Don't just drive by: Stop and explore Buddhist Meditation Center in Adelanto
I have visited the Buddhist Meditation Center near Adelanto a few times.
A couple of years back, with my buddy Paul. We wandered the gorgeous grounds out of curiosity - since we had driven by the center many times while heading north or south along Highway 395.
The first time I drove by years ago, it was just open arid land, like so much of the High Desert.
But through the years, a mobile home could be seen, and then each year, more and more improvements were made to the 15 acres of land that the center now occupies.
Finally, on a trip back from somewhere, Paul and I decided to stop by and check the place out.
The stop was worth it.
Long cement walkways surrounded by tall green trees and other lush vegetation greeted us—finally, sculptured pergolas covering pure white statues with offerings from visitors placed respectfully at their feet.
“Dude,” I said. “This place is awesome and so tranquil.”
“Don’t call me Dude,” Paul replied. He doesn’t like to be called Dude.
“Okay, Dude.”
We met a groundskeeper who could not stop talking about how wonderful the Buddhist Monks were to him and his family.
“Even though I am not a Buddhist,” he stated. “They treat us as though we are family. I love tending the grounds here. Best job I’ve ever had.”
My second trip to the center was to meet the mastermind behind the site, Abbott Bhikkhu Thich Dang Phap. Abbott's assistant, a Yogi- Sculptor, Joshua Tran, arranged the meeting.
He was a very thoughtful and nice person who communicated with me via email since he was away from the center for a bit of personal meditation in the mountains.
Tran has a fascinating history himself. After leaving, he attended Texas A&M University and became a traveling artist. In the summer of 2017, he visited a small pagoda in Torrance and created a Buddha sculpture.
He then traversed to the Thein Vien Chan Nguyen, the official name of the Buddhist Meditation Center in Adelanto, to create a sculpture of Abbott Phang sitting atop a John Deere Tractor.
It was to immortalize that Abbott Phang was the center developer and had spent considerable time on a tractor. At the same time, he built a stunning retreat out of the vastness of the desert north of Adelanto.
On this second trip, my lovely wife, Laureen, accompanied me.
“I just have a few questions for the Abbott,” I told Laureen.
She glanced over at me while we drove toward the center.
“Don’t do it.”
“Don’t do what?” I asked.
Laureen stared at me. “Please do not ask him where Costello is.”
Now I was down to two questions for my interview.
It was an early Saturday morning, and as we drove onto the grounds past rippling flags at the entrance off Highway 395, Laureen nodded her head.
“It’s beautiful.”
I knew she would think so - anyone driving down the long lamp-lined driveway toward the center would have the same thoughts.
Numerous buildings are arranged in the area, each in the traditional pagoda style.
Research indicates the recognizable stylized buildings started in China in the 3rd century BCE. The history of the building can be traced to the stupa, which was used as a commemorative monument to house sacred relics and writings.
Buddhist missionaries took on the architectural style to honor Buddhist relics.
Each structure on the main grounds had a look as if the end of the roofs were motioning upwards into the skies.
The effort, time, and love it took Abbott Phap and those who assisted him in building the grounds must have been extreme, especially in the barren lands that make up the Mojave Desert.
In an article dated Oct. 15, 2011, by Daily Press reporter Natasha Lindstrom, Abbott Phap was quoted on why he wanted to build the meditation center.
“I want to do this good for the community. I want somebody to have the happiness, the beauty.”
After visiting the center, he explained his desire for a person to experience: "You walk easy and heal, feel peace in your mind.”
Laureen and I met Abbott Phap while he was standing just a few yards to the west of the main hall, where services are held.
Abbott Phap is a small man, standing just an inch or so above five feet, but he seemed much larger when I interacted with him.
“All are welcomed here,” he told me. Though the center is Vietnamese Buddhist, everyone may visit and enjoy the tranquility. “Koreans and others visit.”
He then explained I was welcomed to the following day’s service, scheduled for 9:30 am.
We said our goodbyes and wandered the grounds. I intentionally kept the meeting very short since Joshua Tran had explained that Abbott Phang’s health, though good, does tire him for extended visits.
After another 30 minutes, we got into our vehicle and drove off silently.
“It is a wonderful place and so peaceful,” Laureen said as I turned south on Highway 395.
I just nodded in agreement.
The following day, I arrived back at the center at 9 a.m.
I sat east of the richly decorated pagoda, which covers an enormous reclining Buddha lying with a golden blanket covering.
Dozens, if not hundreds, of tall green trees, of all sorts cover the center's grounds, and countless birds are tweeting this and tweeting that in all those trees.
It was almost like they were questioning my existence. “What is this guy doing here in our forest?”
According to research, Abbott Phap served in the South Vietnam army and was captured by the North Vietnamese in 1975. After being released two years later, the ex-soldier and Buddhist decided to make his home in the United States.
He moved to the High Desert in the early 2000s, where he purchased 15 acres and lived in a trailer for nearly seven years while slowly building the dream of the meditation center.
His endeavor garnered attention from all parts of the country, and soon, donations and visitors began arriving in earnest.
Soon, that empty 15 acres, housing a trailer, turned into the peaceful setting I was sitting in that Sunday morning.
At exactly 9:30, the service began in the large, 6,700 square-foot hall, where five monks dressed in long golden robes sat on the floor before a dozen guests.
One monk calmly rang a tinkling bell, another lightly tapped upon a drum, and a third monk chanted rhythmically.
Since I don’t speak Vietnamese, I did not know what was being said, but I knew that the sounds of the bell, the drum, and the chanting were relaxing.
Whiffs of various incense candles filled the air, giving the Buddhist ceremony an almost dreamlike feeling.
After a short while, I backed out of the hall but not before noticing how the large ceiling was painted.
Pale blue panels with bright puffy clouds. It was like looking up into the heavens themselves.
I walked over to the sculpture; Joshua Tran had created of Abbott Phap sitting upon the John Deere tractor. The Abbott sculpture was smiling and waving his right hand as if to point out how happy he had been in building this most welcoming spot in the desert.
A young woman and her family were reading the details about the center and the sculpture.
Her name was Yen. The family was on their way to Las Vegas via Bakersfield.
“A little off track,” I stated.
“It is our first visit here,” Yen said. “We had to see it. We were surprised to find this center in the middle of the desert.”
I believe most people stumble onto the well-manicured grounds on purpose or not.
“All this desert and suddenly beautifully trimmed treed gardens.”
“Feels like a private oasis,” I replied.
“That can be shared by all,” Yen said.
We parted, me back to my vehicle and Yen and her family back for the jaunt to Las Vegas.
Buddhist or not, the meditation center is necessary for anyone wanting a few moments of silence and tranquility.
And who doesn’t need a bit of that?
For more information: https://www.thienvienchannguyen.org/lichsu.php
John can be contacted at, beyersbyways@gmail.com
This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: Stop and explore the Buddhist Meditation Center in Adelanto
