For many years, I communed with the Buddha statue in the Peace Garden. During this time, I took photo after photo of him sitting among the fall leaves, the winter snow, the spring buds, and the summer grasses. Regardless of season, he always radiated a deep sense of peace. A contagious sense of peace.
Suddenly, Buddha was missing! When I approached the garden, it looked wild. Due to other commitments, its regular tender hadn’t been able to care for it in her usual meticulous manner. When I asked about Buddha, she told me that the statue had crumbled and had to be thrown away.
No Buddha! This was alarming. Does “no Buddha mean no peace?” I wondered. “Surely, not,” I tried to convince myself.
I began to clear a path through the garden. As I pulled weed after weed, the line of stones began to emerge. Some trimming of overgrown flowers, yanking of stubborn grass, and more and more weeding, and one side of the garden slowly started to surface. I could almost feel it breathing. My own breath matched it, and I felt a deep sense of peace arising from within me.
Next, I wanted to give the other side of the garden some care. More pulling, yanking and trimming, and suddenly, I spotted him! I was so surprised to find Buddha! He had been there all along!
It turned out that it was Buddha’s platform that had crumbled and been tossed. While he had a few cracks and lots of ants crawling all over him, he was intact. In fact, he was not only intact but laughing.
Was he laughing at me? I think so. I could almost hear him chuckling at the absurdity of me even entertaining the idea of a statue being necessary for my peace.
Buddha was right. I know that I’m able to connect with a deep sense of peace when I make the time and space to commune with the earth, the garden, the plants, stones and even weeds. I also find peace when I pause and pay attention to the breath in me.
How about you? What is helping you find peace in these wild times?
Wishing deep peace to all,
Bridget
Peace in Wild Times
