John R. Beyer
I have visited the Buddhist meditation center near Adelanto several times.
A few years ago with my friend Paul. We had driven by the center many times when heading north or south along Highway 395, so we wandered around this beautiful property out of curiosity.
When I first drove by it many years ago, it was just open, dry land, like much of the high desert.
But over the years, more and more mobile homes have been seen, and each year more and more improvements have been made to the 15 acres of land that the center now occupies.
Finally, on our way back from somewhere, Paul and I decided to stop by and check out the place.
It was worth stopping by.
A long cement walkway surrounded by tall green trees and other lush plants greeted us. Finally, a sculptural pergola appeared covering a snow-white statue, at whose feet offerings from visitors were respectfully placed.
“Hey,” I said. “This place is nice and very quiet.”
“Don’t call me ‘dude,'” Paul replied. He doesn’t like being called “dude.”
“Okay, dude.”
We met one grounds manager and couldn’t help but talk about how wonderful the Buddhist monks were to him and his family.
“I’m not a Buddhist, though,” he said. “They treat us like family. I love taking care of the grounds here. It’s the best job I’ve ever had.”
My second visit to the center was to meet Abbot Bhikkhutik Dan Pap, the mastermind behind this site. Mr. Abbott’s assistant, Yogi sculptor Joshua Tran, arranged the meeting.
He was a very thoughtful and kind man and reached out to me via email as he was away from the center to do a little personal meditation in the mountains.
Tran himself has an interesting background. After her graduation, she 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 statue.
He then visited Then Bien Tran Nguyen, the official name of Adelanto’s Buddhist meditation center, and created a sculpture of Abbott Pan sitting on top of a John Deere tractor.
It was to immortalize the fact that Mr. Abbott Pan was the developer of the center and spent a considerable amount of time working on tractors. At the same time, he built a magnificent retreat in the vast desert north of Adelanto.
My lovely wife, Laureen, accompanied me on this second trip.
“I have a few questions for Abbott,” I said to Laureen.
She glanced at me as we drove towards the centre.
“stop it.”
“What aren’t you doing?” I asked.
Laureen looked at me. “Don’t ask him where Costello is.”
Now, there are two interview questions.
It was early Saturday morning, and as we drove onto the property past the waving flag at the entrance to Highway 395, Laureen nodded.
“That’s beautiful.”
I knew she would think so. Anyone driving downtown down a long driveway lined with streetlights will think the same thing.
This area is home to many buildings in the traditional pagoda style.
Research shows that recognizable stylized buildings began in China in the 3rd century BC. The history of this building dates back to pagodas that were used as monuments to store sacred relics and writings.
Buddhist missionaries adopted this architectural style to honor Buddhist relics.
Each structure on the main site looked as if the edge of its roof was moving upwards toward the sky.
The effort, time, and love it took for Abbott Fapp and those who assisted him in constructing the site must have been extreme, especially on the barren land that makes up the Mojave Desert.
In an October 15, 2011 article by Daily Press reporter Natasha Lindstrom, Abbott Fap is quoted as to why he wants to build a meditation center.
“I want to contribute this to the community. I want someone to have happiness and beauty.”
After visiting the center, he explained that he wanted people to experience it by saying, “I want people to be able to walk easily, be healed, and feel peace in their hearts.”
Laureen and I met Abbot Fapp, who was standing just a few yards west of the main hall where the service was held.
Abbott Fapp is small, only about 5 feet and 1 inch tall, but as I interacted with him he seemed much larger.
“Everyone is welcome here,” he told me. Although the center is Vietnamese Buddhism, everyone is welcome to visit and enjoy the tranquility. “Koreans and others come here.”
He then explained that I was welcome to the service scheduled for 9:30 a.m. the next day.
We said our goodbyes and strolled around the grounds. I purposely kept the meeting very short because Joshua Tran had explained that Mr. Abbott Pan was in good health but that a long visit would be tiring.
After another 30 minutes we got into the car and drove away in silence.
“It’s a great place, very peaceful,” Laureen said as I turned south on Highway 395.
I just nodded in agreement.
The next day I returned to the center at 9am
I was seated on the east side of the richly decorated tower. In the pagoda was a huge reclining reclining Buddha covered with a golden blanket.
Dozens, if not hundreds, of tall green trees of all kinds cover the grounds of the center, and countless birds are chirping away among them all. .
It was as if my existence was being doubted. “What is this man doing in our forest?”
According to research, Abbott Phap served in the South Vietnamese Army and was captured by North Vietnamese forces in 1975. After being released two years later, the former soldier and Buddhist decided to settle in the United States.
He moved to the High Desert in the early 2000s, where he bought 15 acres and lived in a mobile home for nearly seven years while slowly building his dream of a meditation center.
His efforts attracted attention from all over the country, and soon donations and visitors began to arrive in earnest.
Soon, that 15 acres of vacant land that housed the trailer transformed into the tranquil setting where I sat on a Sunday morning.
At exactly 9:30 a.m., the service began in the large 6,700-square-foot hall, where five monks in long golden robes sat on the floor in front of 12 guests.
One monk quietly tinkled a bell, another tapped a drum, and a third rhythmically chanted sutras.
I don’t speak Vietnamese, so I couldn’t understand what they were saying, but I found the sounds of bells, drums, and sutras to be relaxing.
The scent of various incense sticks wafted around, giving the Buddhist service a dream-like atmosphere.
After a while I backed away from the hall and noticed how the large ceiling was painted.
A pale blue panel with bright fluffy clouds. It was like looking up at heaven itself.
I walked towards the sculpture. Joshua Tran painted Abbott Fapp sitting on a John Deere tractor. Abbott’s sculpture had him smiling and waving his right hand, as if to point out how happy he was to build this most welcoming place in the desert.
A young woman and her family were reading details about the center and the sculptures.
Her name was Yen. Her family was on their way to Las Vegas via Bakersfield.
“I went a little off track,” I said.
“This is my first time visiting here,” Yen said. “We had to see it. We were amazed that there was this center in the middle of the desert.”
I think most people stumble upon well-maintained grounds, whether intentionally or not.
“This desert is suddenly a beautifully landscaped garden of trees.”
“It feels like a private oasis,” I replied.
“It’s something that everyone can share,” Yen said.
We parted ways, I got back in the car, and Yen and her family headed back for their excursion to Las Vegas.
Meditation centers are necessary for anyone seeking silence and tranquility, whether Buddhist or not.
And who doesn’t need some of that?
For more information: https://www.thienvienchannguyen.org/lichsu.php
John can be reached at beyersbyways@gmail.com.
