It all began on Wednesday, March 31,1999..., at least for me anyway. I had been invited by my friend, Jaime Jaramillo, the executive director of the Centro de Servicios in the Decoto district of Union City, California to attend an afternoon presentation by a group of local Chinese Buddhist monks. The monks are with a school called the Purple Lotus Society Institute of Union City. As a gesture of community bonding and neighborly love, they were going to bring two van loads (full) of food to fill the pantry of the Centro de Servicios which in turn would distribute the food to those in need in the community.

The Purple Lotus Institute has been in existence in the heart of the Decoto District for the last two years. And as most people in the bay area know, the Decoto district is about 95% Latino, so it is quite unusual to find a Buddhist school situated in this neighborhood. I’m sure that most people around here look at them in their red robes and shaven heads with some apprehension and curiosity. Well this day, they were to make a small informal presentation before a few local politicians and dignitaries at the Centro. As soon as they arrived, everyone pitched in to help unload the boxes of food.

Afterwards everyone came inside for refreshments and short speeches by city councilman, Richard Valle and Jaime. As this was going on, I stood in the back of the room and began to read the front page of a newsletter that the monks had handed out earlier. The headline to the newsletter read: Mysterious face of Compassion: Is it a miracle of the Virgin Mary or the Bodhisattva Kuan-Yin? The Virgin Mary? What would the Virgin Mary have anything to do with Chinese Buddhist monks, I thought to myself.

Well, I began to read the article and discovered that in 1996, at the school site, the master of the school, Samantha Chou, had witnessed a vision of one of their sacred saint-like personages, the Bodhisattva Kuan-Yin. This vision appeared on the front face of a recently cemented wall that was being constructed to honor those benefactors who had donated funds to help build the school. The front of the wall was soon to be covered with marble plaques adorned with the names of the benefactors. What she saw was the face of Kuan-Yin in a very compassionate and solemn manner. The article went on to read about the miracles that have taken place at the school site as a result of this vision. Others who have witnessed this vision have likened the image to that of the Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus. In our Latino culture and to us Catholics, the Virgin Mary is of course “La Virgen de Guadalupe,” one of our most beloved holy personages. She adorns everything from living room pictures, to car hoods and even tatoos.

As I finished reading the article, I thought how fitting it would be to donate a poster of the Virgen de Guadalupe that I had painted a few years ago to the monks as a gesture of respect and gratitude. So I went to my car where I usually carry a portfolio of some of my artwork and pulled out a fresh poster and brought it inside. I then approached Jaime Jaramillo and asked him if it would be all right to present them with the poster since I wasn’t part of the presentation. He immediately thought it would be a great idea. So when the time was right I presented it to Master Samantha Chou. She was very delighted to receive it and thanked me for it. After the presentation, the monks invited everyone present to take a short tour of the school that is only about five blocks away. They mentioned that they wanted us to see the school as well as this miracle wall. Jaime invited me to ride along with him and Emily Sawyer, a board member of the Centro.

When we arrived at the school, we parked on a side street and walked around to the front of the school gate and waited for the monks to arrive in their vans. As we waited, we could see the wall from the outside of the gate about 50 feet away.

About that time, Centro board member Luis Molina arrived in his car. By now the monks were pulling into the driveway of the school. As we stood outside and waited for one of them to come and open the front gate for us, I stood there staring at the wall to see if I could see this mysterious face. I didn’t say anything at first because I couldn’t see any image of the face of the Virgin Mary nor of this Kuan-Yin for that matter.

Armando Cepeda's Sketch:

However, as we entered the courtyard, I could very clearly see what appeared to be an image of the face of Jesus Christ on the left side of the wall. Again, out of respect, I didn’t say anything because I really couldn’t see what the monks said they could see on the wall. But then almost at the same time, Luis Molina said, “Look, it looks like the face of Jesus.” I immediately agreed that I could also see it. It appeared very obvious to us, but no one else could see it. It took a while for the others to see it, but as we pointed out the features, the others in the group began to take interest in the image and told me that they had never seen the image of Christ on the wall before. (Apparently, it’s been there all along but they hadn’t noticed it.)

