GOLDEN ESSENCE

A couple visited the Temple Of Golden Buddha, in Bangkok and were shocked to see that the temple itself was very small, probably no larger than thirty feet by thirty feet, but as they entered, they were stunned by the presence of a ten-and-a-half-foot tall, solid gold Buddha. It was quiet an Awesome sight - the kindly gentle, yet imposing solid-gold Buddha smiling down at them.

As they were taking pictures while oohing and ahhing over the statue, they walked over to a glass case that contained a large piece of clay about eight inches thick and twelve inches wide and next to the glass case was a typewritten page describing the history of this magnificent piece of Art.

Back in 1957 a group of monks from a monastery had to relocate a clay Buddha from their temple to make room for the development of a highway through Bangkok. When the crane began to lift the giant idol, the weight of it was so tremendous that it began to crack. Since it was raining also the head monk decided to lower the statue back to the ground and cover it with a large canvas tarp to protect it from the rain. 

Later that evening he went to check on the Buddha to see if the Buddha was staying dry. He noticed a little gleam shining back and thought it was strange. As he took a closer look at the gleam of light, he wondered if there might be something underneath the clay. He went to fetch a chisel and a hammer and began to chip away the clay. As he knocked off shreds of clay, the little gleam grew brighter and bigger. Many hours of labor went by before the monk stood face to face with the extraordinary solid-gold Buddha.

It was believed that several hundred years ago the Burmese army was about to invade Thailand (then called Siam). The Siamese monks covered their precious golden Buddha with an outer covering of clay in order to keep their treasure from being looted by the Burmese. Unfortunately this well-kept secret remained intact until that fateful day in 1957.......

We all are 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 God', 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, may we all discover our true essence once again."