Life is given.
Nothing is earned,
so learn to serve others,
not your own desire and greed
and ego. They steal your energies,
whereas devotion builds your strength
and protects the intelligent flame
that leads to the truth within.
Lalla
Translated by Coleman Barks
A few weeks ago, I sprinkled some basil seeds into a pot of fresh gardening soil. The tiny spherical shapes bounced slightly as they landed onto their new home. Then, like chameleons, they magically disappeared. As if a precursor to their eventual demise as seeds transforming into plants, they had seamlessly blended into the warm earthly hues.
I felt an odd kinship with their invisibility. In their hidden form they stirred an awareness of the potency of seeds. Much of the world is born of seeds. Tangibly, they grow into towering trees and endless forms of plants that feed the world. More abstractly, they are inspirations, thoughts, attitudes and ideas that produce poetry and peace, or greed and chaos. Seeds are always being sown and manifesting. Some are dormant, waiting for the right conditions and nourishment – that is where I felt the connection to these seeds and their journey. They had re-kindled a sense of the beautiful seed of joy passed on to me through my ancestors from the beginning of time.
Miraculously, the seeds have transformed into seedlings. I admire how they gracefully shed one form and assume another. Quiet and wordless, their energies are focused on absorbing the gifts of moisture and light – unlike mine, which become scattered through talking and moving around. The newly-shaped leaves peacefully unfolded, seeming like open arms of praise to infinite spaciousness. Their stems are sturdy connectors between the rippling skirt of roots below and their leaves yet to come.
For me, these seedlings are models of timeless truth. They flourish in their simplicity with no need to lie, nor capacity to take more than what they need. They trustingly rely on and are woven into the circle of living interconnectedness. With that, they seem boldly accepting that their life forms are like all others – even humans – as mixtures of the elements. These seedlings will also have their demise, yet they fearlessly grow.
And, perhaps most profound is the way these seedlings remind me of the potency held within every seed. They are pure expressions of the seeds from which they emerged. This is a raw reminder of the teachings across the ages to care for and cultivate seeds of gratitude, kindness, compassion and equanimity so that they will take root within, become stronger and eventually extend outward. The trees and plants make this look so easy, yet they offer inspiration for me to remember that every gesture, thought, and way that I am in my relationality with the world and myself is a tiny seed. Join me and a growing circle of other humans reviving awareness and tending to the seeds of sacred joy and loving wisdom.
Practice
This practice supports awareness of your transitions.
Prepare—
- Find a place where you can sit quietly.
- Before taking a seat, clear the immediate area of any potential distractions, e.g., watches and other electronic devices.
- Then, gently shake out your limbs, inviting a release of any unneeded tension or holdings in your body. Take your time. If you’ve had a stressful day, you might wish to jog in place or walk around a bit to help your body transition into sitting quietly for a few minutes.
Practice—
- Seated, take four to five quick exhales on succession through your nostrils. Follow this with a gentle inhalation. Repeat this cycle two more times.
- Then, gently rest your hands on your belly. Invite an awareness of a slight expansion of your belly and lower torso as the breath comes into your body on an inhalation, and the slight contraction on an exhalation.
- Once you feel you have some awareness of the movement associated with your breath coming in and receding, feel free to move your hands to your lap, thighs or any other comfortable position. Invite a sense of softness in your facial muscles, neck and upper torso.
- Quietly and gently inhale through your nostrils. (Try to maintain the soft expansion of your belly and lower torso as you inhale.) Invite your inhale to be smooth and even. As you do this, quietly say to yourself, “Inhaling.”
- Pause slightly at the end of your inhalation.
- Then, quietly and gently exhale through your nostrils. (Try to maintain the soft contraction of your belly and lower torso as you exhale.). Invite your exhale to be smooth and even. As you do this, quietly say to yourself, “Exhaling.”
- Pause slightly at the end of your exhalation.
- Continue this breath rhythm for six to twelve breaths. Then, slowly allow your breath to return to a more natural rhythm.
- Sitting quietly, silently appreciate your breath as part of the timeless pulsebeat of yielding and becoming.
Transition back into your day –
- Slowly open your eyes. If you feel so moved, look around the space where you are and perhaps notice the quality of your gaze.
- Sit quietly for a few moments.
- When you are ready, return to your day.
This poem appears in Mala of the Heart: 108 Sacred Poems, page 7, edited by Ravi Nathwani and Kate Vogt and published by New World Library. The practice is an excerpt from an earlier post entitled “Seeds.” H E A R T H is posted each new and full moon. KateVogt©2025.
Please consider joining me for my upcoming course:
“Pathways to Peace: Truthfulness, Non-violence, Compassion and Other Universal Values,” Thursdays, 3/27 – 4/10/2025, on Zoom 3:10-4:30 p.m., Pacific Time. Registration is through the College of Marin Community Education.
