If you build it, they will come

No, not a baseball diamond in an Iowa corn field, though perhaps just as far-fetched. In Adelanto, a high desert town founded by the guy who invented the electric iron, a 60-ton marble statue of Quan yin anchors a budding Buddhist meditation center. Louis Sahagun visited the man -- and monk --  behind the dream:

Monk Thich Dang "Tom" Phap's routine starts with early morning meditation and yard work. When 11 a.m. rolls around, there he is, sandal-shod and in orange robes, a gold shoulder clasp gleaming in the desert sun as he stands in prayer before the 60-ton white marble statue of Quan yin.

After lunch, he whacks weeds, washes the statue and naps. In the late afternoon, he has a dinner of soup and rice followed by meditation and prayer. At 9 p.m., Phap calls it a day.

"I pray for Quan yin to help everyone else in the world," said the 67-year-old monk, who lives in a modest trailer beside the statue. "Then I pray she helps me."

Reverently admiring the statue -- serene of face, with half-closed eyes and flowing robes -- he added in broken English, "Soon we will have grass and flowers and air-conditioning. This I believe. Yes!"

More about the man and the saint with magical powers in Louis' full story. A lovely photo gallery here.

--Veronique de Turenne

Photo: Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times