Source: appeal-democrat.com
Everyone has an area in their yard that could be called a “trouble spot”. Too much sun or too shady, on a hill, bad soil, too rocky, etc. The list goes on. We had some of these problems, as we had just moved into a new home along the river and were putting in a yard where there had never been one before. Our problem was a corner of the yard with four large sycamore trees and a valley oak all on a small rocky knoll with plenty of shade. Here’s how we dealt with it.
The time was about 16 years ago. The place, Eureka at a large garden center. As we were looking around, suddenly my husband said that he had found what we needed for the trouble spot in our yard and pointed to a Buddha statue. The price was not insignificant. He has such a “stony” look I argued. My husband informed me that Buddha was meditating. My question then was how will we get him home. My husband said that he would ride in the back seat of course. And that is what our Buddha did. He rode in the back seat with his seat belt on and a tranquil look on his “stony” face. He was much more tranquil than me, because I do not like the curvy, twisty road from the coast.
But wait, there was another problem when we got home. Not knowing anything about a garden Buddha, I did some research and found that he should never be placed directly on the ground. A search for a pedestal was needed. Thankfully we found one without too much trouble, and our garden Buddha was put in his forever spot facing toward our house. This is placement protocol and is said to bestow great abundance on the home. I also discovered, for some mysterious reason, you should never buy a Buddha for yourself. As my husband bought this one for me, we are okay.
There was more information I discovered all those years ago. The different poses of the Buddha have different meanings. There are over 100 poses illustrating the life of Buddha. Ours happens to be a garden meditating Buddha. He represents concentration, so his eyes are closed, he is seated with both hands in his lap and his legs are crossed. He depicts tranquility and serenity. The meditation pose was used by Buddha under the legendary Bodhi tree, wherever that is.
The story is that Buddha (meaning the Awakened One) was a real person, born about 500 years B.C. in what is now modern day Nepal. His name was Siddhartha Gautama. He abandoned his privileged life to become a monk and was said to have attained nirvana (freedom from suffering) through his meditation. Buddha was merely an enlightened man not a god. Statues of Buddha are only peaceful icons, works of art and have no significance other than a decorative piece.
Every morning, as I have for years, I look out my window and see our Buddha statue who is concentrating, meditating and peaceful and know that all is good in our tranquil garden.
Red Bluff Garden Club meets the last Tuesday of the month at 12:30 p.m. (no meeting in July), at the Methodist Church 525 David Ave., Red Bluff, visitors are welcome.