Spiritual Growth and Farming

Did You Know You Were A Farmer?

There is traditional Hindu story told about a wandering holy man who was asked by a stranger what his work in life was.  He replied, “I am a farmer.” 

The questioner looked surprised and asked “Where are your fields?” 

The holy man replied, “This body of mine is my field.  I sow good thoughts and actions, and in my body I reap the results.” 

There is profound truth in this little story.  We are, all of us, farmers.  No matter what else you do “for a living”, you are really a farmer of life.    Your body and mind are your fields.  Your thoughts are the seeds you plant and your actions are the nurturing you provide to the growing seedlings.  Your harvest can be seen in the quality of your health, the level of peace in your mind, and in the quality of your relationships with those closest to you. 

Jesus Christ used parables to teach spiritual truths- and among his favorites were parables related to farming and plants.    I think he used farming to teach spiritual truth not just because the people he was teaching could relate to it, but because the principles of plant growth and the principles of human spiritual growth are THE SAME- not just analagous. Both plant life and human life are part of living nature and are subject to the same natural and spiritual laws- or principles, so that by understanding one, we understand the other.         

Choice- Our Most Important Tool

We are here in life to grow- to evolve spiritually and it is clear that life is designed to help us do that. If we work with life and actively seek out the lessons it teaches, we can grow at a full rate of growth and reach our potential. If we are asleep to the lessons of life and have to keep learning them over and over again, we will grow at a slower rate of growth than our potential. We may even stunt our growth or reverse it. The key variable is CHOICE- the one unalienable right inherent to human life.

Life is very allowing- it allows us to make all sorts of choices that are good as well as bad, and it provides us with feedback along the way so that we can learn from our own experience- and even from other peoples’ experience if we are observant enough.  It doesn't force us to make wise choices or do things the right way.  It just allows choice and provides feedback in the form of consequences.     

All that is needed for our spiritual growth has been abundantly provided- like the soil, the sun and the rain- and the seeds themselves.  A farmer is a caretaker.  He doesn’t create the seeds, the soil, the rain or the sun- or the life force that permeates them all and grows the plants.  Likewise, we don’t create our bodies, we don’t create our minds, we don’t even create our thoughts (despite what you may have been brought up to believe), and we don’t create the same life force that permeates them all and allows us to grow. We are the farmers, the caretakers.  Our job is to make choices and learn how to be good caretakers of our lives.

Right Effort is Least Effort

One of the first principles of growth that apply to both plants and our lives is that of right effort and least effort.  I say right effort, because the farmer could work very hard doing the wrong things and find that his harvest is still unrewarding. So it is in life. To grow well and help create an abundant harvest in our lives, it requires right effort on our part- not just raw effort.  Right effort more often then not means working SMARTER, not necessarily harder. It means doing some things that we've been avoiding and avoiding some of the things we've been doing.

If you observe nature closely, you'll notice that nature operates by the principle of LEAST EFFORT. Scientists actually coined this phrase. It means that everything in nature exerts just the right amount of effort- the least amount needed to accomplish what needs to be accomplished- never any more. The earth revolves around the sun using the least amount of effort needed to do accomplish that task. A plant grows to it's potential using the least amount of effort needed to accomplish that task. By learning true principles and implementing routine practices based on those principles, the effort required to reach our true potential can be reduced significantly and the harvest increased significantly in quality and quantity. 

John Groberg writes on a wide variety of topics related to personal and spiritual growth.  His slogan is Grow. By Choice™.  His articles draw out principles of personal and spiritual growth common to the world’s ancient wisdom and spiritual texts as well as many of the great philosophers, poets, and writers of ancient and modern times.   These principles are then put to the test in his own life with an emphasis on simple, sustainable practices we can apply in our daily lives to more effectively deal with the stresses and struggles of modern life and to more fully realize the benefits of deliberate growth.   John developed a model called the Divine-Align-Shine model as a way of visually organizing the principles, practices and the overall process of personal and spiritual growth.   His writings are cataloged and organized on his website, www.johngroberg.com where contact information is available.