Clearing the mind…
When I was in the Ashram, I was part of the gardening team as my Karma yoga, and after two years of Covid, you can imagine there was a lot of weed to deal with in the gardens. Somehow I became an expert, especially on dock leaves. As the internet is informing us, “The leaves are used to soothe nettle stings and often grow nearby the offending plant. The cooling properties were also used to soothe insect bites and stings, as well as scalds, blisters, and sprains. They were a popular remedy for staunching bleeding or for purifying the blood.” It worked with nettle stings!
It’s a strange little plant which spreads quickly, but the most fascinating is the roots. It had very strong roots. Reminded me of parsnip but much thinner and more flexible. Some roots are deep down in the soil and to remove them, you have to come up with a system of loosening the ground around it and digging under before pulling it out. Sometimes a lot of force is required, I even lost my balance and landed flat on my back. Sometimes I didn’t remove the root and only the leaves stayed in my hands. And the next year new leaves will come up, maybe weaker but still there.
Some roots were wrapped around another plant, living almost in a symbiotic relationship. It was almost difficult to recognise which root belong to which plant.
And it’s the same with our mind, isn’t it? Our mind is built on unique patterns of behaviour and emotional responses. And sometimes they are rooted so deeply in our minds that we think they are part of our DNA. We identify with our thoughts and we think that’s who we are. But we are not. We can change any behaviours because the real You is under all those layers of patterns, and we need to uncover it again.
Posted in Newsletter by Anna Smithers with comments disabled.