There are old trees, new trees, big trees, small trees, green trees, brown trees, red trees.Trees can grow pretty much anywhere given the right conditions set out in nature.  Trees come from seeds and seeds come from the fruit of the trees. All trees are beautiful in their own right. Each tree serves a purpose, and together they co exist in their family of the forest. You plant the seed, you water it, you provide the right soil, the right sunlight, the seed blossoms into the tree. Nature is so perfect in its ability to multiply, that each tree will bear fruit. Each fruit has plenty of seeds that once shed and sown will bring about the exact genetic replica of its parent, and so nature procreates and prospers.

Seeds are akin to our own attributes. There is an old adage ” You reap what you sow” The more you sow seeds of happiness, joy, kindness, generosity, love and caring, the more each seed can take root and create trees of abundance of these qualities and attributes. The good  fruit that is generated through the  spread of such trees, these will then  nourish others as they consume them through interactions. This multiplies and multiplies and feeds the society and raises a civilization to become better, more utopian. In this modern era of social media, any bad news can figuratively burn down a forest as it churns through the internet with great rapidity. However, imagine what goodness can spread through the tree of the internet, so long as the seed planted has the right attributes.

So each seed has a potential tree within itself and each tree has millions of seeds within itself, and natures’ perfect idea of global survival is preserved. We  plant the wrong seed with hate, jealousy, envy, and greed to name but a few negative qualities, then that is the tree that will emanate and spread. Ill fruit born of this tree will only serve to demolish the consumer. Thank fully nature has a pruning plan. A seed will not sprout in an arid area with no soil, no water. A seed tends not to germinate without sunlight. If the soil is fertile with good thoughts. If the light shining from within is bright and pure. If the elements nourishing the seed is full of good deeds it will bring forth a tree of good quality.

Maintenance  of the tree, through continued horticultural care is equally important, just as is continued practices of patience, meditation, selflessness, and equanimity. The roots grow stronger and deeper. The ties to community and family are such roots. Connecting to them is as important as connecting to oneself. If each of us is an individual, like a root, then these roots together can help find water, nutrition and help in survival of the tree, the community, the civilization and the human race. Do not let mad practices of stressful lives bulldoze your personal forest of peace.

The Banyan tree is known as the walking tree, as it usually stays in one place, and with its new branches that hang down, the branches are the ones that create new trunks and a new tree forms and spreads and so gives the appearance of the “tree that walks.” The banyan tree is a very old tree, living over 100 years with very ancient powerful roots, and very plentiful and abundant fruit. Imagine the amount of good seeds that it has spread in its age old life time. It keeps healthy and well preserved, as should we with good practices of calm, reverence, peace and the willingness to learn and be more than a mere seed. How old is your spiritual tree?

Go plant a seed in your back yard and grow a tree.

Go plant a seed of goodness within yourself and see what you can be.