It wasn’t the muggings. It wasn’t the public drunkenness or
graffiti or violence. According to Dan Stevenson, those are just things you
have to expect when you live in a city like Oakland, California. But when trash
started taking over the corner opposite his home, Dan decided it was time to
act. He bought a concrete statue of Buddha at Ace Hardware and installed it on
the corner hoping its serene presence would discourage the dumping of
mattresses, drug paraphernalia and other refuse. Dan isn’t Buddhist. He just
figured the smiling sage would be less objectionable than, say, a depiction of
Christ. He seems to have been right. Now instead of rubbish, visitors – many of
them Vietnamese immigrants - leave gifts of fruit, incense and flowers. They’ve
even built a shrine to protect the Buddha from the elements. They say caring
for Buddha’s image can help make you a better person. Maybe it also makes a
better neighborhood.
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