tree fern

I am sitting in the garden of a guest house in the Philippines, and sharing this garden space with me is an Australian tree fern. The tree fern is a rather odd plant. It has a sturdy trunk – this one perhaps two metres tall – and then suddenly, on top of the trunk, there are fern fronds growing out, just as a fern would grow on the ground.

And looking at this plant, I realise it's in a state of evolution. It is no longer just a fern growing on the ground, beautiful as that may be. It has started to reach for the sky. It's on its way to become a tree. But it is not yet a majestic tree, and so it's in a halfway state: neither one thing nor the other. And this reminds me of what it's like to be on the spiritual path.

We are no longer satisfied with just the human side of who we are. We too have started to reach for the sky. We too are on our way to becoming a magnificent tree. But of course, for many years, we find ourselves in an interim state: no longer just that ground dwelling human, but neither yet the magnificence that we are to become.

We are like this tree fern: half fern half tree. But even this intermediate state is a beautiful way of being. Indeed, one could say that during these years, we are living both sides so fully, still reaching for the divine within us, but also still so human, fully human too. Yes, one day we will wake up and find ourselves to be a magnificent tree, touching the sky, and perhaps having forgotten what it was to be a ground dwelling fern. But during these intermediate years, let's celebrate being both: both a fern, a very human being, and also the beginnings of a mighty tree, a divine buddha.

And with that and the creaking of the bamboo behind me, I leave you for today.