The Wisdom of the “Fool”

 

Visiting Big Buddha* reminded me of that old Beatles tune – The Fool on the Hill**. Not because he’s a fool, but because people don’t seem to be taking much notice of him.

In a place where Buddhism is the most popular religion, I find it ironic that there’s so much consumerism going on. The people here are obsessed with brands and shopping.

At one extreme you’ve got the designer stores hiking up their prices to fleece cashed-up mainlanders, and at the other you’ve got women on welfare with hire purchase handbags trying to appear more chic… I thought Buddhism taught people not to get too attached to possessions.

So if you’re in Hong Kong and the endless shopping malls have become a nause, get yourself out to the Big Buddha. He might be 34 metres high and made of bronze, but he knows who the real fools are.
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*Tian Tan Buddha aka Big Buddha located near the Po Lin Monastery on Lantau Island, Hong Kong

**The Fool on the Hill by The Beatles (1967)

Day after day alone on the hill,
The man with the foolish grin is keeping perfectly still,
But nobody wants to know him,
They can see that he’s just a fool,
And he never gives an answer,
But the fool on the hill
Sees the sun going down,
And the eyes in his head,
See the world spinning around.

Well on his way his head in a cloud,
The man of a thousand voices talking perfectly loud
But nobody ever hears him,
Or the sound he appears to make,
And he never seems to notice,
But the fool on the hill . . .
Nobody seems to like him
They can tell what he wants to do.
And he never shows his feelings,
But the fool on the hill . . .