The Golden Buddha

There was a temple in Thailand that houses a ten feet clay Buddha. Because the temple was in the way of a new highway construction, the Buddha must be transferred to a new place. The monks hired people to uproot the statue from the temple. Unfortunately, a storm erupted during the move. The monks, fearing that the Buddha may be destroyed covered the Buddha with a canvas. But the strong rain seeped through the covering, soaking the statue in rain. One of the monks peered through the canvas and saw something gleamed from the inside. All the monks were surprised to find out that the rain-washed out all of the clay covering of the Buddha revealing a statue made of pure gold.

The monks after researching,discovered that many years ago, the original monks of the temple, covered the gold statue with clay to conceal it from the invading Burmese troops. The Burmese soldiers killed all the monks and left the statue thinking that it was of no value because it was made of clay. Since all of the monks perished in the attack, no one was able to know the secret inside the clay Buddha.

Sometimes we need to go through the rains to discover the gold within us.

This story is a timely reminder for me, I’ve been under a lot of stress due to work concerns for the past few days. I know that no matter how difficult things are right now, I have the strength within me to overcome it. The trial I face at the moment is meant to toughen and make me realize just how good, how very good and special I am.

(I heard this story over the radio this morning from Bo Sanchez. Bo Sanchez is a Catholic Lay preacher, best selling author and publisher of Kerygma, a Catholic Inspirational Magazine )