The Roots of it All

When he was a wee lad, young Mao\’s mother had a garden which was the pride of the province. People used to come from far and wide to see the vast array of beautiful flowers and other horticultural wonders. Then one day, his mother fell very ill and was no longer able to tend her pride and joy. She seemed completely oblivious to her ailments; her only concern was who would look after the garden while she was convalescing.

Seeing his mother so distraught, young Mao took it upon himself to devote day and night to look after the garden in his mother\’s absence. He worked tirelessly to nurture every plant and every bud, much to his mother\’s satisfaction.

After about a month or so, his mother was well enough to leave her bed and naturally, her first thought was her garden. She came out to check on progress and was horrified to find that everything was either dead or on the verge of expiring. She berated her son, asking in shock what he had been doing all that time.

Young Mao pleaded in defence that he\’d been tending to the garden from dawn until dusk, brushing all the dust off the leaves, tenderly watering each and every flower and kissing all of the buds with every bit of love he could muster. And yet, no matter how hard he tried, the garden kept deteriorating and deteriorating and nothing seemed to stop its demise. In a state of distress, Mao\’s mother chastised him for being an imbecile and informed him that all he needed to do was to water the roots.

Of course, to his undeveloped eyes, he couldn\’t see the roots of the plants and trees and so it never occurred to him to pay them any attention. Only someone with a more developed understanding would know that.

It seems that we humans are not so different from our arboreal and herbaceous friends. We require the fundamental basics to keep the body alive, such as food, water and oxygen. But we know there is more to us than muscle and bone. What about keeping the human spirit alive and healthy, what do we do to ensure that?

There are many \’needs\’ that we, as an evolved species, have. At the top of psychologist Abraham Maslow\’s hierarchy of needs is \’self-realisation\’ – a need to fulfill our potential as human beings, to become the best that we can be. This does not need to mean a constant stream of promotions or a bulging bank balance. To us it means a life of inspiration and happiness, free from fear, poor health and self-doubt. Where we can sense where we are needed and have the strength to go there. And as far as we are aware, meditation offers us the greatest possibility to do this, to live a life of fulfillment where our inner self is strong and vital.

When we meditate each day, we nourish our own roots. And even though we can\’t always see what\’s going on, the result is a life that is constantly in bloom and vibrant, ever changing to the needs of the time.

If you wish to experience a new plane of existence quickly, we invite you to come along to one of our forthcoming retreats and witness just how quickly your inner self starts to shine.