A seed is protected inside a shell, not to sit comfortably inside the shell, but to come out therefrom and grow into a tree. Life inside the soil is not easy. It may not get enough water and sufficient nutrition when it comes out of the shell. It is safe inside the shell. However, it has no opportunity to grow inside the shell. However, to grow into a tree, it will have to pass through the difficulties inside the soil. Similarly, children are protected. Each parent tries to give them the best of comforts and safety. Yet, they have to pass through their college life and face many difficulties while building their career to grow as an adult.
We store many of these seeds, like wheat, pulses, grams, almonds, etc, in our kitchen. In a box, many of these seeds are together. Does that togetherness mean anything? No. On the other hand, when we sow these seeds in a garden and they grow up as plants, they grow and interact with each other and also the other beings on the Earth. They develop relationships with each other. One tree stands tall and supports a creeper; they provide shelter and fruits to the birds and animals, and the animals and birds carry their seeds to distant places and help them grow. They provide oxygen to the animals and human beings and take carbon dioxide from them. When we compare this relationship to the relationship among the seeds that are stored inside the box, there is no comparison. The seeds inside the box are very close physically, but there is no intimacy in their relationship. The seeds are isolated inside their protective cover.
Coming to human beings, we live in very close groups called families, communities, and organisations. There is a lot of physical proximity, like the seeds inside a box. But do we really feel that closeness? Do we really interact with each other right from the core of our hearts? Do we really open up and tell our deepest secrets to any of these relationships? We cover that "I" with an outer shell of "social I", and generally, when we interact with each other, we do not allow the other person to peep into that "I", which hides inside the protective shell of "social I". There are layers and layers of our existence. Inside that "I" too, there are layers and layers of mental stories we have created since childhood and the true self gets lost, invisible even to us. It is only when we sit in silence and meditate over "who am I" that we get some traces of that true self.
When we allow this "seed of I" to be sown into the ground of reality, it undergoes a great deal of struggle within the soil and then grows into a plant, which slowly develops into a tree. It comes out of the protective shell of "social I" in that ground of reality. First, when we realise what we are and shed the limitations we have imposed on ourselves to conform to the social image we carry, we do what we are really passionate about. We develop roots inside the soil. Still, there are layers and layers, and we still live in a dark world where that sense of "I" is again a creation of many mental stories. It is only when we come out of that soil of ignorance and see light that we get to see our mental stories and become aware of reality. Once the plant comes out of the soil, it interacts with the Sun. When we have that direct connection with reality and observe reality without being contaminated by mental stories, we grow as a tree. Once a person comes out of the protective shell of social self and mental stories, there is no going back. A tree can't be put back into a box full of seeds.
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