Category: justice

I once heard a story about a golden Buddha statue designed in the 13th-14th century, which was covered in stucco. It was kept in that state and forgotten for almost 200 years and housed in a building with a tin roof. A new temple was built in 1955, where the Buddha was to be placed. During the move to the new location it fell hard on the ground. The fall caused the stucco to crack, revealing the hidden gold underneath. The golden statue had been covered over to prevent it from being stolen, as its worth was close to 250 million dollars. This remarkable piece is on display in a temple built for it.

The image of a stucco Buddha, is one that can be overlooked and dismissed. The texture is rough, hard and brittle and is not appealing to the eye. In this case it was used to cover and hide the priceless work of art and perhaps the spirit within. One cannot dismiss the metaphor in this historical find. How often do we walk around hidden inside our stucco, not realizing the gold underneath? Our creator crafted us from the finest material, in her image, yet there is a rough, harden exterior that conceals our beauty. The stucco of life is often layers lies, rejection, abandonment, abuse, and victimization by others; until there is no memory of the precious one. Some never “fall” or “see” what is enclosed deep within, but stay within the tin building, so fragile and weak, yet feeling safety. A few topple and fall hard. One who has fallen and cracks, fearing death, or worse exposure, discovers the truth. What lies underneath, has been there all along, the priceless, original creation;  the golden one. The journey to find this golden one requires companions who carry, support and love the hard, rough, stucco exterior until one day the golden self is on display, in all its glory.