When
I was in the United States, I stayed in a Chinese temple. Originally, there
were no potted plants there, only one or two tiny, yellowish things, which
had been planted for several years already but were still tiny, looking
rather sickly. Perhaps they did not have enough nutrients, or perhaps nobody
ever took good care and watered them. I didn't think twice and began to
water as soon as I saw any trees. I watered them every day. Two months later,
they had developed very quick, my room was filled with potted plants and
there was no room for me to sit anymore. People were very surprised. At
that time I didn't have any money to buy fertilizer for the plants. I was
not a professional tree grower, either. All I had was love. I meditated
and watered every day and didn't think much. I watched the leaves grow bigger
and bigger, and the plants multiplied. By the time I left, I was afraid
that there would be no one to take care of them, so I gave them away to
the devotees. They were so happy that they grabbed them right away.
There
was another plant that had been there for several years and didn't grow
much. After I came, more branches began to grow on the lower part. It also
grew taller and bigger. When I left, the abbot said, "This is too big
to give away. But after you are gone it just might die." I said: "It
will probably live for another two years." And my words came true.
Two years later when I returned, the plant had just died. I came back too
late. The abbot told me: "It just died." He asked me, "Has
it been two years since you left last time?" I said, "Yes!"
At that time I remembered what I had jokingly said, and it had really died
after two years. Therefore, we can tell that trees have feelings. Because
I took care of them every day, they grew very big and green. Their leaves
grew so big that they became different than other ordinary plants. I didn't
give them much except water every day. Sometimes when there was some leftover
tea, I would give it to them, too. I would also dig some soil from outside
and put it in the pots. Because they grew bigger and bigger, I gave them
more nourishment. As a result, they grew too big.
At
that time there was a person who created heavy karma by taking a monk home
to be her personal possession. People there discriminated against her. Even
though nobody liked her, she would still come. One day she came and slept
in the room where all the potted plants had been stored. At that time there
was no seven-day retreat, so I put all the plants outside, close to my room
and the other room. She only slept there for one night. When I got up the
next morning, many leaves had turned a coffee color and died, as if someone
had burned them with fire, or as if they had been too close to the cooking
stove and looked burned, even though they were not really burned. My heart
was hurting very much. I collected them all and showed them to the abbot,
who said, "There were too many people and not enough oxygen" I
said, " There weren't that many people." He didn't understand,
so I didn't want to say too much. Shaking my head, I put all those leaves
in the garbage. You see how formidable it was! We were both humans, but
I slept with the plants every day and there was no problem at all. How come
she came and slept for just one night and the plants became like that? You
know, many people slept here and they didn't destroy our plants overnight.
We meditate a lot here every day, and there has never been anything wrong.
Many people used to sleep here and there was never any problem. So it wasn't
because of too many people.
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