(2) Dakota Dream

We built the new monastery over a period of some eighteen 

months.  During that period I spent a lot of time overseeing the 

project, bunking in one of those trailers.  It took awhile getting 

started, in that I had to collaborate with a local architectural firm 

in Rapid City--especially when it came to considering and 

eventually purchasing cold weather building materials.  I also 

had to work with one of their architects when it came to the few 

tornado shelters we would install at the monastery.

But I am getting ahead of myself.  To begin, I divided the layout 

of the Dakota monastery into four sections, acknowledging the 

emphasis on the Four Directions so honored by the Plains Indians.  

The main entrance from the nearby trunk road was fortunately 

located at the East section.  This was important, because the 

East direction represents "Childhood."

Since monks come in all age groups, we really didn't want to see a

bad habit starting when it came to these representations regarding 

the Four Directions being connected with the subject of spiritual 

development.  For example the South direction represented the 

"Youth."  The West, the "Adult"  and the North, the "Elder."  

As it worked out, we planned for the novice and retreat quarters 

as well as classrooms to be placed in the East section, near the 

entrance.  And the monastic living quarters would be interspersed

throughout the other sections of the monastery.  

What proved challenging was the design of the buildings.  From

what I could glean the early Plains Indians lived in both the tipi 

and the earth lodge.  Working through, I designed the central 

chapel in a conical shape supported by strong struts.  As for the 

outside of the chapel, it was beige in color with various designs 

painted on it.  The designs were chosen by the monks living on 

the grounds.  As for the monastic lodgings, true to the configuration 

of the Indians' earth lodges, we designed round buildings painted 

different colors according to where they were situated.  The East 

area was yellow.  The South, red.  The West, a brown color 

in lieu of black.  And the North a creamy white.

In the midst of all this architectural activity there was another 

current stirring me towards a strange adventure.  Maybe it was

because I was sleeping in a strange bunk in a trailer, but over

a period of a few weeks I was having a recurring dream.  This

bothered me, since I never remembered having that kind of

dream before.  

Basically the dream' s setting had me standing in the midst 

of some ancient Indians--and they kept telling me to go see 

Crazy Horse.  When I first dreamt this, I just laughed to myself

upon waking.  But after the third such dream, I made mention

of it to a couple of the Dakota monks.  Older men they said I

should take this recurring dream seriously.  They mentioned

that often dreamwork is connected to the Spirit and one's

development spiritually, and perhaps I should begin such 

work with this recurring dream.  

Well, I had to laugh, wondering out loud who might Crazy

Horse be.  The Dakota monks were astounded that I didn't

know about Chief Crazy Horse, the great Sioux warrior who

lived during the 19th century.  I wondered aloud again, about

going to see him.  It was the monks' turn to laugh.  The dream

was obvious--I needed to go and visit the Crazy Horse

Memorial in the Black Hills.