Honesty

Now that the daffodils are finishing blooming, tulips usually take up the slack. But i gave up planting tulips years ago because i was tired of waging war on bulb-eating chipmunks. I so much more enjoy watching them scamper around the flower beds than growling at them for their culinary predilections.

Money plant (Lunaria) and leucojum are blooming all over my garden now. They been flowering for 3 weeks and will continue for another 3 weeks. I do like flowers that last a long time.

Money plant is also called Honesty. This concept of Honesty leads us directly to 2 of the 5 precepts:

• not taking what isn't offered
• speaking truthfully and helpfully

Honesty, or truth-telling, needs to be balanced with being beneficial. What we are about to say may be true, but is it helpful?

The Metta Sutta (the sutra on loving-kindness) says "straight-forward and gentle in speech."

Sometimes we refrain from honesty in order not to hurt the other person's feelings. This intention is a very fine line to walk, so i frequently reflect on how "straight-forward and gentle" applies to my current situation. We don't sacrifice honesty for gentleness nor do we sacrifice gentleness for truth.

Honesty "holds" the bloom in my garden during this mid-spring season. I work on holding the bloom of honesty in all my relationships.