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Fruits of the tree of your life
Jeroen
Luminous beings are we, not this crude matterNetherlands Veteran
The last few weeks I have been doing a course on creating meaning in life, which uses the metaphor of a tree to examine your life. One question which had me and my fellow students rather stumped was “what are the fruits and blossoms of your life?” At first I thought this would be about accomplishments, but it turns out that that is only partially correct, it is also about what you are giving.
We talked about it some, what we were giving and what we would like to give. It turned out to be quite diverse. So that would be my question for you today, what are you giving and what would you like to give?
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Comments
Thanks for asking @Kerome
1. I’m finding that most of the things I am giving in my life are for the sake of my beautiful children. If it weren’t for them I’d have disappeared to a monastery or overseas a long time ago.
2. I’d like to to find more time for dharma study and practice but trying my best to incorporate it into my daily life.
I start all my meditation sessions with the prayer
So in that sense I give my practice and the results it has on my own being to others. By being thoughtful and calm I give others the permission and example to be thoughtful and calm themselves. By being positive and kind I give others permission and an example to bring out those things in their own lives.
The research on social contagion shows how one's behaviors, positive or negative, reach out into 3 degrees of separation, your friends friends.
Ah ha!
We are raspberry ripple?
I knew it.
☸️ I take refuge in the three jewels. ☸️
Also Netflix and any wisdom ripples that come my way ... 💗
and now back to the fruity trees ...
I feel @person is spot on.
It is only in serving Truth that receptivity unfolds. The Truth can only be grasped by an open/giving hand.
An open mind, heart and hand is always full.
Some great responses. The exercise of making a drawing of your life’s tree can be very useful, it allows you over time to attach meaning to the metaphor, which slowly allows the metaphor to suggest new things to you.
Usually such a drawing starts with the roots as the influences of ones past, the ground as the present day, the trunk as the qualities one has, the branches as hopes and dreams and aspirations, the air and clouds around the tree as the storm or the challenges, and then the fruits.