New Life in a New Temple

July 2, 2007

Author: Frederick Melo

Source: The Buddhist Channel

http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=62,4413,0,0,1,0

Hampton, Minn. (USA) -- His parents had divorced. Classmates picked on him because of his lanky build, his name and ethnicity. His grades hit bottom, and a funk seemed to hang over every moment at school, tempting him to drop out.

But when Kunmony Hang's guidance counselor suggested he see a therapist, the sophomore from Lakeville South High School had his own ideas. Instead, he would study to become a Buddhist monk.

"I went through some hard times," said Hang, 15, walking in the shadow of the Watt Munisotaram, Minnesota's largest Cambodian Buddhist temple, an orange monk's robe draped around his thin frame.

The temple, 60 feet tall and elaborately decorated from end to end, has become a spiritual wellspring for Hang, a novice monk living among seven Buddhist scholars. This week, its doors also will open to the general public, inviting a rare peek into a culture that faced brutal oppression at the hands of Cambodian leader Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge.

Under construction since 2002, the $1.59 million structure on Minnesota 50 in rural Hampton, about three miles east of Farmington, is said to be among the largest - if not the largest - of the 84 Cambodian Buddhist temples in America. A smaller temple operates in Rochester, Minn.