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The long and winding roots
May has arrived and so too has the sea of blooming Wisteria, delicately framing the many doorways and window frames. Aside from its very obvious breathtaking beauty beneath this sits a more profound understanding.
Native to Korea and Japan, Wisteria has deep connections to Buddhism. In Shin Buddhism, the wisteria is a symbol of humility and reflection. It symbolises hardiness, as wisteria is one of the earlier of the flowering plants in spring, often blooming while there is still snow on the ground. In Japanese culture it symbolises romance, success and longevity.
This voracious grower with its ability to spread far and wide, spiraling out into impressive expanses could also reflect one’s own expanding consciousness. Likewise, in this way, the mind much like wisteria (which can be destructive in her growth) requires discipline to avoid such spiraling out of control. Like the action of tending to Wisteria which requires purposeful pruning and cutting back so does the mind especially if we are to really see ‘what is there’.
The journey into our own consciousness whilst essential for our own growth is never easy and rarely straightforward. Taking a few minutes a day to sit quietly and notice the quality of the mind space, the ‘story lines’ that are on repeat and the feelings and thoughts that come into focus is just one of the ways in which we can start to help tame our wild mind and may help us to better understand our own Samskaras.
