Buddha in Portland

On a recent trip to Portland, Oregon, I met the Buddha...

It was a surprising encounter, as you might imagine...

I was sitting in the lobby of an elegant hotel waiting for a couple of old friends to arrive.

In front of me were two couches that were facing each other separated by a coffee table.

A small boy, around five years old, and his grandfather occupied the couch on my right.  On the opposite couch there was this girl, around seven years old, who was sitting with her feet folded up neatly underneath her skirt.  Her sandals were placed tidily on the floor in front of her.

After a short while, the grandfather was called to the desk to answer a phone call.  From the quiet phone conversation, I gathered that he and his grandchildren were awaiting news of his son’s physical condition. It sounded serious. The grandfather was clearly preoccupied with worry as he returned to his place on the couch.  His grandchildren sat quietly.

As I continued to wait for my friends, the small boy pulled a small plastic box of candy out of his pocket.  He shook the box several times, to get everyone’s attention, then he dramatically took out a piece of candy and placed it in his mouth.  He then looked at his sister and brought his hands almost to his face with the fingers slightly touching each other and then he said, “Hum, Hum, Hum! This is the very best candy I have ever had!”

The Grandfather gave him a sideways glance and the boy settled down. But it was not soon before the little boy would once again shake his plastic candy box and remove another piece of candy.  Each time he would make the most ecstatic face he could as he savored the glorious taste of his candy.

About the third time the boy did this, his sister fetched her little purse that was next to her on the couch and fished a box of chocolate covered mints.  She carefully opened the metal box and picked out one of her candies.  She looked at her little brother and held the candy up as she said, “I will trade you one of these for one of your candies.”

The little boy said, “Nope!  These are all mine” as he proceeded to plop another one into his mouth.

A couple of minutes later, the little girl once again tried to persuade him to trade.  “Come on, we can share”, she said quietly.

Again the little boy said, “Nope!  These are all mine.”

The little girl looked at him for a couple of minutes.  Then she unfolded her feet from underneath her skirt and slipped on her sandals. She slowly walked around the coffee table and stood in front of her little brother.  Then she did the most extraordinary thing!

She handed him one of her mints and, without waiting for his reaction, immediately turned around and returned to her place on her couch.

I sat in amazement.  I had just witnessed a most amazing gesture.  The manner in which this little girl had reacted to her little brother in giving him a piece of her candy astounded me!  There was absolutely no attempt on her part to lay any guilt or shame on him.  It was purely a gesture of selfless giving.  Just because he did not want to share, did not mean that she could not make her gesture of love and share what she had.

As she sat down the little boy examined her piece of candy and promptly plopped it into his mouth.  When he finished munching it down, said, “I still like mine better.”

The little boy never gave her any of his candy, but this did not seem to affect her at all.  She just sat there and quietly smiled.  Perfect peace.  Perfect love.  Compassion upon the unenlightened.  Amazing!

Soon, the Buddha and her little brother walked out onto the patio to look at the flowers just as my friends arrived.

Shiva