The Story Of The Golden Buddha - Finding Your Inner Light

Many centuries ago, a Thai monastery housed an immense and beautiful golden statue of Buddha. After news of an invasion by the Burmese army, however, the monks sought to protect the statue from thievery and destruction. They covered the Golden Buddha with 8-12 inches of plastered clay, hoping the warriors would have no desire to steal a seemingly worthless sculpture. The monks’ noble efforts worked, but they were slaughtered in the raid, leaving the secret of the statue to remain hidden for another two centuries.

In 1957, the monastery was relocating to make room for the construction of a new motorway. It's monks arranged for a crane to transport their “clay” Buddha. When the crane began to lift the statue, however, it was much heavier than anticipated—and it began to crack. During this process (and with the help of a little chiselling), the monks came to realise the layers of old, hardened clay were hiding a spectacular golden statue of infinite worth!

The statue now resides in the Temple of the Golden Buddha in Bangkok, Thailand. Every year, millions of people visit the magnificent work. I visited it myself in the 1990's!

If it weren’t for a little serendipity and the inevitable winds of change, the gold statue might never have been freed from the clay and no one would bear witness to its majesty.

So what does this mean to the typical yogi?

The story speaks to the importance of chiselling away the hardened, darkened layers we acquire throughout our lives to reveal our true inner radiance.

I interpret that the Golden Buddha’s clay represents the continuous pileup of life’s burdens, the unresolved traumas, the programmes and limiting beliefs which develop naturally over time—the things that calcify us with weight, that becomes normal for us to bear, even comfortable.

It’s only upon removing the heavy layers that we realise the actual lightness at our centre.

I recall being told many times throughout my life that "your problem is that you always see the good in everyone". I now realise that it's the "Golden Buddha" that I see in everyone and that I have the tools within me to help the chiselling begin!

At your very root and deep inner core, your spirit is gold. You were born that way.

We’re all hiding something. Often, it’s our best and most priceless asset (even if we don’t know quite what that is yet). Search for it. Unveil it. Trust yourself enough to let it shine forth.

Trust that others will be thrilled to receive it. How else will you find your tribe? Once you spot that glimmer of gold, you’ll never want to hide under heavy clay again.

Break free and radiate.

Golden Buddha