Water the flowers and they will grow; water the weeds, and guess what? They will grow. My life - I need to include those things that are truly a gift that have been given to me.

Garden is a very beautiful thing. And I'll tell you why it's beautiful. A garden has something very different about it.

So there’s a garden - beautiful trees, maybe a nice little stream, rocks, grass, flowers. Now let me show you a picture of a garden that perhaps you have never seen before. It's a beautiful, beautiful day, blue sky, sun is shining ... and you step out into the garden. And you know what? That sun, and the blue sky become part of the garden.

Garden has this amazing ability; it will pull, and the sun becomes part of that garden.

Now another beautiful day, but today - it's raining. Big clouds, rain is falling ... you know what? You go out into the garden, and guess what? Those clouds have become part of the garden.

The rain is far away, but guess what? The rain too has become part that garden. Now it's snowing, and guess what? What has snow got to do with the garden? But, because there's a garden, that snow can also become part of that garden.

The weary bird flying to its destination lands in the garden, and guess what? It too becomes a part of the garden. A rock lies there, untouched, and guess what? It's not grass, it's not a leaf, it's not a tree, but it too becomes a part of the garden.

A leaf falls from the tree. It's dead. Falls on the ground. It too becomes a part of the garden. A bee comes, a butterfly comes. A bird comes - it too is allowed - each one, to become a part of that garden.

What if I could be a garden?

What would it be like if I were a garden? Then if I were a garden, and the sun shone, then, it would become a part of me. And if it was blue skies, it would become a part of me.

And if the moon rose, it would become a part of me.

And if it started to snow, it would become a part of me. And if it started to rain, it would become a part of me. And if a butterfly came along, it would become a part of me.

And all those things, even a rock, would become a part of me.

And not only becoming a part of me, but I can then enhance, and everything else can enhance the beauty that I display.

Once you have become part of the garden, you don't have to remain in the garden; wherever you go, you will make 'garden'; wherever you go, it will become a garden.

Whatever you touch will become a garden.

And so many will come and appreciate and want to become the garden too. That real feeling in this life- this is what it is all about.

How - in my life - can I become that garden? Simple. Unpretentious. Because that is my layout; that is who I am.

I have covered the garden with a big piece of canvas, a huge piece of canvas. Somewhere, maybe somebody told me this garden needs protection, so cover it up. So it's covered. Underneath, nothing grows. And now maybe after so many years, I feel it's okay to have it covered because it's so gross underneath. Keep the lid on it.

And the master says, "Lift it."

And the world says, "He's crazy". Because if you lift this canvas all you would be exposing is all the grossness that is there.

All that was under there has decayed. And he says to lift it. And the world says, "don't lift it, cover it up, cover it up , cover it up. Do you realize: two things are being said, so opposed to each other. The world says, "keep it covered. Don't lift this canvas up. Don't you touch it. Just put more weight on it so that in case the wind blows, it won't be carried away.

That's what the world says, cover it up. Paint it. Get some plastic flowers, throw them around. That'll be your garden.

And the Master says, "Don't you remember, don't you realize when you were a little kid when you were a little child, when this canvas didn't exist? Remember the garden that was here?

So beautiful, so great. Master says, "open it." The world says, "No!"

Every time there has been a Master, the Master has been criticized.

And yet, it is so obvious - for what? Just for that reason. Master says, "Open." World says, "Close."

That has been - when any Master comes, he says open, the world says close, the elders say, no, no, no, no - don't do this, stay like, look... "Why change now?"
Why change now.

And the Master says, "It's never too late." Open it. Let the rain, let the air get to this.
Let it sprout, the spring is here. Let it go.
The world says, "That's such a reckless attitude".
Master says, "haven't you seen gardens before?"

And, don't you in your life, want to get back to the garden you once saw? There's no question about it. That's the struggle. That struggle goes right down to people who have Knowledge.

Because in some little idea, a little corner has been lifted up. Reluctantly maybe somebody said, "Okay, you know, I like the idea of this garden..." So maybe I'll just open up one corner of it and peel it back. And sure enough, it's thriving.

Now, can you peel the rest of it?

And it's like, well, no, y'know maybe I'll compromise - those people who wanted to keep it closed, I'll show them that part of it - "look it's still closed, it's okay".

And then, those people who have knowledge who have got their little gardens growing, they want to see my end, I'll bring them this end, I'll show 'em look, it's okay..."

So life becomes a compromise again.

And what are you compromising? This existence.

You must remember one thing, and this amazingly enough, what every Master has said, "Uncover it. You can always cover it back up. But spring - in your life - can only come once. Before the season is over, lift it. Let the spring come to this garden.

If you don't like it you can always cover it back up, you wouldn't have lost anything.

What an offer. What an offer that is.

You know, the winter winds come and strip the leaves. And the rain comes and everything becomes muddy and everything becomes gooey, and everything becomes a little strange. And yet, do you know what is about to come?

Spring. And it will blanket everything.

And those who can see that Garden will go, "how can it get better than this?"
There will be beauty everywhere. In the little drops there will be beauty, on the rocks there will be snow, and the little patches will create a contrast. And here and there a little piece of grass will pop out of that snow and give it a beautiful color.

And, people will come and go, how can it get better?

And then the Spring will come. And yes, it will get better. It will get green. And little shoots will start to come out, and the tree will start to come alive.

And the wind will come and the lightning will come and the thunder will come.

And all will become a part of the garden.