The Golden Buddha

While on a trip to Thailand, my wife and I visited many famous Buddhist temples. One left an indelible impression in our hearts and minds.

It is called the Temple of the Golden Buddha. Inside is a huge ten-and-a-half foot Solid Gold Buddha - weighing over two-and-a half tons and valued at approximately $196 million.

Quite an awesome sight - the kindly gentle, yet imposing solid gold Buddha smiling down on us.

... Next to the Buddha was a large piece of clay and a page describing its history - back in 1957 a group of monks had to relocate a clay Buddha from their temple to a new location. During the journey the crane transporting the statue nearly broke under the strain and it started to rain.

The Buddha was covered with a tarp for the night. During this time one of the monks noticed a light shining out from a crack in the the clay.

He chipped away at the clay and as he chipped the gleam became bigger and bigger. Many hours of labour later, the monk stood face to face with an extraordinary solid gold Buddha.

Historians believe several hundred years before the monks had covered the Buddha with clay to keep their precious.

Buddha from being looted when the Burmese army invaded Thailand (then Siam). The Buddha remained intact until that fateful day in 1957.

As I flew home I began to think to myself, "We are all like the clay Buddha covered with a shell of hardness created out of fear, and yet underneath each of us is a 'golden Buddha', a 'golden Christ' or a 'golden essence', which is our real self.

Somewhere along the way, between the ages of two and nine, we begin to cover up our 'golden essence', our natural self.

Much like the monk with the hammer and the chisel, our task now is to discover our true essence once again."

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