The Peace Bell at the Mountain Spirit Center,
Tehachapi, California, USA.
"Living Together in Peace and Harmony" reads the inscription at the top of this magnificent bell. Below, "PEACE" in hundreds of languages encircles it and children from all over the world, wearing traditional costumes, and holding hands, dance around the bottom of the bell. Both the Peace Bell and the structure that houses it are painted by hand.
When I posted the picture of Rachael walking toward the temple a while back, Susan Kane asked how the temple came to be in this particular place.
I had heard that native people of this area held vision quests in the deep canyon where the center is located. And once you enter it, you just know it is a deeply spiritual place. How the Abbot found this place, I had no idea. I couldn't find their website, so I looked them up on Buddhism.org, and according to them, the Abbot had looked for a place in the mountains for this center for many years, and he finally decided on this land because it is: "a wonderful energy point according to oriental principles of geomancy."
The monks at the Mountain Spirit Center are very conscious of the environment; electricity is generated by solar and wind power, well water is used for irrigation, and no toxic chemicals are found at the Center.
If anyone is interested in reading my earlier accounts of visits to the Mountain Spirit Center, here are the links:
My friend Fran, aka fishducky, said in her comment above that she'd found a poorly made video of the Peace Bell on youtube. I checked it out and it was indeed not that well made, but if you want to watch it here's the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cZtQ2vReLk
Thank you, Fran, for taking the time to find the video. It has inspired me to step up close to the bell and take pictures of the children and Peace in all these languages, the next time I visit. Looking for Peace in the languages I know would be fun.
