“Tending the Seeds of Practice” with Benjamin this Sunday at Minneapolis Insight

Dear Community,

Sunday 10am Community Practice & Discussion

Last week we gathered and oriented around “Appropriate Action, Appropriate Stillness,” a teaching by Jack Kornfield. This week Benjamin will lead a continuation of this general theme, exploring Buddhist wisdom for planting the seeds of internal and external transformation — how our practice shapes both our own hearts and the communities we serve.

Here is another passage from Jack Kornfield’s After the Ecstasy, the Laundry (pp. 270 - 271):

To serve all beings, we must remember one more essential truth—it is never too late to begin. When we see with wisdom, the heavy press of time, the responsibility for all things is transformed. We find perspective, a long view. We are not in charge. In our relationships, in our community, on this earth, we may not live to see all the changes we work for—we are the planters of seeds. When the seeds of our actions are caring and sincere, we can know that they will bear nourishing fruit for all beings. No matter what has passed, we can begin again. We can only begin now, where we are, and it is this now that becomes the seed for all that lies ahead. Our responsibility, our creativity is all that is asked. With such sincere motivation, we will naturally ask wise questions and offer true care, tending what we love with a far-reaching wisdom. This is the long-term tending of a farmer for his orchard, a parent for a child.

And a quote from the late Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh:

Your mind is like a piece of land planted with many different kinds of seeds: seeds of joy, peace, mindfulness, understanding, and love; seeds of craving, anger, fear, hate, and forgetfulness. These wholesome and unwholesome seeds are always there, sleeping in the soil of your mind. The quality of your life depends on the seeds you water. If you plant tomato seeds in your gardens, tomatoes will grow. Just so, if you water a seed of peace in your mind, peace will grow. When the seeds of happiness in you are watered, you will become happy. When the seed of anger in you is watered, you will become angry. The seeds that are watered frequently are those that will grow strong.

All are welcome to join this exploration on Sunday! Registration and Zoom information available here.

With mettā,
Minneapolis Insight