"Seek out a tree and let it teach you stillness."
~ Eckhart Tolle
~ Eckhart Tolle
The story of the Buddha of the West:
About 4 years ago I purchased a whole lime tree from a sawmill near Swindon and had it sawn into 6" deep sections. I chose to carve a large Buddha as an antidote to the illnesses of ME and clinical depression which had dominated my life for the last few years. After the initial roughing out, exhaustion took over again so the sections were stored out on the veranda for 3 years. By January my health had improved so for the next 9 months I was happily chipping away here in Bristol to create the Buddha sitting under the Bodhi tree. I looked at Eckhart's photos in the Findhorn book and was bowled over by the phrase
"Seek out a tree and let it teach you stillness."
It seemed so appropriate so I carved the words in the space above the tree. The whole image is based on a Buddhist sadana practice and the space around represents sunyata or emptiness.
About 4 years ago I purchased a whole lime tree from a sawmill near Swindon and had it sawn into 6" deep sections. I chose to carve a large Buddha as an antidote to the illnesses of ME and clinical depression which had dominated my life for the last few years. After the initial roughing out, exhaustion took over again so the sections were stored out on the veranda for 3 years. By January my health had improved so for the next 9 months I was happily chipping away here in Bristol to create the Buddha sitting under the Bodhi tree. I looked at Eckhart's photos in the Findhorn book and was bowled over by the phrase
"Seek out a tree and let it teach you stillness."
It seemed so appropriate so I carved the words in the space above the tree. The whole image is based on a Buddhist sadana practice and the space around represents sunyata or emptiness.
~ Douglas Hastings, Artist Carver
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