Buddhist Wisdom

      On our second day of playing tourist in Chiang Rai, Thailand, we visited some kind of a Buddhist Center.    I never did get the exact story on it because of language barriers.  It wasn't a temple but more like a park with plantings, trails, and scattered buildings in a natural setting.  Posted around the property were sayings such as the one above.
    "Miracle happens from sufficiency" made me think of Jesus' miracle with the loaves and fishes.  The opposite of sufficiency is scarcity.   The scarcity model is very common among us.  Fears that there will not be enough, that I might be left out, that someone will get more than me, that if someone gets something there will be less for me, tempt us to hoard.
    However, when we feel that what we have is sufficient all those fears miraculously disappear.  Peace floods our soul and we find contentment.   Think of all the anxiety we experience over getting and having. Wouldn't it be a miracle to be freed from those fears?
   There is also another possible interpretation of this saying.  Enough...that we have enough is a miracle.  In Buddhist understanding whatever we have is enough.  It is in the wanting that we forfeit peace and tranquility.  It is a miracle that we have enough.
     On one of my trips to Thailand I came face to face with the fear of scarcity.  To see my response was not comforting.  For emergencies I always carry some cash with me.  However, mostly I rely on an ATM card to finance my travels.  While I was in Bangkok my ATM card was refused at all the competing bank machines.  Fear crept in "What if I can't access my money with weeks left on my trip?"  Walking down the sidewalk I saw a beggar to whom I always gave a few coins and we have "smiling and nodding" relationship."  My first, and unlovely response was a fearful "I can't spare a coin for him because I may not have enough."   In my anxiety I went to a bank to see what could be done.  The banker said in effect,  "Not to worry, the international lines that connect American and Thai banks are down but the connection will soon be restored."