The dualistic mind has a short-term memory of gratitude and a long-term memory of anger.
It remembers and holds on to anger and what the dualistic mind calls “negative experiences and emotions” for years, sometimes decades, and even centuries, passing it from one generation to another.
When we pick fruit from a tree, we are happy. We enjoy how fresh and delicious it is.
It reminds us how much we love fruit, nature, and even ourselves. Yet at that moment, the dualistic mind rarely recognises the gardener who turned the soil, planted the seeds, and cared for the tree to become a healthy and fruitful organism.
The gardener perhaps had to remove human waste from the ground and heal many years of lack of care for the land before we could pick even one fruit.
Yet, when our trees, relationships, or lives do not bear the fruit we desire, the dualistic mind quite easily recognises all the events, people, and reasons for the fruitless experience.
We carry stories and memories of the past into the experience of dissatisfaction or anger in the present.
Yet, yet again, in the joy of eating the fruit, this way of mind often does not recognise the past events and people who brought it to life. The gardener, in this case, represents an essential function of leadership.
The job of a leader is to cleanse, filter, and heal the human environment so people can experience their most alive and fruitful selves.
Unfortunately, when humans struggle in their environment, the dualistic mind often directs its attention and frustration toward the leaders.
Yet again, when we experience our healthy and fruitful selves, we often forget the lineage of deeds that led to this moment.
Much like the gardener, as leaders, we must accept that this conflict may be part of our experience.
We call the gardener to come to fix the garden when the trees don’t bear fruit. We may even claim that the trees don’t bear fruits because the gardener didn’t do a good job.
But while eating the fruit that nourishes our mind-body, the dualistic mind often does not think to call the gardener in gratitude and appreciation for their labor.
“A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves.”
Lao Tzu
As leaders, we keep transforming and regenerating our human environment. We transform the waste into nutrients, aerate the grounds, and plant wholesome seeds, so everyone can experience their most fruitful and alive selves while thinking, “we did it ourselves!”