The Muddy Buddha
A remarkable short story about the Golden Buddha.
Unravelling the disguises and behavioural patterns that ultimately hinder connection and communication. How do you hide and limit yourself while living in plain sight?
To my consciously curious Floating Family 🍂
I hope this newsletter finds you healthy and luminous as the sun slowly softens its glow, melting the crisp autumn across our landscape. This month, I want to share a story with you that provoked the deep channels of my heart. I recently heard this story whilst studying the sacred art of connection and the subconscious barriers we unknowingly assemble; disguises and behavioural patterns that we adorn like beautiful tights—buttery soft and barely there, but concealing what lies beneath.
Many years ago in Thailand, a local temple stood proud as the home of an enormous Buddha statue. It was an incredible sculpture of grand scale, showing the distinct signs of old age. It was stained and worn from centuries of wild weather but harboured great reverence from local monks and Buddhists. Eventually, there came a time when the 500-year-old relic needed delicate relocating, as the monastery was being moved to another town. As the devoted monks and village locals began the gruelling and laborious work, a young monk noticed a crack in the clay exterior. He was surprised, no doubt, to see a vibrant golden light emanating from within.
Slowly and meticulously, the monks chipped away at the statue. Careful not to mark or destroy it. Lovingly they worked, patient with their chisels until eventually; they revealed a majestic golden Buddha from beneath the centuries of solidified soil. A ten-foot-tall, five-and-a-half tonne statue of pure solid gold! The villagers were utterly stunned and incredulous that such beauty had been concealed for all living memory. They wept in soulful mourning for the tragic loss of opportunities to show their love, worship, and gratitude. How could they have lived in the daily presence of such greatness and never even known it was there?
Hundreds of years prior, local monks were warned against a Burmese army coming to destroy the temple. Desperate to protect their beloved Buddha, the monks covered the golden statue in mud, hoping the invaders would overlook its true value. But their secret was slowly forgotten as the monks sadly perished and the years continued to trundle by. The statue remained swathed in protective clay for centuries, unseen and unappreciated in all its glory.
This story offers a beautiful contemplation of the mud you may be wearing to protect your sacred self. The layers of subconscious clay you develop throughout years of cultural programming. Patterns that become steadily ingrained and then ultimately get forgotten. And eventually, you come to see this clay as who you actually are. But perhaps, simultaneously, you are the villager from this story, interacting with and passing by others who are also encased in clay. Their golden nature may also be obscured by a long-forgotten and protective past.
What if you could practice and chip away at your outer shell with delicate curiosity? What if you could free this golden statue and practice self-awareness, revealing the mud that may be hindering your sincerity? Can you see the hidden nature tucked inside your fellow friends? And can you practice being a patient soul that sees beyond the veil?
I would love to hear your thoughts and contemplations on this, so please feel welcome to share and reply
Namaste xo
