Gardening with the Buddha?

I love to garden.  I especially enjoy growing vegetables and herbs.  Healthy things that i can feed to those I love.  In many ways it is very much like the enjoyment that i get from making bread.  Having my hands in the earth (or the dough).  Creating something nearly magical (yes, i know it is science) with a lot of caring. I surely do not fear getting dirty.  It is rare that i can even remember where i put my gloves last (let alone my trowel) and i enjoy having dirt on my feet and hands.  I enjoy being so close to the earth.  There is a connection with so much of that which came before, and that which has yet to awaken and spring forth.  There is a mindfulness that comes when one's hands are holding the mother who feeds and nurtures us, the instinctive and generative wisdom of those before and those yet to arrive, the very basis for growth and life. It is mindful to shape things gently and calmly into the shapes that are beneath what is already there, but it is also mindful to simply let what is, "be".  

It is so easy for the pace of modern life to become somewhat of an infection.  For my own rushed hurriedness and sense of anxiety to drive me to complete things, to produce more and more and more.  I have a constant list in my head of all the things that get done, and sometimes that list takes me away from what is truly important.  

 I noticed the other day as i was planting the very first bed this sense of urgency, of rushing.  Even with the kids helping me, with the monkey dancing and singing her happy, very Beltane song, about the planting of seeds, i still found myself with this sense of needing to "get it done".  I was slipping away from the "just being" that is so important.  

I am concerned about getting the cool weather plants in early enough.  I am concerned about sticking to a planting schedule and reading all the seed packets and the book and and and......

but in doing that i am not taking time to feel and know the earth adn the seeds, nor even to enjoy the simple pleasure of planting something so tiny as a carrot seed and knowing that it will spring forth many many many times the size and wealth of that one tiny, lighter than a snowflake seed! 

A very wise man has told me on more than one occasion that "slower is faster".  To slow down, be present, be mindful.  Breathe deeply.  Make fewer mistakes.  

I need to frequently bring myself back.  To stray away from perfectionism.  To strive for the simple contented enjoyment of the experience rather than the urgency of production.  Of course i want my garden to be productive.  I want to can and freeze veggies.  I want to dry herbs.  I want to feed my beloved food that i know is not only healthy for the body but that is filled with an energy that is alive and healthy. I want us to strive for these things together.  And yet, in the very act of striving, sometimes it is so easy to lose the way, to lose the simple presence.  

I want a productive and beautiful garden.  I want to experience the garden.  The chaos of it as well as the control.  I want to remain open to all that comes.  I want to "be" in the process of gardening.  I am going to continue to bring myself back to the present.  To approach my garden, as i hope to all things in my life, with a reverent mindfulness.  Intentional Mindfulness.  Choosing, in each and every moment, to remain present with it.  

Thay (Thich Nhat Hahn) states:

“People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don't even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child -- our own two eyes. All is a miracle.”

and

“The miracle is not to walk on water. The miracle is to walk on the green earth, dwelling deeply in the present moment and feeling truly alive.”

It is my intention to live within the miracle, alive, aware, awake and grateful.  

We have talked a fair amount about a statue of the Buddha for the garden, i do like the fallen statues, i like how very much a part of the surroundings this one is.

I really like this idea.  A garden altar.  A small Buddha.  a place to put flowers.  Perhaps to wash the baby Buddha.  A friendly little home within a meditative space.  This is something we could make.