Tuesday, April 28, 2026
In 1957 an entire monastery in Thailand was being relocated by a group of monks. While moving the giant clay Buddha, the monks noticed a large crack. On closer investigation they noticed a golden gleam emanating from inside. Using gentle hammer and chisel strokes they chipped away the clay exterior until an image made of solid gold was revealed. Art historians believe that centuries earlier, older generation of monks had covered the image of the Buddha, made in solid gold, with clay to protect it from attack by the Burmese army.
This fascinating discovery became a perfect metaphor for human life. Our Authentic Self (awareness of who we truly are) is the gold Buddha shining inside you. It is not somewhere in future, it is not in your much-loved spouse or child (they have their own Buddha nature to discover), or somewhere else. Your “gold Buddha” within you is way closer than you believe.
So why don’t we feel it? What happens over the course of your life is that your golden Buddha gets covered in layers of clay… layers of your own doing, layers added by external conditioning from parents, teachers, society, bosses, co-workers, media. Eventually you are so heavily soiled that you forget that your gold Buddha, the awareness that you are aware, your true self is within.
The secret to find your true self or Authentic Self and your higher purpose with it, lies not in the future, but in breaking your own limiting beliefs that prevent you from following your dreams and fulfilling your potential. Something occurs in life (usually a loss or tragedy of some sort) and you start chipping away at the clay covering to discover or rediscover the gold within.
We all have the Buddha nature but we simply fail to recognize it.