It was late at night. I had just pulled into Chimayo, New Mexico. The streets were poorly lit; addresses and signs were difficult to see. I had been driving around for what seemed like hours, looking for an address. Finally, in desperation, I stopped the car, got out, and flagged someone down. A man stopped, but said he couldn't help me. I was at my wit's end. I turned around, staring frantically at the mailbox in front of me. To my surprise, I was right where I wanted to go.
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When we awaken spiritually, clarity arises. We discover that what we were seeking has always been with us, but now we see it. We may be surprised at how we had missed it now that it seems so obvious.
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In Bangkok, a golden Buddha sculpture stands 9'8" tall, weighs 5.5 tons, and is worth millions of dollars in gold. Buddhists revered the statute, possibly sculpted in the 1300s, for centuries. In 1757, the Burmese army invaded Thailand. The monks at the monastery hastily covered their Golden Buddha with plaster, painted and inlaid with bits of colored glass, to make it look of little or no value. During the invasion, the Burmese killed the monks, but the Golden Buddha was left.
In 1957, some monks were relocating the massive clay Buddha to another monastic site in Thailand. When moving it, one of the monks noticed a crack in the clay. He saw a golden light shining through the crack. He used a hammer and a chisel to chip away at the clay. Soon, the monks could see the sculpture was made of pure gold.
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People seek themselves in many ways and through many things. They find this search futile. They are, unknown to themselves, yearning for their true selves. That self has always supported their body, speech, and mind. When they discover they are that true self, they encounter what has always been the object of their search. We see they have always been home. They were looking for themselves.
Many of us who practice Buddhism say or chant the Metta (Compassion) Prayer (Mantra). Metta is a Pali word. It connotes love, friendliness, kindness, and compassion. In this prayer are these words or similar: "May all beings discover the light of their true nature." Our true nature is our true self. We are our true nature; all else is decoration. Realizing this is what we pray for all beings.
Finding this, we discover what things could never give us; we experience love for ourselves in harmony with our love for all beings. We are kinder beings to other beings. And we see we are the love we have sought for others to give us. Now, we meet love with love rather than relying on someone else to give us what we already have within us - and have always had within us.
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*(C) Brian K. Wilcox, 2024. Permission is given to use photographs and writings with credit given to the copyright owner.
*Brian's book is An Ache for Union: Poems on Oneness with God through Love. The book is a collection of poems Brian wrote based on wisdom traditions, predominantly Christian, Buddhist, and Sufi, with extensive notes on the poetry's teachings and imagery.
