My Awakening as a Tree

I slowly opened my eyes. I could see myself connected and grounded to mother earth. The soil held my tiny roots firmly creating the necessary foundation to nurture my growth. I could see mother slowly seeping the water droplets within to quench my thirst. The sun kept embracing me with its warmth of love and it’s ever shining smile filled me with joy. I finally found my hands coming out as strong and hard as my legs beneath. My cute little green fingers were always cheerful and bubbly. A new finger always sprung up whenever I lost one. 

Day by day I enjoyed witnessing myself grow taller and taller and spreading over my hands. The flightful birds chirped merrily while sitting on me. A few even made themselves at home with me. I never found any discomfort with that except a few stray incidents when they jumped too hard over my forearms and sometimes broke my fingers. I loved it when other visitors came flying over for a short break to spend time with me. The tiniest of animals squeaked up and down while playing hide and seek with its loved ones.

All seemed to be growing in perfect harmony. All, except me. I never understood the purpose of creation. Why was it that I was growing in a certain manner remaining tied to my mother ? Why couldn’t I just go out of the shackles and fly like the birds or scamper Like the squirrels do. The sun also keeps moving in and out filling warmth over the entire universe. The moon also gets its opportunity to transcend the horizons and explore the unexplored parts of the skies. Why me ? Why do I always have to be at the mercy and diktats of my mother ? She never answered my questions. My sorrows grew deeper as I felt being used by the others for their growth. The fauna was just attracted to me to serve their purpose of feeding them through my fruits and sheltering them through my hands.  Mother also just wants me to be used. She never cares for me.

Just then the shadows of darkness engulfs my surroundings. I do not know what to do. The sun has gone and the moon is not visible. The darkness starts spiralling vigorously around me. It grows stringer , darker and heavier roaring away its might. The chirpy birds and squirrels have lost their breath. I ask them.to remain close to me. The dark spirals start storming up. The more violent it turns the more I strengthen my arms. The darker storms try to swirl me but I remain firm. The louder it roars the more I regroup my body to withstand it.  Slowly and gradually the darkness withered away. My playful buddies slowly came out of me and hugged me tight. I never had experienced this love before from them which was always there. It was all because I remained rooted just as my mother trained me to be. I derived the necessary strengths from the firmness of my being beneath under the care and nurture of my mother. Just then I noticed beings like me encircling the entire globe. The fauna had been spreading my parts all across the planes creating more beings.

They look slightly different from me- Some blossom flowers while others bear fruits. But their strength , towering height and ability to spread across the earth all germinating through their roots are similar to me. They behave just as I do. I am as cheerful as they are.

Together we cover our mother with the shadows of comfort, care and compassion. The beings are able to breathe in as we breathe out. My strength and abilities are known to me now. I have finally arisen from my slumber.

We all have traversed many journeys as a being. All roads merge with a purpose to highlight the aspects of our being. All moments of happiness , despair , grief , anger, frustration, penury, abundance are Experiences :  To accumulate these experiences to understand,  accept and love our being. 

When Buddha was stated to have gained enlightenment , a passerby being overwhelmed by the aura of brightness around him inquired  “If not a God, then what are you?” Buddha replied, “I am awake”

The awakening is from within. We keep growing, spreading and blooming through our experiences. The experiences expand the consciousness of our core : Our roots : Our Being. Happy enough to grow as a tree . 