On that trip we stopped at the Monastery of St. John.
On this road trip we will visit Chagdud Gonpa, near Weaverville, California, then wind our way through the mountains, past Natural Bridge, and on to the St. Herman Monastery near Platina.
The Chagdud Gonpa Center is a Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhist retreat. I wanted to go see the prayer wheels. At 12 feet tall, the fifteen wheels contain thin paper inscribed with billions of Buddhist prayers. If the papers were unrolled, they would stretch from here to Denver.
It was not hard to find the Chagdud Gonpa Center, right off a dirt road at Junction City, just past Weaverville. See the map below, and the Chagdud Gonpa Home link. Walking up, the grounds framed by the snow covered peaks of the Trinity Alps, the brightly snapping prayer flags and painted stupas, this is a place that almost seems ripped out of Tibet and plunked down in the middle of the Northern California mountains.
We walked around the lake, listened to the wind in the chimes as the prayer flags fluttered, and then wandered over to the prayer wheels themselves. The big wheels rotate endlessly, driven by motors, and are surrounded by smaller ones you can spin by hand. It is somehow mesmerizing, peaceful.
Past the lake is the retreat center itself, with the prayer carpets, rolled up scrolls, and Buddhist shrines and figurines. I love the goddess with the arms. Many arms. She looks like an interesting "friend."
The center makes their own butter lamps, which they have burning in various places. During the day they gleam in the sunlight; I can only imagine it on a cold night, with hundreds of lit lamps.
My favorite part is the piles of painted rocks, near the shrine in the woods. I just love those rocks... I had an urge to stack them, but resisted. But they are beautiful. I think they could make a killing selling those rocks.
To St. Herman, via the massacre site:
After a few peaceful hours we headed back on highway 299 towards Weaverville, and then turned south on highway 3 towards Hayfork. Before we got into Hayfork we turned south onto the Wildwood road. As we drove along the road, we looked for Dobbins Gulch Road (also County Road 302, or USFS road 31N19, Bridge Gulch Road) which had a sign directing us to the Natural Bridge. This was the site of an 1852 Indian massacre, in which 150 innocent Wintu people were killed. (See map below.)
After hiking around the area, we continued to Wildwood, stopping at the bar for a beer and a chat with the owner, then on to the town of Platina.
About three or five miles up Beegum Road (the dirt road, at the highway 36 - Platina-Redding Road intersection) we came upon the St. Herman Monastery, which is related to the Monastery of St. John from last week. You can tell because of the ambiance, and the distinctive "Triple-Crossed Cross" which is a dead giveaway.
Walking into this peaceful place is like going to Russia, though I think they might actually be influenced by the Romanian and Greek Orthodoxies and belong to the Serbian church group or whatever. You can try to figure it out from the Wiki article. Hey, I am not a theologian, but I do appreciate a good, meditative place, filled with art, which reminds me of places I have been in Europe.
They make and sell these beeswax candles, which they also use in their services, so the room is filled with a mix of smoke, waxy smell, and things like eucalyptus leaves. It lends a surreal quality to the light entering.
One of the interesting things is a back room, sort of a chapel, that is a work in progress. They were painting the saints and cousins on the walls and ceilings, and the work stopped, so there are outlines of where they will be one day. In this room are the "relics," pieces of bone, hair and tidbits of flesh from the saints. I hear that in the old days you could "purchase" a relic from ROme for agreed upon donation goals. Some are supposed to have magic powers, others just remind you of who is who.
At any rate, do they have a good collection of the big names: Mary, Thomas and John to name a few. Not to brag, but I saw two whole Popes, under glass, in Rome, a nun in a showcase in Assisi, and two skulls in a church in France. So these little bits and pieces are nice, but I like the first class relics.
As a side note, I sometimes wonder how big these people were? They have pieces of themselves all over the place!
This is truly another unique place to visit.