I then took out a pen and on the back of the newsletter that I was reading earlier, I made a quick sketch of the image as I could see it. As I did this the monks became very excited about this phenomenon and began to discuss amongst themselves what they should do about this. These are very humble people and they wanted to be careful as to how to deal with this. We left the school to return to the Centro and before we left I asked the monks if it would be O.K. for me to come back and make a better drawing of the image. They were more than glad to have me come back. I returned shortly afterwards with a sketch pad and art pencils and made a better sketch that included both images. By then the monks had decided that the news media should be notified.

Imagine, an image of Jesus Christ appearing on the wall of a Chinese Buddhist Institute. And a few days before Easter at that. And no doubt, the holiest time in the Christian calendar. I drew the sketch so that the faint image of Jesus could be better enhanced.

The image itself is simply made up of dried cement patch stains that were applied with a cement trowel in circular sweeping motions. It is about five feet in length from top to bottom. As you look at the image from the bottom up, you can see a beard followed by a drooping sad mouth. On the left side going up, one can see the structure of the right side of the face with a protruding cheekbone. Right next to the cheekbone on the inside of the face, both eyes are visible with the left eye drooping in a sad and compassionate manner. To the right of the eyes is his long hair cascading over his left shoulder. Above his eyes is his forehead and more hair. Amazingly, just over his head is a fast circular sweep that is obviously his halo. (A nose is almost not visible at all.) Behind the image of Christ appears to be the oversized face of a woman with a very somber look on her mouth. Except for the oval shape of the face, this image is not as visible to the eye as that of Jesus. But if you study it carefully enough, you can make out what appears to be a long nose and an eye that is looking downward. As for any resemblance to that of the Virign Mary, one has to study the image a little longer to make out the features of the face.

One of the monks named Seamus later asked me if I knew of any pictures that depict Jesus in such a pose. Immediately, like a bolt of lightning, it hit me and I said, “Wow! This image of Christ is exactly what he looks like as he struggles to pick himself up after he falls to his knees as he carries the cross to Calvary!” His face is looking to the left in a slight downward position. It isn’t there, but you can imagine where the cross would be as if it were resting on his shoulder. Inside any Catholic church, there are fourteen pictures that are usually placed on the left and right walls of the chapel. These fourteen pictures represent the fourteen stations of the cross which show the chronological chain of events that lead to the cruxifiction of Christ. This image is exactly that of one of the stations of the cross.

One lady upon seeing the image went back to her house a few blocks away and soon returned with a Biblical picture showing Christ in this same posture.

One news reporter asked me, “What do you make of all this?” My reply is simply this, “There really is no miracle happening here. At least not in the theatrical sense. However, if images of Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary (Kuan-Yin to the Buddhists) appearing on a wall of a Buddhist school have any meaning to me, then it is this: If these images can be used as vehicles and tools to better enhance our faith in God and our faith in each other, then so be it. More power to it. And, if these images can bring a community together to better understand each other and see the humanity and beauty of children of two different cultures playing together on the playground of this school as I have witnessed in the last three days, then more power to it. And finally, if these images can help bridge a better understanding, respect and appreciation of two religious faiths, then more power to that also. These are miracles that we can live with.”

As a result of events over the last four days, I myself have come to view the teachings of the Buddhist faith to be quite similar to that of my Catholic faith. We do share common characteristics. At times it is easier to acknowledge the differences that two faiths have rather than to acknowledge those things that we have in common. This event has given me a stronger sense of hope. That no matter how difficult things may seem to all of us at different times in our lives, we’re still here. And we continue to be here and carry on because we have the faith that makes us strongly believe that we can do better and be better. We strongly believe that there is more good in the world than there is evil. I also believe that compassion and goodness towards others is what the teachings of Jesus Christ and the Buddhist faith are all about.

Thank you and God bless you.

Toolbox

Back Top Print Bookmark Tell a friend:

© 2008 Padmakumara. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright & Terms of Use.