A pretty house in Berkeley or The Buddha House
In the midst of avoiding the tail end of this article (it really only needs about 5 more pages of writing, and I can whip that out, if focused, in a very short time), I want to talk about a house dream.
My partner and I started looking for a home back in August. We started out just looking at real estate, going to a few open houses. We didn't have an agent. I had looked myself a while before, starting with one agent, so when it came time to look together, I recommended her. Unfortunately, she didn't follow up so we reached out to one of my dear friend/colleagues who gave us the name of his agent: Vea Thai. We had no idea how much she would change our lives and how much of a consistent and guiding presence she would be.
One of the first houses that we looked at together was actually with my partner's family. They were visiting from Italy. His father is a civil engineer. How endearing it was to see him literally go into the crawl space to investigate a home that my partner really loved!
Since those first visits, we bid on five houses, finally getting the last house: the Buddha House.
You see, I read an article about a neighborhood in which a man installed a Buddha on a meridian. A neighborhood that was highly impacted by crime within a short time changed. The installation of a Buddha led to offerings that led to a shrine that led to Buddhists visiting each day for morning prayers. The man who placed it there wasn't even a Buddhist.
Our new neighborhood feels friendly and familial, but it never hurts to have a little more peace around. We have been looking for just the right Buddha for a few weeks now... nothing yet. We feel that the right Buddha will find us, as this house - a short sale - found us. It seemed to be waiting for us; it waited years for us to call it home.
The reason that we now call it the Buddha House was that for weeks I have been searching for a name. You must understand that I name everything. The fruit trees in our backyard have names - Naranja, Limón, Fig, Uva, Olive - as does my car and just about anything else with which I interact significantly. Not in line with my general religious background but I do believe in spirit and that living things have spirit that can be called to. I know a car is not alive ... but when your car cushions you on the autobahn in what could have been a deadly accident and you come out fine, well, you might name and appreciate your car, too.
Anyway, we knew that we wanted a Buddha, and last Sunday, we happen to see our neighbor Matt with his son. Matt asks him what he calls the house, and loudly he says with no prompting other than this, "The Buddha House". My man and I just laughed, and he turned to me and said, "You wanted a name." No explaining could make Matt understand that this name was absolutely right.
Since the papers were signed, we have had asbestos testing, asbestos testing, electrical work, some plumbing, major heating work, painting done. We are just awaiting the floors to be rebuffed and coated.
Next weekend we move in. I expect we will do some dancing, dancing in the Buddha House.