Each week when guests arrive, I share with them that Suan Sati means the Garden of Mindfulness. I chose this name from about a dozen names that a group of friends and I came up with. I took the meaning quite literally at the beginning because we started off on a small piece of land with a garden in it. We had a garden, and we were living mindfully. That’s as deep as it went for me.
Now, we have a sizable rice farm and a smaller vegetable and herb garden than when we started at the first Suan Sat (I know, we need to do more veggies on site. It’s on my mile long to-do list). So does the name still fit?
I was reflecting on that last month, and in doing so, I’ve stumbled upon a deeper meaning that I should’ve seen from the beginning. We don’t just plant seeds in the dirt at Suan Sati, we plant seeds in the hearts of our guests. We provide the seed packets through the practices, workshops, conversations, and simply how we live. Not all guests are going to want to plant every seed, and that’s fine. We simply offer what may be of interest and help and it’s up to each person to take what they need and leave the rest. Our guests provide the fertile soil as they show up with an open heart. These seeds are watered by their presence, engagement, and care.
I like this metaphor because it reminds us of the connection between gardening and our lives. There are deeper layers too. Gardening requires weeding out what is no longer beneficial to what we’re trying to become/grow into. We need fertilizer for our garden. We might see something as shit, but from another perspective, it’s fuel for growth. Lastly, gardening takes patience. We don’t plant seeds and expect to eat the fruit the next day. It takes consistent, attentive care to nurture a garden that eventually provides us a harvest or flowers that bring us delight.
This gardening in our lives starts with asking ourselves some questions. “Which seeds are worth planting? How can I make my soil fertile and receptive to these seeds? How can I best care for my emerging garden?” When we make this a conscious process, what grows in our garden isn’t by accident, but by thoughtful design and loving care.
