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.

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