Chetan Prabhakar
We all have good and bad seeds in our mind, such as; seeds of love, beauty, grace, happiness, hopefulness etc. and also seeds of anger, ego, greed, fear, worry etc. And the seeds, which we water more will grow, such as, if we water seed of hate, we will grow hate, and, if we water seed of love, love will grow. An old proverb provides as follows:
“There is a battle of two wolves inside all of us. One is evil. it is anger, jealousy, greed, resentment, lies, inferiority, and ego. The other is good. it is joy, peace, love, hope, kindness, empathy and truth.
The wolf that wins the one you feed.”
So, we need to be very conscious and mindful in selecting the seeds we water. Every human being is born with all types of seeds, and it depends upon the grooming and/or the environment in which such a person grows, as, our mind picks up and consumes different seeds from the environment we are in.
Now, let us evaluate, as how can we have selective watering of seeds? By following simple steps of mindfulness, we can have selective watering. It is very important to know what selective watering is, and the same can be explained in the following manner:
We have consciousness and the same has two parts; one is store or sub consciousness and; the other is mind consciousness. In the store/sub consciousness, we have all the seeds such as anger, ego, resentment, love, hopefulness, beauty, happiness etc.
Now, the store consciousness throw seeds to conscious mind based on our consumption from different modes or senses, such as, if we have consumed from the environment fear, worry, anger etc., it will throw these seeds to conscious minds, which the conscious mind will pick up and then, by constant thinking multiply it manifold. Buddha explained this in the following manner:
He says, suppose a man is hit by an arrow, now instead of taking this arrow out, he is being hit by many other arrows, so what will happen?
Obliviously, his pain and suffering will multiply, and if his arrow is removed, his pain will reduce and he will feel relieved, similarly, when our conscious mind gets hit by seeds of fear, anger, despair etc., if we keep on watering these seeds, they will grow and become trees e.g. let’s talk about a circumstance, despite doing everything for your family, friends or colleague; at home or in office; you are never being appreciated and always criticised. Now, you have a seed of suffering. Let us understand here, how it will be watered?
You start talking about your suffering with your other friends, relatives, colleagues etc., and some of them may have similar experiences or sufferings too and they will also share their pain and/or suffering.
You watch a TV programme or listen to radio or read news, which has similar incident or events and the same resonate to your pain and suffering. This is how; you water these seeds and it will grow manifold, then, it will create frustration, worry, stress, anxiety and pain, and under such distress, you may take many steps in haste and/or anger, which will create more afflictions, despair and sufferings.
On the other hand, if you know the art of mindfulness, you will take the arrow out, apply an ointment, get some rest and now, the suffering is gone.
In a similar way, in the above-mentioned condition, if know this art, you will become aware that you have seeds of frustration, worry or pain at the level of your mind consciousness and then, by using the tools of mindfulness, you will replace it by good and wholesome seeds, by going out to some good place; listen to some good music; read something positive; do some meditation, sitting, lying or walking; appreciate good things and recognize conditions of happiness already present in your life, and in this way, you will heal the suffering. And by doing so, you will water positive seeds, which has converted your suffering into happiness. Venerable Eminent Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, Father of Mindfulness says as follows:
‘Because suffering is impermanent, that is why we can transform it. because happiness is impermanent, that is why we have to nourish it.
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