What Can a 9-foot Statue Teach Us About Finding Our True Purpose in Life?

Uncover your joy and passion

The monks were scared.

All they wanted to do was run from the approaching army.

There was one treasured possession that had yet to be hidden. But how do you hide a 9 feet high statue made of solid gold?

They had a bright idea but had to act quickly and pray it worked.

The Story of the Golden Buddha

The Golden Buddha statue now stands in the Temple of Wat Traimit in Bangkok, Thailand. It is 5.5 tonnes of solid gold.

The actual history has been lost in time, but it is believed that the statue was originally built in the 13th or 14th century. The egg-shaped head of the statue suggests that it came from the Sukhothai Dynasty (meaning ‘Dawn of Happiness’). At some point, the statue was moved from Sukhothai to Ayutthaya.

There are different versions of the story, but it seems that the army that the monks feared was that of the Burmese, who destroyed the Ayutthaya kingdom in 1767.

The Bright Idea

So, the monks are waiting for the approaching army and need to hide their golden statue.

What do they do?

They covered the statue with mud and pieces of colored glass. They moved quickly and by the time the mud was dry, the once glorious mountain of gold now looked like an old worn-out clay figure.

The plan worked and although the monks likely were all killed in the battle, the statue was ignored.

The Golden Buddha had survived.

200 Years Later

In the Temple of Wat Traimit, the statue was cherished as it was old and in the image of the beloved Buddha. As far as these monks were concerned, though, it had no other value.

Plus, it was far too big to fit in the temple and therefore spent nearly 200 years as a clay statue under a very basic tin roof.

In 1954, the monks decided the statue deserved a better place in the temple. A new building was constructed for the old statue to live out its days.

It was whilst moving the statue that it got knocked and a piece of the clay plaster dropped off.

Something glimmered.

What was that underneath?

The Golden Buddha emerged once more.

What Does This Story Teach Us?

Over our lifetime, our identity builds based on the many labels and titles attached to us. The titles of son, daughter, mother, father, employee, employer, our job title, our name, and personality. They all make up our identity.

Then we have labels that we either put on ourselves or are stuck on us by other people. Labels like beautiful, ugly, kind, cruel, selfish, judgmental. Our skills and weaknesses are added as are our achievements and failures. All part of that same identity.

We end up identifying as a clay statue of our true selves, with our ‘gold’ hidden away.

We get so tied up with this identity, we forget that we are not just a name and several roles. We are not even our minds. We are the soul that resides within the heart that beats inside us. That’s where the gold is.

The clay is our limited thinking and the unconscious conditioning that says we need to be a certain way.

We feel lost and unfulfilled when we are not living the life that we were meant to live. We get stressed out trying to fulfill all these different roles. We are just not living our full potential.

Our true self is in our connectedness with each other, all of nature and the Universe itself. We are all the same energy. This is where real love is, the light and the power within.

When we are able to live our true purpose, from the heart, we stay in a state of mindfulness presence. This is when we can feel the gold starting to break open the covering.

How to Uncover Your True Purpose

Be Aware of the Magic

Look around you. There is so much magic and beauty all around us. There may be clouds, and the weather may not be great at times but you know the sun is there even when you can’t see it. You know that it will shine again, and everything will be OK.

Whatever is happening in life, accept that it’s happening and how you are feeling. Just let it be whatever it is.

When you start opening to life as it is, you will be drawn to the things that bring you joy.

Open Your Heart Wide

We are all energy. This has been scientifically proven. This means that we are all the same.

There is no them and us.

We may be different but the energy that flows through me flows through you and every other person.

Our true self is in our connectedness with each other, all of nature and the Universe itself. We are all the same energy. This is where real love is, the light and the power within.

Tap Into Your Creativity

Your true purpose lies in your passion. It is a crossover between that which you really love doing and that which you are good at doing.

We are all creative. Whether that is through art, music, writing, inventing, or constructing.

I love gardening and baking. The love that is in my heart flows into the things I grow and the creations I bake. My intention is for that love to flow into every person I meet. That is how I show my gold.

Find your creativity and let your love energy flow into it.

Don’t Let Fear Hold You Back

You may have a great idea of your purpose, but that inner voice is telling you that you shouldn’t go for it. Better to stick with the status quo. Don’t try anything new like starting your business or writing that book.

Fear may seem like the enemy but it’s not. It’s part of an ancient survival system that only wants you to be safe. Finding your true purpose means shaking up your life and taking risks, not staying in your comfort zone.

Acknowledge the fear and move forward one step at a time with whatever it is you want to achieve. We get anxious when we look too far into the future instead of just looking at where we are now and working out the next step.

My Conclusion

You find your purpose when you live from your heart and focus on the things that really matter.

When you realize you are so much more than the roles you are playing.

The longer we can stay in the present moment, appreciating the magic of life and showing gratitude for that life, the more we will chip away at our own clay covering.

Then, we start to see our own gold and our true purpose reveals itself. We may not be 9 feet tall and solid gold, but we can certainly start to feel that way.

“Wisdom tells me I’m nothing. Love tells me I’m everything. And between the two my life flows.”

Sri Nisargadatta (Indian Spiritual Master)

You may also enjoy reading: