The Buddha on my desk

There is a beautiful idol of The Buddha on my desk. I got it from Goa during my visit there in December 2021. It is red in color made of coconut wood. I had been dreaming of such a Buddha idol for a long time and it was literally a dream come true when I found it.

So, why is it there?

Do I worship the Buddha? No, I don’t. (Actually, I do not worship anyone or anything. That would be a topic for a different blog.)

I am not a Buddhist and I do not follow Buddhism. (When it comes to religion, I am not any ‘ist’ and do not follow any ‘ism’.)

Then, why do I have the Buddha idol on my table?

Well, it is there as a reminder for me. A reminder of what, you might wonder.

It reminds me that the vacancy of The Buddha is already taken. (As are the vacancies for Guru Nanak, Krishna, Jesus, Kabir, Zoroaster, Rumi, Khalil Gibran and many more.) These slots are not available because someone before me filled them up. And I hear that they did a damn fine job there!!

Oh!! What do I do now?

Well, come to think of it, all the vacancies ever created have been filled by someone or the other. No vacancy is available to you. Or is it?

There IS one vacancy created for you and only for you. And that is YOU. Yep, YOU is the vacancy / role / part available to you and you only. You can be the best YOU ever. Just like there is no other vacancy available to you, the YOU vacancy is not available to anyone else, your twin sibling included!! Isn’t that great?

The cosmos has created you to be uniquely yourself and you are just as unique as The Buddha. (And all the names mentioned above.)

Now, what does that mean?

It simply means – ‘Be Yourself’ – nothing else. Yes, just be yourself. No approval or validation required from anyone.

Upgrade your skills and try to overcome your shortcomings by all means. BUT be what you are as a person i.e. do not let go of the person you are at the core. Because that is the real YOU that the cosmos has created. (This might seem confusing at first but it is easy to figure out. Just keep at it.)

Come to think of it…

There were gurus before The Buddha and many more after him. But no one was like him just as he was not like anyone of them.

So, by corollary, you cannot be The Buddha and that is your weakness. BUT even The Buddha cannot be YOU and that is your biggest power. Make full use of it!! Be yourself, love what you are and be the best possible version of YOU. Have role models and idols. But do not try to be a copy of anyone, you will not succeed. Success will only come if you are YOU to the fullest.  

Thank you, Buddha…

I cannot thank The Buddha on my table enough for constantly reminding me of this every day. Thank you Buddha for helping me to be the best possible ME!!