, regardless of background, experience or belief, the opportunity to learn how to achieve inner peace and happiness through meditation.

Learn more about living at KMC Florida

Temple Gardens

Our beautiful World Peace Garden is home to a wide variety of plants, trees, and a bit of wildlife. Take a stroll through our sparkling foot paths and see if you can spot the many themed plant areas.

We have a designated outdoor path for people to circle the Temple and admire the beautiful gardens and foliage surrounding our beautiful space.

Our garden has been planned to be Florida-friendly, providing food and shelter for wildlife and using as little water as possible. Our well-loved garden is completely managed by volunteers. Please reach out if you’d like to help maintain and beautify this space: info@meditationinsarasota.org.

Click the forward arrow to scroll
through the garden photos!

World Peace Cafe

The World Peace Cafe at KMC Florida is a unique place to enjoy specialty drinks, baked goods, and healthy meals while relaxing and socializing with friends. The atmosphere is friendly, peaceful and fun and everyone is welcome!

We have a wonderful menu serving locally sourced coffee, a range of high-quality teas and refreshing cold drinks. There is a selection of delicious homemade baked goods: scones, biscotti and oat bars along with cakes and desserts (vegan, gluten-free options available). Enjoy a vegan/gluten-free lunch after our lunchtime meditations on Mondays and Wednesdays and after our morning class on Fridays. Take-away options are available for our meals and baked goods.

Our open hours are Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays from 10am -2pm and 30 minutes before and after drop-in classes and events. Stop by and check us out!

Bookstore & Gift Shop

The Temple also houses our bookstore & gift shop, which carries a range of unique gifts, cards, meditation accessories, Buddhist art, sadhanas, and books on Buddhism and meditation. The bookstore & gift shop is adjacent to the World Peace Cafe and is open to all visitors and guests.

All of the books we sell can be found at Tharpa Publications and are written by our founder, Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso. These books range from introductory Buddhist guides to in-depth commentaries and translations of the most profound aspects of Buddha’s teachings.

The bookstore & gift shop is open Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays from 10am – 2pm; and 30 minutes before and after drop-in classes and events.

Meditation Rooms

Main Meditation Room

Just entering our main meditation room immediately uplifts the mind. The meditation room houses a variety of traditional Buddhist statues that are a source inspiration for all those who meditate. The statues and many of the adornments of our Temple are manufactured at the Kadampa Studio based at Manjushri KMC in England.

Small Meditation Room

Our small meditation room is used for personal practice, small group retreats, and for teaching our Meditation for Kids class. Feel free to come relax, read, or meditate during our open Temple hours.

Accessibility

We want our Temple to be fully accessible to everyone! Please let us know about any special needs in advance, and we will do our best to help.

Details About Accessibility