The True Story of A Buddha

 

Here I sit, all day, every day.  I perch up here in the corner watching life go by.

Once long ago I was carved and polished.  I felt the love of my creator in every touch.  The intricate details of my soul carved out of wood for all to see.  Oiled and polished to a shine I was shipped off to a store where I sat and watched the people come and go.  In and out, every day people would pass me by.  Then one day I saw her.  She smiled at me.  She ran her hands over my head.  I could feel the love in her. But reluctantly she placed me back on the shelf and walked away.  I thought my heart would break.  I was prepared to return to my loneliness, to continue my wait for a home.  Then she turned back to me.  She picked me up and held me to her heart. 

She brought me home with her that day.  My heart found a home that day.  My heart found love that day.  I was put in a place of pride, on a bookshelf in her bedroom.  Every day she would rub her hands over my head.  I could feel the love she felt for me.  I knew that I was precious to her.  I knew I was dearly loved.  Did she know that I loved her too?   Did she feel how happy I was to be home, watching over her?  All of my dreams had come true. 

But one day things changed.  I was moved from the bedroom to sit in the living room.  Now I perch up here in the corner watching life go by.  She never rubs my head anymore.  I feel so far away, so lonely.  And yet there is nothing I can do.  I watch.  I see the whole family come and go.  I hear the joys and the sorrows, the fun and the fights.  They are my family and I watch over them.  I look down on them with love.

But do they see how lonely I am up here in my corner?  I wonder sometimes in my loneliness who or what has taken my place on the bookshelf in the bedroom?  Is there a vase with flowers?  A picture in a frame?  Maybe a plant or a lamp or a sculpture?  Does she run her hands with love over whatever might be there?  Does she bury her face in flowers and inhale their scent?  Does she ever think of me and miss me watching over her while she sleeps? 

I know that things come and go, people come and go, love comes and goes.  It is the cycle of life.  I am not angry that I have lost my place of pride. I do not hate whatever has replaced me.   I am just so grateful that I have had the chance to love and be loved.  There is a time and a season for all things.  I had my time.  Now my time is past.  The hardest thing to do in life is to flow with the seasons of change.  I was created. My heart longed for a home.  I was loved.   And now I have returned to my aloneness.  But it isn’t the loneliness of being homeless and unloved.  Now it is the peace of contentment.  My love will always remain here in my heart.  There is no such thing as loneliness after one has loved and been loved.  True love is forever.  True love lives in my heart as I sit here, perched alone and untouched in the corner, remembering what once was.