Kuan Yin Shrine near Adelanto

A new meditation center has been established near rural San Bernadino County by Venerable Thich Dang Phap. A 24-foot high marble statue of Kuan Yin, the Boddhisatva of Compassion,

Phap's goal is to build a monastery "that would draw Buddhist and others from across the nation".

"A wooden sign hopefully proclaims the Chan Nguyen Buddhist Meditation Center. But it is still a work in progress.

A recently built concrete walkway is lined with 22 empty pedestals. Seven-foot-tall statues that will adorn them sit a few inches away, still in their packing crates and wrapped in plastic. Two gazebos topped by giant fiberglass lotus flowers are under construction. Boxes with roof tiles sit nearby. The rest of the 15-acre site is mostly barren desert that Phap long ago cleared of chaparral.

Yet the shrine already is attracting Buddhists from Riverside and San Bernardino counties -- there are as many as 100,000 Buddhists in the Inland area -- and other parts of Southern California."