Gardening Friends

My friend Melissa came over and helped me in my garden for 3 hours yesterday. Well, we did take an hour break for iced tea and talking about her upcoming trip to Norway.

In the garden, we ripped out a big patch of lamium, which is very good as a ground cover. But i want to do something else in the shade under the weeping cherry tree--a pink and white garden. Many hands make light work.

Melissa invites me over to visit her garden every spring, and we review her plantings and her plans. Now she "repays" me by helping me in my garden.

She has another friend, Carolyn, with whom she also trades garden time. Yesterday morning, they planted a peach tree at Melissa's.

Our gardening friends are one example of sangha, which means community or assembly, but can also refer to the confluence of two rivers. For an hour or two, our lives flow together with a friend. We can have worldly conversations or uplifting conversations.

The Buddha says that our spiritual friends and our spiritual conversations are all of the spiritual life.

If living in accord with your highest intentions and purpose is important to you, then follow your heart of hearts and spend some time with a friend you admire soon.