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Friday, July 27, 2012

Wandering Buddha


Not long ago Mrs. C. and I decided to visit The Portland Japanese Garden. Portland’s climate is similar to Japan’s and our garden is considered one of the best in the country. We visit every few years and try to time our trips when the cherry trees are blossoming. Helpful guides are on hand to explain the history of Japanese landscape design and the evolution of a garden which was once the site of our zoo’s elephant house. We’ve always preferred wandering around on our own, but this last time a tour was departing as we entered. We joined it.


I snapped dozens of pictures; as usual I never fail to be rejuvenated by the garden and inspired by Japanese culture and their love of nature. Toward the end of our tour we paused to take pictures. I noticed a knee-high stone carving of the young Buddha a short distance from the path we’d been following.


“What can you tell us about this sculpture?” I asked, pointing at it.


Our guide scratched his ear and ran a hand through his sparse hair. “I can’t tell you much,” he said.


This seemed out of character; until now he’d been a font of information, a botanical and cultural encyclopedia.


“I’ve been a volunteer guide here for about twenty years,” he explained. “This statue of Buddha turned up a few months ago. We have no idea where it came from or how it happens to be here.”


The tour’s curiosity was piqued and cameras clicked like a swarm of cicadas.


“We’ve researched the statue and learned that it’s approximately a hundred and fifty years old, but we haven’t managed to learn anything more. We’ll never know for sure, but it’s possible it came from a temple and was taken as a souvenir by an American soldier during the war.”


That didn’t explain how or why the Buddha ended up here. When the tour was over Mrs. C. and I returned to the statue so I could take a few more pictures. The Buddha wasn’t all that massive, but it had to weigh close to thirty pounds. Heavy for a war souvenir. Had it sat in a GI’s garden until he grew remorseful and decided to return it? Curious since Portland was a long way from Japan. Of course it might not have been a GI at all. But someone managed to breech security and lug it through dense foliage and twisted uneven paths.


Secrets and mysteries are said to be the domain of sphinxes, but here in Portland we have a mysterious and enigmatic Buddha. Perhaps one day our Buddha will open his eyes and let us in on his secret. Until then, someone had better keep their eyes on this guy. He wanders.


Here are a few more photographs of the Portland Japanese Garden.





33 comments:

  1. What a cool story....
    someone oughta write a story about it.

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  2. If I'm ever in Portland I'll have to go there!

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  3. That is a very cool story - I'm surprised that the guide didn't mention it to start with! Love the photos! We have beautiful Japanese Gardens here but with our weather you have to visit in May to really see it in bloom.

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  4. I visited that garden many years ago. Japanese gardens rarely disappoint. That Buddha story is great.

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  5. Gosh, I'm trying not be jealous of the natural beauty all around you all, but I'm not succeeding very well.

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  6. I've been to the Japanese Garden and OZ (Oregon Zoo) and never knew that's where the elephants came from.

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  7. What a gorgeous place! And I love the mystery of the Buddha.

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  8. That would make a great story too, as this one is. Now I want to know the who and the why.

    Have a terrific weekend. :)

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  9. That is bizarre. I'd wouldn't expect someone to drop off a Buddha statue in a Japanese garden. An anime body pillow perhaps, but not a Buddha.

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  10. Beautiful photos. The Brooklyn Botanic Gardens have beautiful Japanese gardens although I don't think they're the same as Portland's. Good climate, too, I guess. San Diego has some in Balboa Park, but the climate, although great for growing just about everything, doesn't work for azaleas and the other beauties so familiar. The story of the statue is fascinating. Someone must know how it got there three months ago... unless someone snuck it in in their tote bag and planted it when no one was looking.

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  11. Weird about the Buddha...but your photos are gorgeous as usual. When we lived in DC, one of our favorite things was to walk around the Jefferson Memorial when the cherry trees were in full blossom...simply beautiful.

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  12. No wonder you want to return often to the gardens in your area. The photos show the calm and quiet of the gardens. I would be drawn to that too.

    Interesting that the statue "showed up" there, but however it came to be there, it adds to the beauty and brings a sense of intrigue to the tour.

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  13. The last photo was beautiful!!!! And I enjoyed this story. A good mystery to round out my work week!

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  14. What a wonderful story Stephen and the place looks stunning, I am quite jealous! :)

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  15. Oh my. The Buddha just appeared? Wow.

    I just hope he doesn't appear on my lawn!

    HA!

    Kidding.

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  16. Strange, my hairdresser is looking to buy a buddha. I wonder if he fancies a change of scenery? :D

    Btw I ought to mention that although I'm a qualified art teacher I decided not to teach, and went into Graphic design instead. But I admire anyone who does teach, it just wasn't for me.

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  17. Lovely. We visited this a few years back, but now, after just returning from Japan,I would love to see it again.

    How strange that the Buddha came from nowhere. Must be a big story behind that!

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  18. I've heard through various sources that Buddha had a bar (the Buddha-bar) and wrote the Kama Sutra.

    The world can be stranger than fiction too. ;-) LOL

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  19. Ah, cherry blossoms. I miss Seattle.

    Love,
    Janie

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  20. Well, I suppose if you have a Buddha to dispose of, that garden is a better place than most. It's not like you could put him in a basket on a doorstep, ring the bell, and run. Like in that Problem Child movie.

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  21. It's fitting since the real Buddha was a wanderer himself.

    Your photos are beautiful but that last one is stellar. Thanks for the visit to a place I knew nothing about.

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  22. Interesting speculation on the Buhhda. I like what you say about somebody bringing it as a souvenir. I would think whoever brought it died. Why the heirs didn't openly donate it I don't know. It could be hot as somebody stole it from the original owner. That's my two cents worth.

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  23. We didn't get to see the Japanese garden when we were there last month. There was just too many things to choose from. It looks to be a beautiful place.

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  24. Would love to know that truth of that story--very intriguing. And the gardens look absolutely gorgeous--if we're ever out that way, I dragging my family there!

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  25. That is interesting about the statue. I can't imagine how someone carrying a 30 lb. statue went unnoticed.

    I love Japanese gardens...all gardens for that matter. Very cool pictures.

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  26. Love your photos, especially the last one. Interesting about the Buddha. Wonder if the truth will ever be known?

    S

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  27. It all sounds a bit spooky, like the opening paragraphs of a horror story. Sleep well, Stephen!

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  28. So instead of an old-fashioned art heist, we have a secret sculpture emplacement? Very mysterious indeed. But I agree on the photos ... very nice, esp. the last one.

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  29. The photos are beautiful, and of a beautiful subject matter. I've never lived anywhere near cultural sites except for the local nursery where I used to wander in silence and peace. I find it unforgivable there is not more information regarding the buddha and his explanation was less than stellar.

    I've never seen anyone walking around with a buddha to get rid of, and highly doubt that limp excuse for an explanation.

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  30. Wonderful photos, gardens seems to be gorgeous and cool story, it could be the argumennt of a zen story

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