Watering Seeds of Joy

My mother, my father, they are in me.

And when I look,

I see myself in them.

The Buddha, the patriarchs, they are in me.

And when I look,

I see myself in them.

I am a continuation

of my mother, my father, and my ancestors. It is my aspiration to preserve

and continue to nourish

seeds of goodness, skill, and happiness which I have inherited.

It is also my desire to recognize

the seeds of fear and suffering I have inherited,

and, bit by bit, to transform them.

I am a continuation

of the Buddha and my spiritual teachers.

It is my deep aspiration

to preserve, nourish, and develop

the seeds of understanding, love, and freedom

which they have transmitted to me.

I desire to continue

the career of the Buddha and my Ancestral Teachers,

and do my best to realize

all that the Buddha and my Ancestral Teachers

expect of me.

In my daily life,

I also want to sow

seeds of love and compassion

in my own consciousness

and in the heart of other people.

I am determined not to water

seeds of craving, aversion, and violence in myself and the other.

I know that if I practice

all this in the right way,

after only seven days,

I shall already have been able to change the situation,

establish communication,

smile and transform some suffering and increase my happiness.

Please, Lord Buddha

be witness to what is in my heart. With mind and body in perfect unity, I bow my head and prostrate.