Planting our Seeds: Who is Growing in Yourself?
Phew, why is this sooooo deep in the ground? Deeper the hands reach through the earth, pushing dirt out of the way until finally the seed is found. The seed of frustration! How many of us go through the day and find ourselves frustrated by one thing or another? Maybe we started the morning without a cup of coffee and for the rest of the day a feeling of frustration, tiredness and a little bit of anger is felt and often presenting as difficult to manage. This seed you have watered in the morning continues to be watered throughout the day. As we focus on the frustration more and more we give it strength, water, nutrients and soon it is all we can think, feel and be.
In Buddhist psychology seeds of consciousness can be understood as those mental, spiritual, habitual and other energies and tendencies that are stored in us, either in store or mind consciousness. When we speak of those dormant emotions, habits or energies we are thinking of store consciousness, which acts as the repository for all seeds, preserving experiences and karmic results from this and previous lives. Described as a garden or soil that holds both wholesome and unwholesome seeds, we learn how to water those desired seeds and to stop watering those undesirable seeds.
“Store consciousness is the lower part of our consciousness which stores many things; we call them seeds — seeds of happiness, seeds of sorrow, seeds of pain, all kinds of seeds. And that part of our consciousness is described as being like a garden, or soil, or earth, which preserves seeds.”
When the undesired seed of anger arises and is watered it enters into our mind consciousness. Mind consciousness is what is actively engaged in our present moment. As a gardener who selects what is watered and what is not needed, our mind consciousness plays the role of placing emphasis and intention/energy towards those thoughts, emotions, habits and other formations of our selves. So as the anger grew from store consciousness to mind consciousness, we can see that watering this seed only always it to grow, being the focal point of ourselves. When we are able to notice and limit our watering of those seeds, not only do we allow ourselves to not be bombarded with those emotions, sensations and thoughts, but we are able to place them on clouds, letting them fly away as they will.
How do I stop watering seeds of undesirability and continue to water those preferred seeds? Mindfulness, meditation, grounding, and living in the present moment, these are the keys to not only noticing the seeds we are watering, but allows us to select which to water. Through meditation we allow ourselves to practice looking deeply in and bringing about light and clarity to the way we see things. Through settling down, grounding the self and allowing the mind to come to focus on those seeds present in the mind, we then give light and clarity on what is watering those seeds. Insight and slowing down gives the mind time to utilize the entire body, senses, thoughts and emotions towards not only understanding the origins and impressions those seeds are providing, but gives us strength and courage to let those less preferred seeds to be embraced, understood and cared for, therefore not being the focal point of ourselves.
Experiencing the anger in our mind consciousness but grounding oneself you are providing a way to build understanding, compassion and holding on to that anger like you would an infinite crying. Cradling the baby of anger we are able to comfort and sooth the anger, no longer water this seed but letting it be heard, acknowledging its need and desire to be listened to. Once anger has been embraced it is able to be free from gripping us, letting anger rise up as a cloud and float as it desires. nowhere to go, nowhere to be.
When we meditate, we practice looking deeply in order to bring light and clarity into our way of seeing things. When the vision of no-self is obtained, our delusion is removed. This is what we call transformation. In the Buddhist tradition, transformation is possible with deep understanding. The moment the vision of no-self is there, manas, the elusive notion of “I am,” disintegrates, and we find ourselves enjoying, in this very moment, freedom and happiness.
I encourage you to utilize the meditations and mindfulness skills present throughout this website, blog and handouts. Being kind to yourself and finding space to ground allows you to be present. Giving you the gift to see the seeds you are watering and allowing those flowers of love, compassion, happiness, joy and fun to flourish.