Bangkok loves its shrines, spirit temples and deity statues.
It would be surprising to cross 100m without stumbling upon one of the three.
It wasn’t surprising then that Lumpini Park, the 142 acre breathtakingly
beautiful green lung of the city, should decide to add a second Buddha statue.
But why on Earth would the wise folks managing Lumpini
decide to place the only other Buddha statue right next to the existing one?
This was clearly mindless bureaucracy at work. Or yet another example of the
crazy Thai ways. Or both.
And then rolled in yet another Wednesday evening. As I
walked past this new statue during my evening walk with my toddler leading the
way, I noticed that the entire periphery of the statue is draped in beautiful
slender fragrant white flowers. Flowers that have fallen from a tree whose
canopy was exactly overhead the statue.
It wasn’t bureaucracy after all that decided the statue’s
placement. Nor was it the “crazy Thai way”. It seemed to be guided by faith or
beauty or both or something else altogether. But there was logic, quite
possibly linked to that beautiful flowering tree which I am yet to notice
elsewhere in the park.
It was a gentle yet firm reminder to not be abruptly
dismissive of something because it seemed illogical to me. To be patient for
the logic to reveal itself. To be tolerant even if it didn’t.
It irks me when people are dismissive and condescending of
indigenous/ traditional practices without trying to get to their heart, their
unique logic. Yet here I was, guilty of the very same when faced with a new
environment.
Lesson (hopefully) learnt.
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