Strange things happen in the desert

I've been to a few strange encounters before but today's will surely get to my top 5. It  was a slow day for weddings so I decided to have my computer checked at a shop on the north side of town. As I suspected, I'm going to get the run around so, it didn't work out.. I headed back to the freeway and decided to keep going north to an unexpected trip outside Vegas. The objective: listen to Pandora til I get to Indian Springs then back. I got to a native American artifact shop and met an old lady who ran the shop, she was quite nice to give me a brief history of the items in her shop. I learned a lot from the quick tour on how different tribes use different tools and patterns and and all that kind of stuff.. I ended up with a cool looking blanket hecho by the Paiute folks just outside Clark county. Before I left the shop, I asked if she know a local spiritual person; kind of like the chief of the Cherokees who knows the laws of nature and use it to feel the vibes off of another person.

She said she doesn't.. I said thanks and head-off.. I missed the u-turn which would have took me back to town.. the next one led me to this..

It was nice and warm so I randomly take pictures of the mountains and stuff. I decided to step out and explore the dirt road I was in.

I got a lil carried away and parked to take some more pics.. I found a natural spring which this nice looking tree thrives from. I thought it was cool and refreshing to find such place in the desert.

And then there was a hippie looking woman who appeared from the bushes with a percussion instrument made out of leather stretched on a round shaped stick, walking towards me  with a smile.
She told me that the structure from about 500 yards away is actually a temple. She invited me over so she could tell me what it's all about. At this point, my curiosity kicked-in and I said let's go..

I forgot what kind this tree was, the woman who said my camera's nice but doesn't like to be photographed told me what kind it was.. and so.. on to the "temple"

And this is their mission statement "For the good of all, and the harm of none" and they end it with "Blessings on your journey" awesome!

and this is the view of the temple from the bushes

inside.. A statue of Buddha

And Hindu god statue 

but wait.. there's also a statue of mother Mary and an altar..

the view from one of the four openings of the structure

this is a real kick-back place !!! but whaat? no  beers allowed???

As I gather more information on how they came about, I learned that a wealthy woman back in the 1980's bought 5 acres of land, built the structure to have a place for people from all belief system to discourse about life and philosophy and beyond. I also learned that its an exclusive membership for women. Also, the temple could be used for wedding ceremonies as they use the place for women entering into marriage to contemplate and reflect (whoa! that's one heluva task for any woman!)prior to getting hitched. I thought its kind of neat.

The ceiling is made out of rings of cast-iron but not enclosed. The woman said the structure opens up into the heavens and through the four openings, embracing all the principal religions on Earth.. As my photo snapping was put to a halt to listen to what's being said, I found the teachings of their group was kind of cool as it could all be boiled down into just Loving everybody.. right?

they encourage and hope for this..

and that concluded my lil desert trip today. It's spiritual.

and by the way, I started the day by going to church to have some quiet time to meditate and pray.
I didn't know I'll be out 50 miles away in Indian Springs having a nice chat with a spiritual stranger.