Chua Huong Dam Buddhist Center

A "what's that!?" menu. I was so happy to find out the Sunday vegan food market at Chua Huong Dam temple in Corpus Christi. The food isn't labeled, so just let your eyes do the tasting. I look forward to visiting again. Cash only.

This is a hidden gem in Corpus that I wish we had known about even earlier than when we started coming. It's warm, inviting atmosphere is where you can come and sit in meditation to center yourself. My husband and I have been coming here off and on for a few years. They have since built a new beautiful meditation hall. Everyone takes off their shoes before entering the temple and pulls up a couple of cushions to sit on to meditate. My husband and I go to the English meditation on Friday evenings sometimes which begin sometimes with a song or a chant and then silent meditation followed by walking meditation. The temple is located near a street and the doors are often open during meditation, so expect there to be some ambient noise and let it pass through your mind like a passing thought. The only thing we dislike is when there is a heavy rain - mosquitos come out from surrounding standing water because of the area of town the center is in. Make sure you wear mosquito repellent during the hot and wet season :) It's well worth visiting, regardless.The nun who leads the meditations is very nice and is learning English very well. We always leave feeling refreshed and more calm than when we arrived. Throughout the year they have a couple of festivals and fundraisers - at least one for the lunar new year and one in May to celebrate the Buddha's birthday. They sell good there as well as homemade candied veggies and fruit. They also make a lovely pho that they sell during these times. They sometimes host a visiting monk to come and talk to us after meditating - a monk from Louisiana comes down occasionally and it's always a great experience. The place is primarily Vietnamese speaking (the nuns don't all speak English), so I know they have some chanting during the weekend in Vietnamese, but I'm not sure of the times. The nun also told me that the temple is open if we wanted to come during the day to meditate. We love this place!