Driving down a rough and dusty Northern Texas road one would not expect to find tucked away at the end of a side road an ornate and ancient looking Chinese entrance to a Buddhist temple. Yet, that is you may find if you take the correct dirt road. In fact, another example of everything in Texas being bigger is exemplified within the Buddhist temple located in Keller, Texas.
Within the walls you’ll find worn out homes with no signs of life within the dusty windows. Two dogs lie resting in the shade from the Texas heat - the only signs of breath. Tucked behind trees are shrines and statues honoring the leaders of the Buddhist faith. Walking down the concrete path to the Buddhist temple that contains the largest statue of Buddha in the United States the details and dragon statues take shape with each step - adding to the mystery of what was inside. Some of the paint on the dragons has worn, and the butterflies hovering around our heads were extra large - everything is bigger in Texas. Yet, still, no sign of monk life.
Steve, a friend, notices down the opposite direction of the path we took to the temple, two kids on bikes. Mary (my cousin through marriage), Steve and I rushed down to try and find someone who may speak English regarding setting up a dialogue with a Buddhist monk for The Way of the Master Radio show - we did not expect to find smiling children speaking fluent English.
At the opposite end of the walkway sits an old gymnasium with a stage on one end of the hall. Fold-up tables contain the students school work, while at the opposite end of the gymnasium is an old dining room set with a dark oak table with six chairs - ornate decor, of course.
The children are eager to speak to us, and smile during our greeting, as if they had not seen visitors for some time. We ask to see inside the temple as well as have a conversation with a monk. They explain that the monks work at night and go to sleep at noon, so all the monks were now asleep, and despite my attempts to have the children wake one of th
em - it didn't happen. However, they were more than happy to show us the temple and the largest Buddhist statue in the United States - we gladly accepted their invitation.
At the door of the Temple we took our shoes off, and after a few rounds of photographs with the children we were ready to see inside. As the door was opened by one of the ten year old children, the first thing I expect to see was the golden Buddha towering to the ceiling of the 20 plus foot ceiling, however, grabbing all of our attention through the doorway was the life-like figure of a Buddhist monk sitting cross legged with a jolly smile flowing from his wax face. The dark spiritual nature of the room hit us like a damp mist as we enter the temple, and the 20 to 25 foot golden Buddha smiled at us.
The kids look at our faces to read our expressions and we could tell they revered the temple, yet feared it as well. Which is perfectly understandable; the wax figure of the founder of the temple is so life-like, it stood far more impressive than the largest Buddha statue in the U.S.
The children explain that the spirits come to life at midnight, and that the lamp next to the human figure comes on by itself around midnight - along with his levitation above the floor of the temple. I stay to ask the children about their beliefs and the possibility of an interview on Thursday through who would be the proposed interpreter - a 13 year old child. They agree to the interview and promise to check on its arrangements, while we are lead back to their gymnasium classroom where they entertained us with disco lights and rap music - the perfect accompaniment to their break dancing and gymnastics.
The children were absolutely sweet and hospitable. Yet, there was a sad reality to the existence in the Buddhist compound. The place didn't represent truth and Buddhism doesn't solve life's most precious questions "Why do we die?", and "Where do I go when I die?", plus "How can I be forgiven for all my sin?" etc, while the illusion of a pious simple life blinded them to their sin against the God of Israel. I was very grateful to spend a day at with the young children. They gladly heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ and how they could be forgiven for sinning against a Holy God. A few days later, I went back and brought them all candy. The children ran to my car with giant smiles.
