An admission that he once led "a fairly degenerate lifestyle" might be surprising and hopeful from a man who believes he is destined to become a Buddha -- an enlightened one who lives in perfect peace and harmony.
Like many others, Steven Wass said he looked in all the wrong places for fulfillment. It seemed inevitable, he said, that he would experience a life devoid of peace and happiness. Then at the age of 28 or 29, he picked up a book on Buddhism.
Today, Wass is known as Gen-la Samden Gyatso, a "realized" Buddhist teacher, who is deputy spiritual director of the New Kadampa Tradition, which describes itself as Buddhism designed for Westerners.
Adherents of the New Kadampa Tradition believe it is just the ticket for people living in mega-urban regions like Southern California, where frantic lifestyles and a consumer- and entertainment-driven culture promise much but can leave one unfulfilled.
"It seems in Los Angeles there's a lot of busyness," Gen-la, 45, said in an interview this week at the Khandakapala Buddhist Center, which opened two years ago in what used to be a Pentecostal church at Blake Avenue and Altman Street in the Elysian Valley area known as "Frog Town." In the background, the shouts of children playing at a nearby school could be heard. The center is a few blocks from the Golden State Freeway.
"I believe in an environment such as this [Los Angeles], we can develop peace of mind," he said.
Inside the meditation room, a plush carpet and cushions have replaced church pews. Instead of a pulpit, a statue of a sitting Buddha, its left hand upturned as a sign of an enlightened one, is the focal point.
Gen-la was in Los Angeles earlier this week on the last leg of an eight-city American tour to speak about how to find the inner source of peace and happiness. Before he left for Japan, he joined in planting a bodhi tree in the center's Peace Garden. The tree is a symbol of inner peace and enlightenment.
Most religions contain such goals. Buddhists speak of "mindfulness" as a path to inner peace and fulfillment. Christians speak of "practicing the presence of God." Jews say they are blessed when they help others and redress injustice in real ways.
Their approaches and beliefs differ. But few would likely take issue with Gen-la's observation that many people search in the wrong places.
