The Buddha

On a warm sunny afternoon last week, we dropped our anchor in a beautiful spot, in a small cove with steep cliffs along one side. As we worked at the business of anchoring and making a meal, we both noticed an interesting niche, high up in the cliffs, and what looked like a Buddha, placed carefully in the opening.

Now, the eye always tries to make sense of what we see. A log looks like an alligator, a rock looks like a big house, a pile of logs looks like a sandy beach. So we figured that was just another odd rock up there. Finally we looked at it with the binoculars – it was a Buddha. Does the photo at the left give you an idea of how high up this is, or how beautiful this vista? We did some climbing on this cliff, and weren’t able to get even close to the Buddha’s cave.
I’ve never been big on monuments or memorials, much less cemeteries. But if this Buddha was set there in memory of someone, it is a fine gesture. To me it seems like a salute to beautiful and remote settings, to laughter and joy at what the world has to offer, and to the powers of observation.