In the middle of Australia, this majestic Rock rises from the soil, the rock everyone in the world knows: ULURU.

The meaning of that beautiful word, so very melodious, is *great pebble*. (and a great pebble it indeed is:) My chat today is not about the history of this wonderful place (much information can be found on: http://www.environment.gov.au/parks/uluru/ but about an incredible experience I want to share with you when I visited Kata Tjuta National Park

The first time I saw Uluru was in 1991. We drove from Sydney to Uluru, 2793 kilometers (and back again, same distance) and that journey in itself is a story to fill a whole travelbook. The arrival over the long road, through the so very Australian *red* sands, seeing in the distance this dark-red gigantic one piece mountain (and further along another rock formation, the *Olgas*), as if a huge meteor had fallen in the midst of nowhere, the sun shining and the sky the bluest blue, was something that is so beautiful but can never be described in words: you need to see it, be there, feel the land and warmth of the earth.

The first time at Uluru not many tourists were present, a few cars, a few hikers and some bicyclers and you could freely walk around the Rock, link up with a local Aboriginal to have a *walkabout*, and eat grubs (white big fat worms you find in the soil.) and talk with them about their way of living. That trip to Uluru was so amazing, the spiritual power so overwhelming that I made a vow going back there one day. And yes, I did.

This time: 1999. Many more tourists now all over the place, buses filled with people waiting for the sun to set or rise and then seeing the unbelievable color change of the rock..from yellow, to red, to purple, blue, orange, brown, almost white...you need to see this miracle for yourself because it is impossible to describe its magic and beauty.

Most of the time in the midst of Australia, it is very dry and not much rains falls. So the first day we arrived, it was very, very hot and dry. The next day, to our amazement, it started raining. And raining. And Raining. The sky was grey and all the tourist buses were departing, not wanting to stay in the now very drenched area.

We though stayed. The reason is that I myself had a mission and in fact did not know how to accomplish this mission with so many tourists around and everyone seeing what you were doing, but this unexpected *miracle* raining was exactly what I needed. See, I had made a very special Buddha, painted in many colours and with hearts and flowers and peace symbols and so forth..I had taken this sculpture with me and wanted to give it as a gift to Uluru. I wanted to bury this Buddha, made from biodegradable, Australian material ------the Buddha would become one with the soil within 2 years and would enrich the soil because the products used were Australian natural tree and woods, eucalyptus and flower colors (an Indigenous way of making paints) ------close to the Rock, Uluru..... The Buddha had taken me a long time to finish and some people had suggested I put it in an Art Gallery......I though had different plans: This Buddha was going to be a gift to Uluru and the Land of the Indigenous people...

So, the rain kept pouring down and no one was around anymore. Waterfalls ran from the top of the Rock, in stunning avalanches, the rain pounding the ground. Puddles appeared and everywhere you looked the sky was almost black... in the distances you saw nothing except vast empty lands and here and there still a kangaroo trying to find a place to shelter. A joey hopped by and hid under a tiny shrub and a dead tree branch.

We ran through the mud, through the rain, getting soaking wet, three kilometers from the Camp base (we were staying at an eco camp site) with the Buddha securely in our arms and made our way to the Rock. Dark, mud, waterfalls, no one around, completely desolated, we halted at 5 meters away from Uluru, to show our respect, between trees and shrubs. Looking up we saw an immense high and powerful red brown mountain and water streaming down like the biggest waterfalls. Absolutely stunning.

With our hands we started digging in the sand, being careful not to hurt anything, not the littlest root of plants or an ant, and placed the Buddha with his face looking at the Rock, in the hole we made and letting it stick out for 20 centimeters.... we then put all the sand back, covering the Buddha with wet twigs and gum leafs, securing the statue to stay safe and give it the chance to slowly become rich soil to feed a small spot of the ground around Uluru. We got up, wanted to walk away.....

And Then It Happened...

A moment after we got up, an incredible sound descended from the Rock, a sound filled with voices and songs and childrens chitter chatter....... laughter and ancient noises, a thunder of 40.000 years history and people, Aboriginal songs, music, dance and power. Rich, melodious, warm, embracing, inviting, WARM, and with a very lighthearted undertone, as if the rock was laughing. 
Tears were streaming over my face and shivers over my arms, hands and in fact whole body. I felt an incredible joy and happiness and I knew that the Rock was thanking me for presenting the Buddha to them, a Buddha of peace and compassion, of love and non-violence. Uluru was *talking* to me and all the centuries and centuries of its existence, what it has seen, the secrets it carries, were presented to me, in response to my handmade peace offering, becoming one with the land and giving compassion...

I did not want to leave but wanted to disappear in this world of spiritual beauty and run to the top of the Rock. The power was incredible and I felt the history of every atom and molecule, of every living being ever to wander this remote land in Australia, so close to the *great Pebble*.....

When we slowly left, humbly making our way back through the still pouring down rain, we looked up at the Rock in absolute awe. And just when we looked up, one cloud split and there was the sun....just coming through....and the rain stopped an hour later...next day everything again as hot and sunny as you can imagine and almost nothing left of the water puddles so plentiful the day before...

Never ever shall I forget what happened in Uluru. I wish I could describe it better, I wish I could let you feel what I felt and I wish I could take you to this place, so lovingly back in the care of the people who were there so many thousands of years before us and who can teach us so many things.

When one day you decide to go to Australia and visit Uluru, be sure that you show respect to what the *great pebble* means to the Anangu people, the descendants of the original citizens of this stunning and very spiritual part of Australia. The greatest respect you can show is to stay OFF the Rock --------do not climb or touch Uluru, even not on the *corded off* pathway--------instead, talk with an Elder and find out what the Rock means to them, listen to the whispers of Dream Time and hear the song of a Rock that stood on their Land long before the beginning of times.....

Till the next coffee chit chatter,

Yours Truly.

Brigitte