Gardening

Another recurrent Buddhist metaphor is that of planting seeds. In yourself, in people: if you want flowers (good qualities), you first need to plant seeds. In a fertile soil, hopefully. Then you need to be patient. And water from time to time. And be more patient. This is especially what a spiritual teacher will focus on.

Jesus used the exact same metaphor (Mark, 4:3-8):

"A farmer went out to sow. As he sowed, some seeds fell by the roadside, and the birds came and devoured them. Others fell on rocky ground, where they didn't have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of earth. When the sun had risen, they were scorched. Because they had no root, they withered away. Others fell among thorns. The thorns grew up and choked them. Others fell on good soil, and yielded fruit: some one hundred times as much, some sixty, and some thirty."