I Love You and Buddha Too.

On a wet and rainy Saturday, December 3^rd, 2011, a group of young (and some not so young) theologians ventured to the Deer Park Buddhist Center in Oregon, WI. I was a member of the escapade.

Upon arriving at the center, I missed the turn to the driveway. Some small wooden fences and a 1ft sign reading ‘Deer Park’ were all that noted the center from a mass of trees. From that alone, I knew this was going to be a place of peace, tranquility, and seclusion.

My first sight of the center was a view of the main temple; it was spectacular. A large eight-spoke wheel was affixed atop the temple (the primary symbol of Buddhism, in reference to the Buddha Shakyamuni’s turning of the wheel of the Dharma during his first sermon at the original Deer Park in Sarnath), flanked by a deer perched on either side. It was ornate, colorful, and grandiose; it really did look stylistically Indian. I was blown away that this temple could be located in Wisconsin!

  

As I approached the temple, I noticed two buildings to my right. These buildings were definitely of Wisconsin Architecture, one was a ranch-style and the other looked like something you may find in my affluent neighborhood in my Milwaukee suburb. It was very strange. I assumed that was where the monastic community here resided. There were some cars parked and I even noticed some white Christmas lights hung from the Ranch. Hmm, I thought to myself, the monks and nuns here aren’t without some of the luxuries of life. I don’t know why, but I guess I was expecting them to be full-renouncers, as we learned the Sangha, was in class—owning nothing but a rice bowl and some robes on their back. I suppose that was a bit absurd, as our culture is nothing like that of India, Nepal, or Tibet. Hindu sannyasins, Buddhist monks, and renoucers of all kinds are well accepted in those cultures. Beggars are a part of everyday life. Here, however, no such luck. Monastics in Wisconsin would have to find ways to support themselves more.

Our group entered the waiting area, and I was struck again by the interior of the temple. It was sleek, freshly polished, and modern! Such duality in this temple! It definitely looked like a rich family’s home. Leather couches, drinking fountains, fire extinguishers, it was all so odd. The only piece of evidence that this was a Buddhist temple rather than a CEO’s resort was a small sign by the stairs stating, “Temple THIS way”. I lolled.

We walked up a flight of finely polished wood stairs, and I was one of the last in line. At the top, I saw that the others had begun to take off their shoes and place them of a rack. I did the same and smiled at this Eastern custom. As I was hanging up my coat and camera bag, a nun came to meet us. She was our guide for the day.

 

She welcomed us to the temple and informed us about three spinning, wooden, polished, inscribed cylinders in the waiting area. She told us they were prayer turners and the prayer etched on them was one for peace; if we turned them, we would get all the good karma produced by the prayer. Needless to say, I proceeded to spin them. J

It was at this point that our nun brought us into the temple proper. We rounded a corner and the sight I saw immediately stunned me. The temple was beautiful. An enormous, golden depiction of the Buddha, sitting in lotus position on a blooming lotus flower, was affixed in the center of the shrine. Light twinkled, reflecting and refracting off of gold and crystal. About a dozen other smaller golden statues flanked the primary one of the Buddha, not to mention the 20-or-so foot-long ones lining the very top of the shrine. On the stage, I saw incredibly embellished rugs. A central block rested in the middle of the stage, with a large portrait of His Holiness, the 14^th Dalai Lama sitting atop it. I estimated that this his “throne” for any visits he would make to the Center. The room itself was huge, the walls covered with tapestries, rows of sitting cushions lining the floor, and the entire rear wall filled with shelves of additional cushions. Seemingly endless rows of shelves flanked either side of the shrine, filled with—we later learned—all of the sacred scriptures and commentaries in the entire Vajrayana Buddhist religion.

We all chose a cushion to sit on and our nun began to lead us through a discussion. She told us the history of the Center—how Geshe Sopa fled Tibet after China attacked and was invited to teach at UW-Madison. When His Holiness the Dalai Lama was invited to join Geshe Sopa for a ritual celebration, the Center was built as a location for that. We were sitting the newer, the second temple, finished in 2008. Our nun raved about how ecologically friendly the new temple was. It used very little energy and was highly sustainable. From my own admission, I noted that the air ventilation system in the ceiling was identical to that of the also highly sustainable Starin Residence Hall here at UW-Whitewater. While I sat cross-legged on my cushion, I noticed the marble floors were comfortably warm. Perhaps some geo-thermal floor heating was at work.

As the nun detailed the story of Siddhartha Gautama’s life to us, I examined her. She was of age, maybe early 60’s, like someone who was a recent retiree. A sort of inner-peace characterized her; she was calm, collected, and she never made unnecessary movements. Yet, when she spoke, she was incredibly animated and enthusiastic. She wore no jewelry, sported a shaved head, and wore a long, wool-ish burgundy skirt and an insulated burgundy vest. Her attire was very simple, it was not flashy, and in fact looked very comfortable. Despite her increasing age, she moved with the vigor, lightness and fluidity of a bunny or a swan. At one point, she walked back and forth, and she did so on her toes, her heels never touching the ground. I pondered on whether this came from her inner-peace or if perhaps she was a ballerina or a jazz dancer in her pre-ordainment life.

After some Q+A with our hostess, she showed us the rest of the Center grounds. Some ways back behind the main temple was the original temple, completed in 1979. It was empty and quite run down. Nearby, our tour concluded with a circumambulation around a recreation of a Stuppa.