The story as told by Osho:
“A great king had three sons and he wanted to choose one of them as his heir. It was very difficult because all three were very intelligent, very brave. Whom to choose? So he asked a great sage for advice, and the sage gave him an idea…
The king went home and called his three sons. He gave each of them a bag of flower seeds and told them that he was going on a long journey. ‘It may take a few years — one, two, three, maybe more. And this is a test for you. These seeds you will have to give back to me when I return. The one who has protected them best will become my heir.’ And he left on his long journey.
The first son locked the seeds in an iron safe — because when his father returned, he wanted to give them back exactly as they were given. The second son thought: ‘If I lock them up as my brother did, these seeds will die. And a dead seed is no seed at all.’ So he went to the market and sold them, but kept the money. He told himself that when his father returned, he would go back to the market and buy new seeds to give to him.
But the third was the best. He went into the garden and scattered the seeds everywhere.
After three years, when the father returned, the first son opened the safe. All the seeds were dead, stinking. The father said: ‘What?! These are the seeds I gave you? Mine had the potential to bloom and spread fragrance everywhere, but these spread only stench! These are not my seeds!’
Then he went to the second son. He ran to the market, bought seeds, and returned, saying: ‘These are the seeds.’ The father said: ‘You are better than the first, but still not as capable as I would like.’
Finally, he went to the third son with great hope but also great anxiety: ‘What has he done?’ And the third son led him to a garden where millions of flowers were blooming, millions of flowers everywhere, and said: ‘These are the seeds you gave me. Soon I will collect the new seeds from them and give them back to you. Right now, they are preparing to be gathered.’
The father said: ‘You are my heir. This is the way one should treat seeds.’
The seed is never in danger, remember that. What threat can there be to a seed? It is totally protected. But the plant is always in danger; the plant is very soft. The seed is like a stone, hard, hidden behind a tough crust. But the plant must go through a thousand and one hazards. And not all plants will reach that height where they can bloom, where they can become a thousand and one flowers… Very few people reach the second stage, and even fewer of those who reach the second stage reach the third — the stage of the flower. … Do not remain a seed. Gather courage — the courage to drop the ego, the courage to drop security, the courage to let go of safety, the courage to be vulnerable.” — Osho
If this story told and commented on by Osho is the answer that ‘The Lessons of Love’ brought to you now, then it is sowing time for you.
Give your love generously and without the expectation of receiving back immediately what you have given. Do not rush to see the results of your actions; do not seek guarantees that you will get back what you are giving in this moment. The courage of the sower, which is required of you now, lies in the faith that seeds require time to sprout, and even more time to bloom.
One day, your garden will be full of flowers, but only if you dare right now to be the flower you were born to become. To be yourself and to share yourself openly with others is your way of sowing the seeds of love in your life. There is no way they won’t sprout one day.
A thousand and one flowers!
