Buddha For You Gifts & Books, San Diego CA

This is a cute shop, but it's not what the original "Buddha For You" was; where the former shop had an extensive collection of Buddhist statues and other objects, from distant countries
(because the former owner traveled, and imported items, yearly) current ownership is not pursuing that path. It's good for what it is, but don't expect a wide range of Buddhist / Tantric images, or statuary. There is one large, beautiful, thangka that is worth going to see.

This is a beautiful gift shop inside the Dharma Bum Temple! A perfect place to find a sense of peace and calm while shopping. It is a great place for unique gifts or your own beautiful items. Books, statues, incense, crystals, meditation supplies and more!

This place is amazing! They have very high quality Buddha statues that you can't find anywhere else. The Buddha statues they have aren't the mass produced variety, these are authentic, often hand made or antique quality from Asia or India. They have beads and meditation cushions too. Really great stuff! If you're looking to get something beautiful and authentic, this is the place to do it.

I wanted to buy a singing bowl for a dear friend of mine, but I wanted to hear what they sounded like before I made my purchase. Even though the shop is closed to customers during Covid-19, the owner very kindly (and quickly!) sent me a few video clips of the bowls I was interested in so I could make an informed choice before placing my order online. Thank you so much!

I just wanted to check out a local store for a meditation cushion filled with buckwheat hulls so I stopped by Buddha For You. The entire staff made the experience very pleasant and answered any and all concerns I had. I ended up purchasing both a Zafu and Zabuton.

Also, I arrived right before the Dharma Bum Temple - Free Mediation which was a great experience followed by a pleasant discussion on "Right Mindfulness" [Mindfulness (Sati/Awareness), Ardency, and Alertness] so I learned something new and useful as well.

I have nothing but great things to say about this place!

We had an awesome experience here. As you can see on the website, it's pretty much what you'd expect as a Buddhist gift and book store (incense, Buddhas, ringing (singing?) bowls, bracelets, etc.) but since it's inside a Buddhist meditation center and run by some super nice folks it was a particularly cool visit. We also liked the legit antique statues and other art which were pretty cool and different - although a lot of that antique stuff was WAY out of our price range. The storekeepers Jeff and Maggie also help run the Buddhist center and Jeff gave us a tour of the place and filled us in on some of the organizations history - and the history of the building (while it's a "Buddhist temple" its actually housed in a little old church). The temple tour was very cool - different meditation halls, various shrines and awesome Buddha statues throughout. Jeff said they offer free meditation classes daily and that the temple is open to the public. It's called The Dharma Bum Temple which is pretty interesting! The whole thing was a little old world and unique of an experience. It's only a few blocks from the downtown University Heights strip, but also tucked away in a residential neighborhood. I was there for almost an hour and didn't even buy anything! But I will be back to wander the store and temple again for sure and will endeavor to buy something:). I highly recommend for buying stuff or just a peaceful and interesting experience.