Dear Earth, meet our Buddha of the car park.

He came to live at the front of our temple last February, after we went on a trip to Japan and were inspired by their roadside shrines. He weighs a tonne – four strong men just about managed to walk him inch by inch from the pick-up truck to his tree stump.

Yesterday morning I sat quietly in our shrine room and watched him. He was sitting where he usually does, looking out at the world. Cars swooshed past. Passers-by walked within a couple of metres of him, going from here to there. The world changed around him. He sat.

He sits, dear Earth, and beams out a message to the world. There is something more than the daily grind. There is something more than the hustle and bustle of consumerism. There is a place of peace, of rest, where we can replenish our weary hearts. There is a lap we can lean into as we re-find our steady centres.

As I watched him, my own heart settled. I took comfort from his immovability in all this impermanence. I know that his concrete body will wear away too, eventually. Even the Buddha’s image will one day fade. And, what he represents will never leave us. I trust that we’ll be visited by new prophets. The wise ones will say the same thing as the prophets of old.

Love is bigger than anything else. We can lean into this love, and find our courage. We can soak it up and carry it around like a brilliant flame.

From your humble servant, Satya <3