Seedlings - Their Remarkable Potential 苗

Breaking through the ground's surface, this seedling has a remarkable potential. Photo by Gelgas Airlangga from Pexels

Incredible Potential of Seedlings

Seedlings are very small, young plants that grow from seeds. They are so tiny that you might not even see them! But even if we can't see them, these little seedlings have the potential to grow into big, vibrant plants. They are important because they help keep the life cycle of plants going. Isn't that true?

Let's look at a bean as an example. Between the two sides of a bean, there is a very tiny baby plant about the size of a grain of sand. This tiny plant is the seedling. It will grow strong and thrive if it has the right conditions and enough water. Every plant starts out as a small seedling.

Now, let's think about kindness in our hearts. It's a lot like seedlings! Many people say that practicing Buddhism means having good thoughts, and that is true. But here is the thing. When it comes to seedlings of kindness, it does not matter how big or small they are. Even if we don't show kindness right away, we still have those little seedlings of goodness inside us. They are just waiting to grow. With the right conditions, these good thoughts in our hearts will bloom and bear wonderful fruits. So, our seedlings of goodness can lead to incredible things! Today, I want to talk about kindness seedlings to explain this: being kind isn't about how many good things we do and how big or small those things are.

This translated text is a chapter from Collection of Rain Blossoms, a collection of scriptures written by JiGong Living Buddha in the 1900s through spirit writing.

Here is a video of the translation:

苗

雨花集

濟公活佛

苗, 就是植物種子之芽, 幼弱得可憐, 幾乎藐小到令人不堪注目, 可是它之前途, 極為長遠, 開枝結果, 生生不息, 亦憑著此藐小的苗, 可不是嗎? 試看一粒荳, 除了兩片肉壁之外, 苗芽小得像一粒小砂, (苗就在這裡) 可是他一經因緣配合, 得水之助, 便勃然而興, 成樹成林, 亦由此藐小的苗而起。

人心裡的善苗, 亦猶如是, 許多人說, 學佛之人, 應該興善念, 此語誠不差, 但說到善苗, 並無大小之分, 雖然善事未見諸實行, 但既有一念之善, 苗亦能蘊藏待發, 如果一有因緣, 心內之善苗, 必定開枝結實, 前途無限, 今提出善苗二字, 意在闡明為善不在多言, 不求大小而已。

Note: This is a humble attempt at the translation, hoping to offer new insights for your spiritual journey.