Planting the Seed and Watering the Tree

Many people who know me well know that I am a man of aficion - that is, an aficionado in the way that Hemingway describes Jake in The Sun Also Rises. I am a passionate about the things and people I love. I am also a big fan of metaphors and expressions and have written small pieces of verse since high school. I realized a few years back that one must plant the seed and water the tree to pick the fruit. This is prevalent in all aspects of life and is related to another thing for which I have aficion, which is karma. Karma is such a beautiful concept when understood properly because it takes the accountability out of a "doer" or "reckoner" and back into the hands of the person wishing to develop such karma, which is everyone. We all want good things done unto us.

In order to develop good karma, one must create an atmosphere in which karma can develop. Just as a seed doesn't grow without soil and a key is just a piece of metal if it doesn't open a lock, karma does not exist in a vacuum. It does not exist without you being there to create it. That's the magic of it! Because you have to be there to create it, you have the option to create the best possible scenario. You have the opportunity to cultivate positivity in every situation. The cultivation of positivity is going outside of one's normal range of deeds into the unknown realm of good deeds with the idea of spreading positivity.

Re-enter the seed. I often use this metaphor for securing one's objectives, whether they are a job, a wave, money, or getting laid. You have to plant the seed and water the tree if you want to pick the fruit. Taken apart, these steps are simple. Planting the seed is the most difficult and involves the least amount of control because is throws the curveball of being in the "right place at the right time." To learn how to place oneself in the right place is to become the master of one's craft. Once the seed is planted watering the tree is simply cultivating positivity. The final step, of course, is to pick the fruit, enjoy it, and realize that it is impermanent.

Thus concludes my first Zen lesson, impermanence is next.