The Tree of Wisdom

While we pitter patter as humans on this planet, our problems take on specific forms. Maybe a particular person bothers us, a financial fear crops up, a physical ailment, and so on. If your life is like a tree, each leaf can represent a certain aspect of it. A specific situation that doesn't seem to be going well is like a leaf that is shrivelled and appears to be dying.

When a certain aspect of your life takes your peace of mind away, you can be sure that it is a leaf in need of water.

What is peace of mind? This is my litmus test: if this moment in time were frozen, and the way I feel right now were extended for eternity, would I be happy about that idea? In order to answer this question I have to be real with myself. If the answer is no, that means I've lost my peace of mind.

Peace of mind comes hand-in-hand in the moments you have no conflict at all in your mind. It's when you feel that you have what you want and you want what you have. Not necessarily in terms of things, but as a feeling. It’s when you find yourself having no desire to change anything. You look upon everything in gratitude and feel complete, safe, serene, and whole.

But oftentimes we feel that certain person or circumstance blocks peace of mind. Now we are looking at this as a leaf calling for water. Where does this water come from? Obviously the water has to come up from the trunk of the tree. The trunk is the mind. Everything specific in life starts with the mind, and is expressed and experienced through thought. But the deeper parts of the root are grounded in the spirit, which exists prior to time & space.

There is a never-ending immovable foundation, a spring of wellbeing within all beings. Unchanging forever, in this space is all the water that is needed to bring vitality and goodness to each and every leaf.

Every thought that occurs to you that feels expansive, that brings you peace, that helps you see anew, that brings you closer to a feeling of understanding, that allows you to see the oneness with all beings, is a wise thought. One wise thought is like one drop of water. One drop of water is all it takes to restore a dying leaf to life. But it helps to know that there is no end to this spring of wisdom. It never ceases. It just gives, and gives, and gives, forever and ever. From deep within the roots of your being, this wisdom, your wisdom, emerges silently. If, however, the mind is overactive, overthinking, pre-occupied, or dead-set, it's as if this water is being squeezed at the trunk, suffocating the leaves. Perceptions of situations and people become distorted and crystallised in the mind, and clarity seems like a distant dream. In this state, the healing water that would naturally emerge out of silence cannot come through. It’s as if there a haze of darkness and confusion that prevents you from seeing clearly.

Is it true then that all our problems come fundamentally from an overactive stubborn mind? In a way, yes. But maybe it's more accurate to frame it in another way: a quiet and open mind is remedy to all problems, because a quiet mind allows wisdom to percolate from below and enter into your consciousness, finding its way into your life and making it sparkle with appreciation and understanding.

This wisdom comes from the spirit, enters the mind through the roots, and nourishes all the leaves of your life. This living wisdom can bring new insights and perspectives to all situations, regardless of their size or seeming intensity.

Never forget that this wisdom always exists within you and will flow into you wherever there is space. You are always being held in this light, as it exists at the core of your very being, and is more intrinsic to you than the body you seem to occupy, regardless of the world you may see in the haze of thought. It even has the power to change the world you see, if you would allow it.