Five Questions For The Tree In the Front Yard

“I am seated in everyone’s heart, and from Me come remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness. By all the Vedas am I to be known; indeed I am the compiler of Vedanta, and I am the knower of the Vedas.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 15.15)

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सर्वस्य चाहं हृदि सन्निविष्टो
मत्तः स्मृतिर् ज्ञानम् अपोहनं च
वेदैश् च सर्वैर् अहम् एव वेद्यो
वेदान्त-कृद् वेद-विद् एव चाहम्

sarvasya cāhaṁ hṛdi sanniviṣṭo
mattaḥ smṛtir jñānam apohanaṁ ca
vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyo
vedānta-kṛd veda-vid eva cāham

On their morning walk, which is a routine, a person notices changes to the trees in the neighborhood. They can’t help but wonder about the cause, the reason for the shift. If the tree had the ability to speak, if it assumed the attributes of a person, the following questions could be posed.

1. Who notified you that winter is over?

“Alright, so the weather where we live is all over the place. We have the four seasons with which most people are familiar. Winter, spring, summer, and autumn. You can generally guess what the outside conditions will be on the average day in a particular month.

“Except there could be drastic shifts. For instance, it was insanely hot the last few days. The high temperature rivalled that of an August day. Today, things are back to normal. It is slightly cool. An improvement from winter, but you still need a jacket when walking outside.

“With this particular tree, you can see that the leaves are starting to come in. You have to really pay attention, because the growth occurs so quickly. How does the tree know that it is the proper season, though? It doesn’t have access to a calendar. It didn’t make a phone call to the local weather station.”

2. How do you know the cold will not return?

“How is the tree so sure that this is the proper time for growth? What if the cold returns? How does the tree intrinsically know that the next season is approaching? Was it keeping an internal counter on the number of days that passed? Does it look to the sky and analyze the angle of the sun during the daytime?”

3. How did you know to wait until now?

“I think the leaves started coming in later last year. A month beyond what it is today. How does the tree know to begin at this very moment? Is there not a risk in starting too soon? Why not always keep the leaves coming? Even if the cold of winter strikes, just start over. What is the harm?”

4. How do you regenerate on your own?

“How does the tree follow the same cycle every year? In the autumn, the leaves change color and eventually fall. Why can’t they stay attached? Why do they have to change color? Why not maintain the same leaves?

“Once the leaves fall, what is the process for regrowth? Does the tree travel somewhere to refuel? Is there an external supply source? We don’t really see anything going on. The visual is the same. The tree must have some secret to which we are not privy.”

5. Where did you learn how to safeguard your yield?

“I came to this realization the other day. It is a product of my mental speculation, but I don’t think I am that far off. When you hear people talking about fiber and how it is beneficial to consume a sufficient amount of fiber on a given day, I think they are overlooking something.

“The way I see it, fiber is nature’s packing material. It safeguards the valuable product inside. When we order something from the internet, the item appears on our doorstep with some packaging. This is to keep the item from getting damaged while in transit.

“You discard the packing material after opening the box. In the same way, fiber is nature’s way of transporting vital nutrients for human consumption, such as the grain inside of wheat or the juice inside of an apple.

“But how did the tree know what to do? How did it decide upon the use of fiber? How did it figure out the best way to protect its product from the elements of nature? There is so much intelligence to the process, but we don’t see any transfer of knowledge. It is not like the tree attends classes at school.”

…

Bhagavad-gita provides the answers. There is one force responsible. The embedded intelligence is there in every form of life, if we think about it. The newborn child instinctively knows how to take in milk from the mother. There is the process of learning to crawl, walk, and talk at expected intervals.

The horse knows how to gallop. The cow knows how to produce milk at the sight of the children. The birds know to fly south for the winter. They can find the nest that they carefully put together.

Shri Krishna is the source. He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He is the cause of both knowledge and forgetfulness. I may not be able to remember where I was prior to birth, but within this lifetime I have some embedded knowledge on how to function, on how to maintain life, on how to enjoy, and so forth.

Spiritual life is thus the process of removing forgetfulness. This forgetfulness is based on our choice, so if we choose in a different direction, we will always remember the source. We will be in full consciousness of Him. We will appreciate Him and notice His influence across the entire life experience, from that which is buried deep within to that which is abundantly visible, in full bloom.

In Closing:

That buried deep within,
Attributable to Him.

Also that in plain sight,
Like sun shining bright.

Inherent intelligence embedded,
Throughout nature threaded.

As Paramatma companion is He,
Always inside of me.