Planting Seeds

I don’t remember the context for this story but it’s one of my favorites:

A man approached the Buddha and asked him for help resolving some difficulty. The Buddha asked, “You are a farmer, aren’t you?” The man said, yes. The Buddha then asked, “Tell me something. If I plant pomegranate seeds can I harvest coriander?” The man smiled. “Oh, no, Buddha, if you plant pomegranate seeds you can only harvest pomegranate.” “Oh,” the Buddha replied. “Well, then, if I plant pepper seeds, can I harvest spinach?” Again the man smiled. “Oh, no. The same principle applies. If you plant pepper seeds you can only harvest pepper. If you want to harvest spinach you must plant spinach seed.” The Buddha became a little stern. “This is what I have told you and told you and yet you do not heed my words. If you plant the seeds of anger and greed you will harvest anger and greed. If you plant the seeds of wisdom and compassion, you will harvest wisdom and compassion. Whatever difficulties you are now experiencing are the fruit of the seed you planted in the past. If you want to avoid these difficulties in the future you must now plant a different seed.”

I would add a little to this teaching and say that anger and greed are like weeds. They grow willy-nilly (like dandelions or bindweed) and can be very hard to eradicate. But wisdom and compassion need to be nurtured more carefully. In my experience, one word of anger can destroy an acre of love. Over time, wisdom and compassion can grow to towering heights, like the cottonwood tree, casting such a long and deep shadow that anger and greed whither and die from a lack of sun and water. But all those qualities--anger, greed, wisdom, compassion-- are part of our human karma and can never be fully eradicated. Even the most bitter and hardened person is capable of love. And the most loving person can burn with anger. 

What seed are you planting right now?