Goodness Seed

A summary of the Buddha’s teachings is: "Avoid bad actions, cultivate good will and clarify the mind." This summary covers all the virtues, and if we follow this advice we can live a secure and peaceful life. This summary is available for anyone who wants to make progress in their life; it is unlimited, or unspecific. It is regarded as a goodness-seed and it is a universal method, which everyone can learn and put into practice in their daily life. It sounds good, doesn’t it? But it would be better if we practised it; if we start internally and keep reminding ourselves of the advice, as all of us are capable of doing.

The Buddha said that all human beings have a goodness-seed in their mind, and that they can make this grow. It is true; we cannot find any true goodness outside of our mind. We just need to look within our mind, to take care of our mind and to clarify what we find. There is a story, which was told by Ajahn Jayasaro, which serves as a good example of this. Here is the story:

When Ajahn Chah was alive, he was the Abbot of Wat Nongpapong, Ubonrajthani. He had a lot of students, and there were many branches of Wat Nongpapong. Once one of his students wanted to found another temple near the Mae-Khong River. He invited Ajahn Chah to have a look at the place to see if it was suitable to establish a branch of Wat Nongpapong there. Ajahn Jayasaro accompanied Ajahn Chah, and they had a look around. Ajahn Jayasaro liked the location very much as it was in a natural setting, green and near the big river. He said to Ajahn Chah, "Luangpor, I like this place very much. It is in a natural setting, in a green forest and near a big river. Everything is just perfect. What do you think, sir?" Ajahn Chah said calmly and kindly to him, "Yes, everything is good here, except you! You need to make an effort to develop yourself." Ajahn Jayasaro was awakened, and accepted the advice whole-heartedly.

This story tells us that everything good needs to start from within ourselves. It is not out there. It is right within our mind. The mind is the most fertile land, which we need to get to know and understand and then plant the goodness-seed in it. After that we just look after the seed and watch it grow. This goodness-seed is inside your mind as well, you can take care of it and watch it grow.

Look into your mind; purify it; plant the goodness-seed in it; take care of it and watch it grow.