The is a true story of a magnificent Buddha statue. This was a solid gold statue that measured nearly sixty feet high and was valued by all – a sacred place to pray. The monks in the town gained advanced knowledge that they were likely going to be invaded. Surely they surmised that the invaders would destroy their prized Buddha and take the valuable gold. Being a peaceful lot, what would they do? They decided to disguise the magnificent structure in mud and mortar. The great god had become a cement statue.
Soon the invaders came and they paid no attention to plain looking earthen statue – the plan had worked. In time they left, and the town folk left the statue with its protective disguise. Soon everyone involved with covering up the golden Buddha passed and no one knew of the fantastic riches until one day a young monk was praying by the side of it and noticed a tiny chip of earthen cement near his feet. He closely inspected the section of the Buddha nearest him and found a tiny sparkle of bright gold. He poked away the mortar debris and discovered that treasure that had always been there.
Quickly he ran into the temple and summoned the other monks. The stopped what they were doing and ran out to inspect the ordinary looking statue. To their amazement, once they started chipping away, they discovered the young monk was correct, the statue was solid gold. Soon they had removed all the mortar and restored the magnificent golden statue to its origin state where it now sits in Bangkok, Thailand. Thousands upon thousands of devotees and tourists now enjoy it in all its splendor.
In many ways, we are like that golden Buddha with our magnificent loving nature and power covered by ordinary layers of fear. Like the villagers in the story, over generations and years, we have covered our authentic self against the fear of destruction with protective plates, false bravado, and fear-based disguises. At first, our intention was to protect ourself from pain, but that came at the expense of distancing us from love. We been at fashioning this cover for so long that we, too, have forgotten of the preciousness that lies within each and every one of us. Our adaption cost us the realization of our inner love – our little slice of godliness. Like the villagers, we used our facade to fool others and the deception eventually has fooled us as well.
The good news is that precious golden Buddha or love still resides in all of us – it is only hidden and never goes away. It does not matter how long your facade has been there, our awakening happens as soon as we get a glimpse of the gold beneath it. Once discovered our golden loving nature can be instantly recovered to just as pure a state as God or source energy created it. Just as those invaders who marched through that village, so too have the invaders of fear passed through. Our journey may have been detoured, but it has always been intact just waiting to again be re-discovered. Like the golden Buddha, our authentic self lives!
Has your life been a nightmare? If it has been even if only at times, remember that nightmares are never real and we only have to awaken to leave them. Awakening can be easy and peaceful or sudden and jarring, but isn’t it worth the unsettling just to wake up?
As a people and a planet, we have fallen asleep with that earthen Buddha clutched in the bony grip of fear. Not realizing our authentic self is painful and the Universe will keep providing us clues and lessons until we chip away at our protective fear-based layers and embrace our loving self. If we are not living according to our highest self, we will continue to feel pain, struggle, and fear. In an effort to keep pain away from our heart, we have also blocked love and joy. All of that is an illusion based on the armor we have been wearing and showing the World. While illusion is always painful, the truth is both healing and liberating.
So let’s say your world is falling apart. You are disillusioned. Well, congratulations, disillusionment is just what you need because it is the dis-empowerment of illusion. It is not your world that falling apart, but simply your illusions. This is the necessary step to recovering truth. It means that falsehood has been destroyed and truth awaits, and truth is always healing. Only illusions are painful so rejoice that your journey is getting back on track. The pain you experience is like the chipping away of the plaster from the golden Buddha. The worthless facades are crumbling to reveal your hidden treasure. The coverup is over and your rebirth has begun!
You have been teased and tantalized by the cheap dreams of society and others. When you dare to live in the spirit of power rather than victimhood, in love over fear, and focus upon creating peace more than building defenses, you leave the nightmare of fear and the reality of love unfolds. Many of the things you’ve spent time, energy, attention, and money toward may become pleasingly meaningless, and you’ll be on track for a more fulfilling journey.
So when are you going to face the cheap plaster of your fears and restore the joy and love that has been with you all along? How about now? Isn’t it time that your golden Buddha basks in the sunlight?
