People And Their Outer Shells

 In the mid 50′s, a monastery was to be relocated to make room for a new highway.  The monks arranged for a crane to come and move the “Clay” Buddha to its new location.  When the crane started to lift the statue, it was much heavier than expected and it began to crack. 

Wanting to protect the priceless shrine, the monks lowered it back down and decided to wait until the next day to bring more powerful equipment.  To add insult to injury, the rains came so the monks lovingly covered the statue with tarps to keep the moisture away.  In the dark of night, the head monk took his flashlight and went out to make sure the Buddha was adequately covered.  When the light of the flashlight shone into the crack of the clay, he saw a glimmer…a reflection of something underneath that shroud of clay.  He immediately started to carefully chisel away shards of clay to find that the glimmer grew brighter.  Hours later, and all the clay removed…he was in the presence of a Buddha made of solid gold.  It now resides in The Temple of the Golden Buddha in Bangkok, Thailand. 

 Historians believe that over three hundred years ago, the Burmese army planned an attack to invade Thailand.  At the time, the country was known as Siam.  The Siamese monks were in possession of the most amazing Buddha statue.  The statue is over 10 feet tall and weighs in excess of 2 1/2 tons.  It is made of solid gold and is valued today at $200 MILLION dollars.  The monks were determined to protect the shrine that meant so much to them.  While it was priceless to them for reasons that transcend money; they knew that the Burmese would stop at nothing to steal the statue because of its tremendous monetary value.  They covered the Golden Buddha with 12 inches of clay knowing that the warriors would totally ignore it and think it worthless.  Sadly, the monks were slaughtered in the invasion and the secret of the Golden Buddha stayed hidden for two centuries.  The Buddha itself though, remained safe.

 Much in the same way, to protect ourselves, we start layering on all these protective coatings. We do this to protect us from being hurt by others. We do this to avoid showing our true selves for whatever reasons. Over time, we become so used to this protection, we actually become someone we’re not. We develop into what others wish us to be.

 The simple truth is; We are each a Golden Buddha. We each have a golden inside.

Throughout our lives, we are told so much and so many things that these impressions begin to layer false identities onto our shiny souls. Eventually, we each develop a “clay” casing over our true self and begin to believe that we are a clay Buddha, not the golden one. Then, for some of us, something comes along and cracks our casing:  an injury, a divorce, a financial setback, a death, a major life change. Something so big it shakes us and rattles a part of us loose. It is only then that we can see the golden spirit beneath the layers of old, hardened stories.

If you or someone you love needs a little help to chisel away the clay so that the gold can shine then you don’t have to look very far. It has always been in you. Visit me at darrell-janssen.com