Centuries ago in Bangkok, monks covered a massive golden Buddha statue with thick plaster and clay to disguise it. They were protecting the statue from invading armies who might melt it down for it´s gold. They knew no one would steal it if it were made from plaster and clay. The disguise worked! The statue survived. Only generations later, in the 1950s, during a move the plaster cracked. And the crack revealed what had been hidden all along: solid gold. 

Our internal saboteurs are like that plaster. At some point, they served a purpose. They shielded us when we were small, powerless, or vulnerable. They kept us safe from rejection, humiliation, or loss. And for a time it worked. So you continue to wear it like an armor.  People once believed the Buddha was only clay and plaster.

Stay in your armor long enough, and you’ll start believing you are the armor. The plaster doesn’t just hide the gold, it convinces you that you are the plaster.

Meaning: Your internal saboteurs don’t just cover your true inner self, they convince you that they are who you are. What once protected you is now what prevents you.
Beneath it all is your true authentic self: your strength, clarity, and wisdom.
That is the golden self that was never destroyed, never diminished, only hidden.
The work is not to open a war on the plaster. It’s to recognize it, respect why it formed, and then chip it away.  Piece by piece, you reveal what’s been there all along.
You were never meant to be plaster. You are gold.​