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Last week I went to the San Diego Public Library.
It had been a while since my last visit, and when
I arrived the library was closed. A sign on the door
announced the library would be closed for an extra
hour on Wednesdays. So I decided to walk around.

It was a pleasant morning– the temperature was
balmy, the sky immaculately blue except for, a pale
half moon rising in the east. As I came to a street
crossing, I saw a mural on a two story building.
The mural was as large as the building itself. It
depicted a huge statue of Buddha meditating on
a riverbank. Ducks floated on the water by its feet.

This sight arose my curiosity, and I went to check
the building out. I expected to find a Buddhist Temple,
or organization housed there. Instead, I found a sign
that read, ” Buddha’s Clothes And Smoke Shop.”
Intrigued, I peeked inside, of course, I expected to
see robes, kimonos and incense sticks for sale, but
I saw nothing.

The lights were on inside, but the store had no
merchandize whatsoever. The walls were bare,
the display stalls gleamed empty. The store was
empty, it has nothing to sell. I started chuckling.
How appropriate that a Buddha shop had no
thing to sell but emptiness! Why was this?
Had the store failed? Was it in the process of being
opened, and yet not stocked? I don’t know. It was a
symbol, a wink from the universe. And smiling, I
walked away, and saw again the moon so discretely
pale in the sky.