The Gassho Bodhisattva

A new stone Buddha has been placed in the courtyard of Hyakuna Garan.

Named the Gassho Bodhisattva, this statue is striking for its gentle expression.

A bodhisattva with palms pressed together, gathering the mind into one and striving for enlightenment.

Sunlight falls softly on the figure through the leaves, filling all who see it with an indescribable calm.

It is said that a statue of the Buddha is “the very ideal of compassion and enlightenment, expressed symbolically in human form”.

Through this stone Buddha, I felt that I had touched that spirit, if only a little.

Behind the statue, a banyan, like one of the guardian kings who protect the Buddha at a temple gate, enfolds the whole space.

As time passes, the stone Buddha and the banyan will grow ever more as one, and only become more beautiful.

Watched over by the great banyan, the very embodiment of life, perhaps the bodhisattva is quietly continuing the journey towards enlightenment…