April 13

You Pour Water at the Root of the Tree

If you think in terms of how much benefit we get just by being here on the surface of the earth, how much we get from the nature, how much we get from people, how much we get from association, we receive constantly. Good thoughts, good food, good air, good rain. Even the smile from a baby is a gift. When you enjoy the smile of a baby, you are getting something from that baby. And you have to return it; although not necessarily to the same baby. You don’t have to give it back at the same place.

For example, if you get a nice fruit from the top of a tree, you don’t have to go and pour water on the top of the tree. You pour water at the root of the tree. If you pour at the root you get the fruit at the top. In the same way, if you get a smile from a baby, do something to help a poor person somewhere on the road, or a sick person. Somebody who needs a little help. That will balance it out. You got a smile from the baby, and you paid it back by helping that other person. You don’t have to give it directly to the baby. We are constantly receiving. Every one of us should think, “How much am I receiving, and how much am I returning?”