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Tibet in Hollywood
 | | Three
Tibetan monks construct a Shi-Tro sand mandala for universal peace at
Lucy’s El Adobe Cafe in Hollywood under the watchful eye of
restaurateur Lucy Casado. Construction continues through April 12. |
By TONY CASTRO, Columnist 07.APR.04
When
several dozen Tibetan monks wearing cardinal robes and gold undershirts
traipsed across Melrose Avenue from the direction of Paramount Studios
into Lucy’s El Adobe Cafe, a diner took notice but assumed what many
others might have in Hollywood.
“Hey, Lucy,” the diner said to restaurateur Lucy Casado. “It looks like you’ve got some more extras from Paramount.”
The
real-life Tibetan monks were actual friends of Casado and her late
husband Frank, who at that time had invited them to dinner to celebrate
a new kinship that had developed over near tragedy and apparent fate.
Only
weeks earlier, Lucy Casado had found herself frantically praying over
the injured body of her oldest son, James, who had been badly hurt in a
traffic accident — hurtled from a pickup coming over Laurel Canyon.
As she meditated in an altar covered with candles and religious icons in one of the bedrooms of her home, Casado had a vision.
“I saw monks praying and chanting for my son.”
James
recovered to full health, and the vision stayed with Casado, who sought
out and befriended the monks accompanying the Dalai Lama during a visit
to Los Angeles.
That began a relationship between Casado and
the Buddhist monks that has lasted almost decades, during which time
the restaurateur has introduced them to numerous Hollywood figures.
Through
Casado, the monks have been the guests of the late director Gene
Roddenberry at Paramount during the filming of one of his Star Trek
films.
Casado’s daughter Patricia also took them to visit her
friend George Lucas at his Skywalker Ranch in Northern California where
the director and the monks through interpreters discussed the making of
Star Wars and the politics of Tibet, from which the Dalai Lama has been
in exile since 1959.
As for son James, Casado is convinced that
his full recovery was in part the result of spiritual intervention —
prayers from the monks.
Today, James Casado runs his own
construction business, but his personal devotion has been toward
remodeling the family restaurant, which is celebrating its 40th
anniversary this year.
Lucy’s El Adobe enjoys near legendary
status in Hollywood, not only because of the celebrities that often
dine there but also because of its history and connection to the making
of numerous stars.
Musicians including Linda Ronstadt, Glenn
Frey and Don Henley of The Eagles, Jimmy Webb, Jackson Browne and many
others all have credited the Casados for feeding and keeping their
hopes going when they were struggling, undiscovered artists.
The
restaurant also became a Hollywood destination for liberal Democratic
politicians, while mining for political contributions in California —
and it became known as the unofficial Southern California office of
former Gov. Jerry Brown, during his tenure from 1974 to 1982.
It
became a California political-cultural footnote that the Casados played
matchmakers in the Jerry Brown-Linda Ronstadt romance — a
much-ballyhooed relationship in the news media which some political
experts at the time blamed in part for derailing Brown’s 1980
presidential campaign.
Today, Lucy’s El Adobe is a far cry from
the original, with James Casado having expanded the restaurant to three
times its original size.
The new El Adobe Cafe includes a piano
room, with a baby grand whose keys have been played by the numerous
artists Casado has befriended over the years, and a room adorned by
statues of St. Francis of Assisi and St. Anthony as well as likenesses
of the Virgen de Guadalupe and the Dalai Lama.
It is this room
that Casado has set aside the past two weeks for the making of the
colorful sand mandala, which has been attracting a steady trek of
visitors, much like any other Hollywood roadside attraction.
On
Monday, Casado will host an invitation-only reception for the competed
mandala, which, after all the tedious art work, will then be dismantled
on Wednesday.
“The mandala is beautiful,” says Casado, “but the
tradition is that sand will be returned to sand — to symbolize the
impermanence of life.”
 
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