Seeing the Beauty in All

Yesterday, I went on a trip to Avery Island's Jungle Gardens here in Louisiana. It's only about an hour from where I live at the moment, and I had plans of seeing the estimated 1000 year old Buddha statue that resides in the small meditation garden located there.

For me, the Buddha and his teachings have been a source of wisdom and compassion. I felt it would be inspiring to see a statue built in honor of this great teacher.

Words cannot express the power of living one day in awareness and tranquility. The greatest lesson I learned from my experience, however, is that I never need to travel far to be inspired by such beauty.

I always felt I would have to travel to Tibet to experience the "true presence" of the Buddha. Then I was told that a Buddha statue resided not far from where I lived, and I thought, "How wonderful! I don't have to buy an expensive plane ticket and fly halfway around the world to at least get a glimpse of enlightenment." But after my experience, I was reminded of the simple truth: one never has to travel far to experience true beauty and enlightenment. You, yourself, are an internal source of inspiration.

Inspired by the experience, I wrote this simple poem:

I met the Buddha.

He did not speak,
Yet he shared his wisdom with me.
Quietly seated in meditation,
Gazing across the placid lagoon,
The simplicity of the entire universe,
Revealed in a single moment.
The bamboo, trees, and plants,
The birds, alligators, and insects,
The Buddha was in them all.
The source of Self,
Wisdom and Compassion,
Abides in all beings.
And for an instant,
I was awake.


Here is a video that I put together along with some pictures.