ADELANTO • After searching far and wide for a quiet, peaceful place to build an expansive meditation center, a Vietnamese Buddhist monk purchased a 15-acre lot in the barren desert on Adelanto’s outskirts about seven years ago.
Many admired the ambitious vision of the Venerable Thich Dang Phap, but they questioned whether he could raise the money and support to see it through.
“I thought this one poor monk and he has such big plans and he’s old,” said Charles Serena, an American-born practicing Buddhist of Oak Hills who started visiting the Adelanto center in 2005, when it was little more than an 8-foot-tall statue and a few trailers. “And he’s made it all happen.”
Now approaching age 70, the soft-spoken monk, nicknamed “Tom,” has quietly built up a Buddhist worshipping place that draws visitors from throughout California and beyond.
He’ll tell you he’s far from done — he hopes eventually to expand to 50 acres — but he’s pleased to see his support base growing. He has put about $2.3 million in cash donations into the center so far, mostly through support from outside the High Desert, such as Buddhists in Orange County.
“I want to do this good for the community,” Phap said. “I want somebody having the happiness, the beauty.” He hopes after meditating at his temple, “you walk easy” and “heal, feel peace in your mind.”
On Saturdays and Sundays, up to 100 visitors will stop by, hailing from Orange County, San Diego, Northern California, Arizona and Nevada. On a recent Friday, families visited from Louisiana and Texas. Special occasions will draw monks from around the world.
Phap expects a special celebration to draw more than 2,000 to his temple on Sunday.
“It’s amazing to see something like that grow out of the desert,” said Eric Reed of Adelanto, a photojournalist who’s watched the temple grow and tries to track the High Desert’s Buddhist community. “I think there’s a pilgrimage aspect to it. People want to see how the faith is growing in other places.”
The Buddhist Meditation Center, on Highway 395 about 10 miles northwest of Victorville, is anchored by a 24-foot-tall, white marble statue of Quan yin, a Buddhist saint known for her infinite compassion and healing powers. Lily pads float atop a small pond around the 60-ton statue’s base.
Leading up to Quan yin are two rows of smaller white statues of various saints lining a concrete pathway, on which Phap leads 5 a.m. meditation walks on Sundays.
The center’s most recent addition was unveiled last month: a 6,700-square-foot main hall, most of which is occupied by a large temple with high-rise ceilings and a red carpet leading up to a shrine adorned with colorful orchids and offerings of assorted fruits.
Serena, a 59-year-old Vietnam War veteran, tries to visit the center a few times a month. He was introduced to Buddhism through his Vietnamese wife, Thao Serena, and he said the faith has helped him find inner peace.
“I’ve seen too many wars, and there was a lot of hostility that was within me that I’ve learned to put aside,” he said. “It’s a religion of peace and tolerance.”
Nash Munes, of Petra Engineering in Victorville, who took on the unusual project back in 2004, said he’s been surprised to learn how closely the Buddhist traditions and values align with his Christian beliefs.
The Buddhist population is small in the High Desert, but there are patches of both American-born and ethnic groups embracing the faith.
At the opposite end of the Victor Valley, some 35 miles east, a cluster
of small white buildings painted white with red trim house a different kind of Buddhist center in Lucerne Valley.
Here, an Americanborn group of about 80 to 100 regular members meet for ceremonies, meditation practice and retreats. There are no massive statues at the Desert Zen Center, just simple pathways alongside a few rose bushes and trees, and a vegetable and flower garden.
“We’re a humble little temple,” said Sande Simpson, 57, a Santa Monica native whose Buddhist name is Su Co Tam Huong.
“Buddhism is a lot like any religion, there’s all sorts of flavors, but the basic tenet is that there was a man, 2,500 years ago, who woke up and discovered that you don’t have to live in dissatisfaction,” she explained. “That’s the goal, to try and follow and understand what he figured out.”
As Phap, too, tries to teach people about Buddha’s enlightenment, he envisions adding to his center a kitchen, meditation hall, classroom/library and living quarters that can sleep up to 30 monks. He’s hoping to acquire more of the nearby land and overcome some of the obstacles he’s had during the San Bernardino County permitting process.
“At one time I would’ve said, ‘Yeah sure.’ At this point, seeing what he’s accomplished, I wouldn’t put it past him,” Serena said. “It’s really something special to see. It’s a place where you will find peace.”
For more information on the Adelanto center, visit http://ThienVienChanNguyen .org/tvcn.html.
For more information about the Lucerne Valley center, visit www.DesertZenCenter.org.
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