SECRET GARDEN

PRIORSWOOD
Vengefulness sows salt, scorches earth;
bitterness is a blight.

Well-rotted, buried and forgotten
- grudges make good manure.

Weed out lingering resentment
- lest it smother finer growth.

Above all, nurture what is below all;
tend the soil as if one's soul.


To cultivate what?

Our own garden!


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From antiquity to the present, gardening has been widely regarded as an activity that is immensely beneficial to both mind and body.
It promotes a healthy degree of physical exercise, permits mental relaxation or solace, and encourages individual creative expression.
In a communal setting such as allotment gardens, it allows for an easy-going blend of social interaction with individual endeavour.

From a Taoist perspective, garden and gardener can relate as partners, each with their own purpose or agenda, but acting in symbiosis.
A garden is 'a gift that keeps on giving' - but taking as well: the kind of mutual, reciprocal flourishing that lies at the heart of Taoism.
Including its benefits to and from wildlife, and the nourishment provided by its produce, a garden can indeed be a 'blessed plot'.

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