Story of the Golden Buddha

There was a thriving monastery in the north of Thailand in the mid-1950s. Among its many Buddha statues there was one very big one that was made out of clay. It wasn’t particularly pretty, but the monks favored it because it had been part of the monastery for centuries and they loved it for its longevity. After an especially strong rainy season followed by a hot spell, the monks noticed that the statue had gotten some cracks. One curious monk took a flashlight and shone it into the biggest crack. He was very surprised to see something shiny reflecting the light. He called the other monks, and they carefully opened the crack a little more. What they found was a solid gold statue beneath twelve inches of clay.
           
The statue is now in a temple in Bangkok and visited and revered by millions of visitors every year. It turned out that in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, the monks had covered the statue in think clay to protect it from marauding clans. Generations later, the knowledge of the Buddha’s gold core had been lost to time. Everyone thought it was an unassuming mud statue.
           
We, of course, are just like this. We cover ourselves up with layers of protection. Our goal is to protect ourselves from harm, but over time we forget our true golden nature. It is a nature of friendliness and kindness.
           
Never forget your own nature. Be the gold, not the mud.