Bonsai Tree

I just started the process of raising a Bonsai Tree. My beautiful friend, Adda, gave me the whole package as to raise this beautiful tree. She said that I was the only one she knew who had the patience to raise one, so she decided to get me one. She knows she reaps the benefits from my gardening as she frequently comes over for some organic herbs and knic knacs.
My father travels quite frequently to Japan and told me that this is the primary acivity for some of the upper management men in big companies over there. They will spend their time all day, trimming trees, deciding which way they shall grow and admiring their beauty.
The Bonsai tradition started over a thousand years ago in China. At the time, trees were grown in pots manipulating the tree trunks during its growth to resemble animals. Most foliage was removed from the tree while it was growing to further show its knarled, twisted and often grotesque looking trunks. These trees were prized for looking not like a tree, but for resembling respected symbols of Chinese life like dragons and birds. During the Japanese Kamakura period, 1185-1333, Zen Buddhist Monks adopted and transformed this pastime to the growing, training, pruning and producing of miniature trees. It was in Japan that the Art of Bonsai was used to reflect their deeply practiced philosophy of harmony between man, the soul and nature. Bonsai gardening is a unique combination of patience, commitment, time, skill, endurance, meditation and expression. The Japanese Art of Bonsai does not try to alter what the tree is, but appreciates the miniaturized version for its strength, simplicity, essence and exacting imitation of mature trees in nature. An ancient Japanese scroll reads, "To appreciate and find pleasure in curiously curved potted trees is to love deformity".

The origin of the word Bonsai comes from the Japanese word "Bon" meaning shallow pot and "Sai" meaning plant. A bonsai is simply any plant in a shallow pot. It is in Japanese tradition that three basic virtues are necessary to create a bonsai: Shin-Zen-Bi, truth, goodness and beauty.

The process of training a bonsai tree from plants is a long and rewarding one. Firstly the seeds need to germinate under the right conditions, then the seedlings need to be repotted once, and then again to the pot you want them to stay in. The roots are to be made flat so one needs to secure the roots with copperwires so the plant will not fall over. After three years the process of training the tree to a desired shape begins. The process can take as long as desired.

When thinking about this beautiful tree, I realised that in order to have the tree you want, you need to apply the same laws and strategy as in homoeopathy and life itself (as homoeopathy is my life now and for so many of us.) We need a good combination of patience, commitment, time, skill, endurance, meditation, and expression. After all, how are we to be good healing artists without skill, taking time to learn. Being patient as the case unfolds and time works with the remedy. Commitment to stay with not knowing. Endurance to keep at it. meditation to have adequate overview, and keep our selves healthy. Expression, to relay the information to collegues of cases cured, obstacles to cure and new discoveries, and keeping our clients informed

. And mostly strength, for often we need to swim against the tide of disbelief, interest of ill willed people, misinformation and bad diet habits. So above all, be Zen in our daily life, as we are all just going to die one day, but this is a journey and should be enjoyed. Stress out and Relaxation in.

 

LINK: A CASE OF BONSAI TREE