The Golden Buddha

I first heard the story of the Golden Buddha earlier this year during a Sunday service at the Self-Realization Fellowship temple in Encinitas, California. I remember thinking how profound and amazing this discovery was. I also felt sadness about the way human beings treat each other when “valuable” material objects are at stake. I found this version of the story on a blog called The Planet Whisperer.

THE GOLDEN BUDDHA

In 1957, a group of Thai monks were informed that due to major construction of a new port and highway, their shrine was to be relocated. The shrine in question was a huge clay Buddha.

Careful arrangements were made and the day of the shrine moving arrived. The shrine, located under a roof to keep it safe from the elements, was prepared for its journey. A crane was brought in and began lifting the clay Buddha, but as it rose off of its resting place, it began to crack. It seemed to be far heavier than all the engineers had estimated.

The monk supervising the movement of the Buddha frantically called to the crane operator telling him to set the Buddha down. As the monks and the engineers examined the Buddha, they found several large cracks and so to ensure safe movement of the Buddha, a larger crane would be needed, which would arrive the next day. The Buddha was left where it was placed and was to spend the night in its current location.

With a storm brewing, the monks covered the Buddha with a waterproof tarpaulin on poles to keep it dry overnight and all seemed to be well. During the night, the head monk awoke and decided to check on the Buddha. With a flashlight, the monk carefully checked the condition of the Buddha. As he walked around the huge clay figure shining his light on the cracks, something caught his eye. He peered into the crack and what he saw he did not understand, so he needed to see more.

The monk returned to his quarters, found a chisel and a hammer and returned to the Buddha. He began carefully chipping at the clay around the crack. As the crack widened, he could not believe his eyes. He ran to wake the other monks and instructed each of them to bring a hammer and chisel to the place where the Buddha sat.

By lantern light the monks carefully chipped all the clay from the Buddha. After hours of chiselling, the

God, Send Someone!

This powerful, suspenseful story by Dick Sullivan of Stoneham, Massachusetts, moved me to tears. I have heard many such stories that all convey the same life-altering message: Listen to your intuition and follow it at all costs; there is a power guiding us with infinite wisdom and deep love and all we need to do is trust it. This story was originally published in Guideposts in November 1955.

GOD, SEND SOMEONE!
Was it a coincidence or a true miracle that led to my brother’s rescue?

At 4 p.m. last June 14, my brother Jack Sullivan was just crawling down into a ten-foot-deep trench, which ran down the center of Washington Street, a main thoroughfare in West Roxbury, Massachusetts.

It was near quitting time. Jack is a welder, and he wanted to finish one particular part of his job before he left. Jack said goodbye to the other men as they quit, took his welding lead in his right hand, lowered himself and his electric power cable into the trench. His head was well below the street surface.

Traffic up above was heavy. Jack could not see the cars and trucks, but he could feel their vibration as the earth shook slightly. Occasionally a pebble would break loose from the side of the trench and fall. Jack paid no attention to it.

It was Jack’s job to weld the joints of a new water main both inside and out. First Jack crawled into the 36-inch diameter pipe, lowered his mask to protect his eyes against the bright welding arc, then went to work. After completing the inside of the joint he crawled out of the pipe. It was 4:30 P.M. He began to weld the outside. Halfway through he stood up to get the kinks out of his legs. Jack stretched, turned toward the pipe, pulled down the shield again. And then it happened.

The bank caved in. Tons of dirt came

Summer Solstice 2011 Update From Astrologer Laurie Baum

Laurie Baum

If you enjoy astrology, you will like this Summer Solstice update written by my good friend Laurie Baum, MSW, a psychological astrologer and psychotherapist in practice in Encinitas, California.

Laurie writes a free astrological newsletter about how planetary alignments affect our lives on earth. Click here to e-mail Laurie to subscribe at no cost, or visit Laurie’s website and click on “Free Email Newsletter.”

Laurie is a former newspaper

What Could More Aptly Fit Your Needs?

If you are dissatisfied with any aspect of your life, look within. Why? Three reasons. First, you are being divinely guided in every moment with infinite wisdom and deep love. Second, you are not separate from God. Third, your thoughts create your reality.

Accept whatever comes to you woven in the pattern of your destiny, for what could more aptly fit your needs?
Marcus Aurelius

Blend those three concepts together, and the inescapable conclusion is

The Man at the Diner

I love stories about unlikely reunions. Click here to read an earlier post in which a man was reconnected to a woman who he last saw as a young girl forty-seven years earlier. Here is a similar story by David Fox of Altamonte Springs, Florida, that was featured in a Guideposts e-letter. Click here to sign up for Guideposts‘ free Mysterious Ways newsletter. You’ll also be able to download a free e-book, Mysterious Ways: 9 Inspiring Stories That Show Evidence of God’s Love and God’s Grace.

THE MAN AT THE DINER
A moving truck breakdown led to an unlikely encounter 

It was the day of my family’s big move, from New Wilmington, Pennsylvania a hundred miles south to Stahlstown. My wife, kids and dog went ahead in our car while I drove the rental truck full of our belongings. Driving down the Pennsylvania Turnpike, I got a bit nostalgic. Stahlstown was just a skip away from where I grew up, Charleroi.

