Starting Spiritual Practice
Can caring for plants become a form of learning when you feel low?
English translation draft · Based on the Chinese article. This is not a word-for-word translation approved by Master Shengyuan.
Caring for plants is more than passing time. Another life can teach observation and giving. Having something you willingly invest in creates another opportunity for enjoyment and being with yourself.
A fellow practitioner shared developing an interest in plants and buying them at flower markets. Watching monstera leaves mature and split brought achievement. Care required learning watering and fertilizer needs across seasons and weather. Attention to these matters reduced constant circling around low emotions.
Changing water and tending roots also prompted self-reflection: a plant adapts to new water, just as people learn to adapt to wider circumstances. The process felt like a conversation with oneself, accompanying one another gradually. Interesting daily activities also reduced continual loneliness.
I agreed because this involved learning to care for another life, not merely waiting for comfort. Plants differ in habits just as people differ, so understanding comes before knowing how to help. Achievement and greater happiness through small acts of care are also learning available in everyday life.