Moving Beyond Life and Death

It’s harvest season right here on the homestead. And the earth has been beneficiant with its bounty. We’re approaching 200 kilos of greens; harvesting potatoes, beans, carrots, corn, and a wide range of different meals.

It’s an exquisite life, but it surely’s additionally an odd one. As a result of the harvest requires me to kill the vegetation I’ve spent the previous couple of months cultivating.

Corn cobs are snatched from their stalks with a violent, twisting movement. Bean vegetation break aside as beans are pulled from their vines. And potato leaves are left to rot within the soil as I pull their roots (the potato spuds) from the earth.

However the violence doesn’t cease there. The rabbits and chickens who reside on the homestead are feral beasts, and their appetites are endless. I preserve them glad by feeding them meals from the backyard.

I strip the corns vegetation of their leaves, in the identical method, I stripped them of their cobs. The leaves are fed to the rabbits, and the tall, spindly stalks go into the compost pile. 

I proceed on this method, effectively, systematically, till there may be nothing left. And my as soon as flourishing backyard is little greater than backyard beds full of soil.

That is the cycle of life and dying; enjoying out in real-time. As a Buddhist, I attempt to restrict the struggling concerned by abstaining from consuming animals. However there is no such thing as a escaping dying.

For one thing to reside, one thing else should die. That is the reality of life.

Nonetheless, there’s a second half to the story. The useless bean vegetation I feed my chickens preserve them glad and well-fed. These glad, well-fed chickens present eggs that nourish my family.

The useless corn vegetation I feed my rabbits preserve them glad and well-fed. These glad, well-fed rabbits produce manure, which feeds and fertilizes my backyard.

Thus, the cycle of life and dying is the cycle of transformation. The corn turns into a rabbit, turns into manure, turns into soil, and ultimately turns into a brand new plant rising in my backyard.

Equally, the bean plant turns into a rooster. It turns into an egg, and at last, it turns into a person; planting beans in his backyard.

Once we perceive that the cycle of life and dying is definitely a cycle of transformation, the dying half turns into much less scary.

We perceive that it’s considered one of a number of steps within the cycle of rebirth, and we settle for it in the identical method {that a} homesteader accepts the necessity to harvest his crops.

Sure, there may be some unhappiness. We have been fairly keen on the backyard/ life we cultivated. However there’s additionally pleasure as we wait to see what comes subsequent.