Buddhist Ballast
Several years ago, while in Bangkok, I was taken to visit the magnificent Emerald Palace in the royal compound of the king of Thailand. There I saw many beautiful stone and marble statues of heroic warriors, 12 to 20 feet tall. Because they looked Chinese I asked how these statues came to Bangkok? My Thai friend kindly explained that many hundreds of years ago, in the early days of shipping, Siamese merchants would go by boat bringing goods to China. They would unload their cargo, but if they returned to Siam empty, the winds and waves would knock them over, sinking their ships, so they needed ballast. They could have just taken any big rocks, but instead they carried back these very heavy carved statues of Chinese heroes as ballast to sell to wealthy Siamese people. Like that, in the wind and storms of life we need ballast inside, a heavy, safe feeling of our refuge in The Buddha to steady us! I could say the Three Precious Jewels; Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, but I want to focus ...