Every soul is a spiritual seed waiting to be planted. It takes a long time for the seed to find stable ground to grow. It sometimes floats on water to find land, sometimes wanders and soars in the wind before finding land, and sometimes the seed has no direction or purpose of wanting to evolve into a plant and perishes. Only a few of these seeds are fortunate enough to grow into a robust and strong tree of spirituality. Some may perish as a sapling, some may get cut, some may be eaten, some may die of disease, and some may be blown away by the wind or carried away by the water. The process of growth and development is a very rough road with no guarantee of bearing fruit.
Although forces of nature thwart spiritual growth, yet the same force of nature will eventually allow the seed to germinate and grow into a fruit bearing spiritual tree. Time is of the essence and yet time is timeless in this vast cosmos. Persistence and perseveration to want to grow is important. As it has been said in many scriptures only 1 in a 1000 souls understands and tries to evolve spiritually, and only 1 in these 1000 self-seeking souls is fortunate enough to accomplish their purpose. The soul seed thus remains dormant until the right time, right place, and right environment synchronize in harmony.
Our duty on earth is not only to find our spiritual bearing, but also to guide the souls that have been entrusted in our care by God. Our children are the Children of God first. We are just the foster parents taking care of God’s valuable possessions. Our duty or our Dharma is to plant theses spiritual seeds firmly in the ground which is right here on earth. Our Dharma is to gently pour the ‘water of patience’ on these seeds and allow the ‘roots of faith’ to grow as deep as possible because deeper the roots, taller the tree. We have to nurture these seeds with the ‘sunshine of blessings of life’. Stable family, good friendships, good ethical and moral values, strong culture, educational foundation and a balanced life style are all the blessings of life. Our Dharma is also to facilitate the calm air of mental stability which is an active mind in a calm state, and not an idle-blank mind of boredom. Our Dharma however is not to live our life vicariously to fulfill our own dreams on earth through our children, but to nurture their spiritual seeds.
The seed then has to grow by itself with the nurture of sunshine and water, and the foundation of strong roots. The confusions of life are like the strong blowing winds. The strong roots will keep the seeds planted in the ground unless it is a hurricane. The life cycle of the seed has to start all over again every time there is a disruption to the growth and development. Life circumstances, the sorrows, the disappointments are the manure and the fertilizer to help the plant grow into a robust fruit bearing tree. The choices each seed makes triggers the subsequent consequences- Karma. The karma thus dictates the fate of the seed.
Each spiritually potent seed has to receive the right amount of water (patience); sunshine (nurture); roots (faith); air (mental stability); and manure (difficulties in life) to germinate. Photosynthesis of spiritual growth and development continues as long as this environment is maintained. Overbearing trees nearby can thwart the growth, as much as too much sunshine, too much water, too much wind, and too much stagnation of idleness and boredom of mind.
Let us thus help our children find and choose the right company/ environment and the ability to use the manure of life to grow into strong and tough fruit bearing spiritual trees as we nurture the seeds with faith, patience, mental stability, godly and ethical values, moral conduct, and strong culture.
bhaktisaburi 