the outside world, to conceal and defend our true self, our little seed.

The Pod within Us

The pod, as we become older, begins to be written on by all the things we are told; all the experiences - bad and good - we experience; and all the wounds we gather through our life. Our pod may have written on it that we are worthless or bad or stupid. We may believe that we are good in certain things, but bad in other things like math or communication. We may think we should not show anger or fear or pain to others. We may believe that people are not to be trusted or confrontation is bad. There are many beliefs and ideas that our pod or false self takes in and learns from others. Some might not like the false self, because they think it keeps them from their seed. Though actually, the pod has kept our seed safe until the time is right for the growth process. Once again, the seed’s growth process can help us to understand our own growth process, our discovery of ourselves.

The seed will only grow and break through the pod when the environmental conditions are right, when there is just the right amount of warmth, moisture and oxygen present around the seed. If the environment is too dry or has unfavorable temperatures then the seed will not come out of its pod. This allows the plant to survive during periods when plant growth is not possible. It’s the same for us! Our seed, our real self, is wise and does not allow itself to be in an environment that cannot support it or care for it. So, the seed

waits until the time is right - until we are ready and able to have the support, internally and externally, for our seed to grow. This preparation time is very important so we can begin to let go of our pod with all inscribed beliefs and thoughts that do not belong to us and never did.

Some might say they have always been ready to let go of their pod. Yet, it takes honesty and courage to face what is in our pod and to see it is not who we truly are. This means we have to see that those who gave us these beliefs or hurt us were wrong. That is not to say these people were bad for they learned these misguided ideas from their pod too, and they just didn’t know better. That’s not always easy to accept about our parents or family or loved ones! This growth process is not easy either. It takes much work, dedication and willingness to look at some difficult issues.

A Story of Wheat and Weeds

Now, the seed can’t just come out of its pod all at once, but slowly at a gradual pace so that the growth is strong and sure. That means allowing elements of the pod to remain around the seed until you are ready to let go of those parts. It’s kind of like the old story of a man that planted some wheat in his field. Then during the night, the man’s enemy came and planted weeds among the wheat. When the wheat began to come up through the soil so did the weeds, and the man’s servants asked him if they should gather up the weeds. The man replied, “No, as while you are gathering up the weeds, you might uproot the wheat with them. Rather, let both grow together. Then at harvest time, we will gather the weeds first, bind them