My great uncle had been a prominent figure in Charleroi, owner of the Fox Grocery Company, a food wholesaler. Every summer, the company hosted a big picnic at Deems Park for employees and their families—with all the food, fun and games a kid could hope for. The only restriction was to stay away from the foul-smelling sulfur creek that ran through the park. Of course, we

A Heartbreakingly Beautiful Performance on “Korea’s Got Talent”

After surviving on the streets from the age of five to fifteen, twenty-two-year-old Choi Sung Bong moved the audience on Korea’s Got Talent with his life story on June 4, 2011. Then he began to sing and moved everyone to tears. His is an incredible story of tragedy and triumph. Let’s hope that he finds happiness and fulfillment after enduring so much suffering.

Choi’s Facebook Fan page contains a translation of

Lys Agnes Is Ready to Sing Again

LYS AGNES
AUDITION

Lys Agnes

Who knows how many supremely gifted singers there are in the world who, due to a variety of circumstances, have yet to surface and reveal their talent? Well, after the June 8, 2011, broadcast of America’s Got Talent, there is one fewer such artist hidden from view. After two years of grieving for her late fiance, Lys Agnes walked onto the stage in Minneapolis and moved all of America with her powerful, passionate and emotionally authentic rendition of Ave Maria. One word: chills.

Lys Agnes is ready to sing once again and the world is

Jai McDowall Wins “Britain’s Got Talent”

JAI McDOWALL (AUDITION)
ANTHEM

Jai McDowall

Scotland’s Jai McDowall refused to let his nerves get in the way of living his dream. Good thing too, because he ended up taking home the grand prize on Britain’s Got Talent on Saturday, June 4, 2011. Jai’s wheelhouse is soaring anthems, so it’s fitting that he chose the song Anthem for his audition.


Jai is a worthy champion because he sings with a power that comes straight from his heart, resulting in authentically moving performances. I suspect we haven’t heard the last of him!

JAI McDOWALL (SEMINFINALS)
WAKE

Ronan Parke Takes Britain By Storm

RONAN PARKE (AUDITION)
FEELING GOOD

Ronan Parke

No matter how many preternaturally talented child singers I’ve seen, I still marvel at how someone so young can sing so beautifully. On Saturday, June 4, 2011, twelve-year-old Ronan Parke was declared the runner-up of Britain’s Got Talent.




I predict a bright future (and loads of screaming female fans) for this soon-to-be-teenybopper. Congratulations, Ronan!

RONAN PARKE (SEMIFINALS)
TO MAKE YOU

As the Magnet Finds the Iron

When you are determined to find blessings everywhere, blessings are just as determined to find you.

The unthankful heart . . . discovers no mercies; but let the thankful heart sweep through the day and, as the magnet finds the iron, so it will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings!
Henry Ward Beecher

While you are grateful no matter what comes to you, you continue to ask

Changing Her Name After Marriage Is a Non-Issue

As a romantic fool and a big sap, I love stories about how people unexpectedly meet and fall in love. This unlikely romance was featured on NPR’s Morning Edition. Click on the audio player below to listen to the three-minute clip.

A TYPO SPELLS ROMANCE FOR RP SALAZARS

Ruben and Rachel Salazar

This is the story of a romance that began with a typo. In 2007, Rachel Salazar was living in Bangkok, Thailand, and Ruben Salazar was in Waco, Texas. Their email addresses were nearly identical.

One morning, Ruben checked his email, and he found a note intended for someone else. “I discovered it said RP Salazar followed by two numbers,” he says. “I figured, ‘Hey, my email is

Learning to Dance in the Rain

The law of attraction dictates that consistently and genuinely expressing thankfulness will magnetically attract even more people, things, and situations to be thankful for.

The first step in creating abundance is to receive what you already have.
Heather Madder

Gratitude inevitably produces ever more joy just as constant complaining generates ever more misery.

Being ungrateful for

Regrets of the Dying

In an earlier post, I presented the two questions you have to answer if you want to live authentically and happily. I also wrote about a third important question that stops most people in their tracks. If you turn away from these questions and trudge on, day after day, year after year doing what you don’t want to do instead of boldly blazing your own unique trail in life, well, you may very well end up on your deathbed with the five regrets that Bronnie Ware observed in the dying patients she cared for.

REGRETS OF THE DYING
by Bronnie Ware 

For many years I worked in palliative care. My patients were those who had gone home to die. Some incredibly special times were shared. I was with them for the last three to twelve weeks of their lives.

People grow a lot when they are faced with their own mortality. I learnt never to underestimate someone’s capacity for growth. Some changes were phenomenal. Each experienced a variety of emotions, as expected, denial, fear, anger, remorse, more denial and eventually acceptance. Every single patient found their peace before they departed though, every one of them.

When questioned about any regrets they had or anything they would do differently, common themes surfaced again and again. Here are the most common five:

1. I wish I’d had the courage to

I Am Thankful That Thorns Have Roses

Opening your mind and your heart to accept life’s endless stream of gifts is a priceless gift in itself.

Some people are always grumbling that roses have thorns; I am thankful that thorns have roses.
Alphonse Karr

Never again will you revert to a scarcity consciousness that whispers insidiously that you do not and will not ever have enough.

Gratefulness is the key to a happy life that we hold in our hands, because if we are not grateful, then no