Let the Tree Grow

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The Buddha taught that with things that come about of their own, once you have done your work, you can leave the results to nature, to the power of your accumulated karma. Yet your exertion of effort should not cease.

Whether the fruit of wisdom comes quickly or slowly, you cannot force it, just as you cannot force the growth of a tree you have planted. The tree has its own pace. Your job is to dig a hole, water and fertilize it and protect it from insets. That much is your affair, a matter of faith.

 But the way the tree grows is up to the tree itself. If you practice like this, you can be sure all will be well and your plant will grow. Thus, you must understand the difference between your work and the plant's work. Leave the plant's business to the plant and be responsible for your own.

If the mind does not know what it needs to do, it will try to force the plant to grow and flower and give fruit in one day. This is a wrong view, a major cause of suffering. Just practice in the right direction and leave the rest to your karma. Then whether it takes one or one hundred or even one thousand lifetimes, your practice will be at peace.

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