MAGICAL EFFECT OF GARDEN




    My garden had a magical effect on me, as it was not just a physical activity planting and weeding and tending. I saw the avocado leaves wilt and sag when they were dry and needed water. I saw how they loved the sun and stood resplendent in the sun. In addition, I had an emotional connection to the garden. In the growth of my dear avocado, I saw intent in action. My avocado seed had a clear intent to grow into the avocado tree, and I was a witness to its clear daily intention. In witnessing the avocado, as well as the roses, and the radishes and the other marvelous vegetables, I was becoming one with them all. I went from my garden, into the garden, where we were sharing this space and time together.
    The dear garden was part of my transcendence to become one with nature. In this transcendent transformation, the spiritual words of Rumi flowed to me in toroidal waves, and thus encircling me and rooting me.
    The poet Rumi is the name Westerners appellate to the famous poet. His family birth name was Jalāl al-Dīn, and his followers title him Malwana. By moving to Konya, the capital of the Seljuk Turk land of Rum, he was designated in the West as Rumi (of Rum, or Byzantium Rome). I wonder if Jalal al Din was aware of his different names labeled to him according to the place of origin of his readers. His first name, Jalal, means Majesty. His last name, means religion. Thus he is the Majesty of Religion. In my garden, his words are indeed majestic, and they are indeed spiritual.
    I thought of the Jalal al Din (Rumi) poem Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and right doing there is a field. I’ll meet you there. When the soul lies down in that grass the world is too full to talk about.” I feel exactly like this when I go to my urban backyard garden. I do not know if Rumi had a backyard garden, but the spirit of peace and connectiveness I found in my garden were echoes and memories of Jalal al Din’s (Rumi) spirituality. 
    Thus transfixed in my garden, I was linked to Jala al Din (Rumi) and in the spirit of his words, I was blending with him in the presence of the Universe.
    In this blending, I felt the keen desire to know more about him, and to read more of his words. I was now on a new journey to discover Jalal al Din (Rumi). In the garden, I can see beyond the walls of my neighborhood in the vastness of the sky that looms large above the garden. The garden is my little expression of a greater world, where the roots of vegetables touch the roots of the trees in which all roots are intertwined. These intertwined roots share the energy of growth and purpose in the loving state of the world.

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