Nature Imitates Herself -Daily Meditation 10.23.23
Today’s quotation:
Nature imitates herself. A grain thrown into good ground brings forth fruit; a principle thrown into a sound mind produces fruit. Everything is created and conducted by the same master: the root, the branch, the fruits–the principles, the consequences. -Blaise Pascal
Today’s Meditation:
It’s pretty remarkable to consider how seed planting leads to a tree, and once that tree has matured, it leads to more fruit, just like the one from which we got the seed. We see the same principle at work in people: if you plant an idea in my mind, I can work with that idea and make it my own, but soon, you’ll see that the idea has helped to transform me into a different person. Of course, what we end up with depends upon what kind of idea is planted–plant a positive, helpful idea, and I grow to be a positive and generous person. Plant a negative, evil idea, and guess what?
I want to think that I have some control over the process, so I make a strong effort to fill my mind with positive ideas rather than negative ones. I want the fruits that result to be beautiful and helpful rather than dreadful and harmful. I do my best to identify the negative thoughts and ideas as soon as possible so that I can reject them and not consider them further, except as something that I can work against using positive principles.
We live by the principles we adopt as our own. The fruits of our labor are the results of the seeds that we’ve planted. If my guiding principles are greed and avarice, the fruits will be harmful, and I want to avoid that. I want to live with the principles that will create more suitable for the world, such as love, compassion, patience, commitment, kindness, and the like. When an idea includes principles such as hatred, intolerance, or prejudice, I don’t want it to take seed in my mind.
The lives we lead depend, to a great extent, on the principles that we allow to guide us in life. It’s up to us to adopt those principles–they don’t just happen. Whenever you’re in a situation that demands an important decision, remember the principles you want to guide your life, and then the right decision will become much more straightforward. Perhaps not any more accessible, but more precise.
Questions to consider:
What are the guiding principles of your own life?
How do opposing principles become so dominant in so many people’s lives?
What principals would you recommend to others to adopt as their guiding lights?
For further thought:
Principles are like seeds; they are little things that do much good if the mind that receives them has the right attitude. -Seneca
If you missed our last Daily Meditation, it is here.
