Daily Meditation: Wednesday, November 21, 2001

In a human being there are some deep-rooted tendencies that …

11/21/2001

In a human being there are some deep-rooted tendencies that nothing can extirpate. And there exist also other tendencies that, on the contrary, should constantly be encouraged and sustained by advice, readings, prayer, otherwise they will disappear almost completely.
For example, when it is a matter of hunger, thirst, sleep or a need to possess, to impose yourself or taste some pleasures, nobody has to talk you into it, since these instincts are already present and so firmly rooted that, even if you wanted to, you could not get rid of them. But when it is a matter of showing wisdom and foresight, or manifesting qualities of self-control, unselfishness, generosity... well, it is every day that you need to be stimulated. And this is the raison d'être of a spiritual teaching: to remind you of the presence within you of some divine seeds to which you must turn your attention daily, so as to protect, warm, enlighten, and also water them, just as a gardener watches over the growth of rare and fragile flowers in his garden.