Essence of Culture

Like “Learning from Nature,” my “Dharma Talk” at Bodhi Day Service yesterday was mainly about a teaching from the nature, which I believe, one of the golden teachings of Buddhism.  I am glad it was well-received.

To my very surprise, my wife said, “It was so funny and so moving that I almost cried.”  Because I never had such a good comment from my wife, I think I’ll upload my Dharma talk to youtube.

I’ve started gardening since 2007.  I’m not a professional farmer nor gardener, but I’ve spent so much time for watching “change” of nature by photography.  I’ve taken pictures of plants of growing.....

“Tomato Day 1” “Tomato Day 2” “Tomato Day 3” “Day 4” “Day 5” “Day 6”…..

”Okura Day 1””Okura Day2” "Okura Day 3"….

“Cucumber Day 1” “Cucumber Day 2” “Cucumber Day 3”..."Day 6"..."Day 10"...."Day 20"

until they are gone.  I even took pictures of soil which I planted seeds.  It’s funny there were so many pictures of just “soil.”  But that’s actually not all.  I have some collections of fruits plants such as Papaya, Mango, Avocado and Longan on-going.  Yes, I had tons of pictures of “Mango Day 1” “Day 2” “Day 3”…  

Unfortunately, most of the pictures are now gone because of the broken backup.   But I know how plants can grow and I’m more confident in talking about nature.

It's so interesting the word "culture" came from the Latin word "colere" which means "cultivation."   Through the efforts of more harvest, more tools were invented.  As a result, culture was born.  

So  gardening is, in a sense, to find and expereince the essence of culture and I do believe there are a lot to learn.