The church building that is now Shim Gwang Sa, the Mind Light Temple, was built in 1894 by The First Parish in Brighton. In the 1960s, the parish sold the property to the Bethesda Masonic Temple Trust. In 1981, the American Buddhist Shim Gum Do Association purchased the 199 – 203 Chestnut Hill Avenue property, and moved in on February 21, 1981.
In September 2016, Chong Kwan Jang Nim conducted a tour of our temple’s building and property for Boston University Professor Daniel Bluestone and his Boston Architectural and Community History Workshop class. Architectural graduate student, Eunjeong Kim, chose our building for the topic of her Civic and Religious Landscape Project, and graciously gave us permission to share her paper on our website: