Preface
WE ARE ALL MIRACLES IN BLOOM

Remember this truth...Our minds are our Gardens. The thoughts we sow are the seeds of our experiences. All thoughts are a creative form of energy so learning to tend our Mind Garden carefully is the foundation for right living. Within each of us is a Master Gardener, one who knows how best to use our individual talents and resources to cultivate the Garden of Life that brings us and others continual joy and serenity. The key to healthful and abundant gardening is connecting with our inner source, flowing with it and allowing the Garden to unfold.

Healing occurs when we go within, connect with Source and unlock the special gifts that we possess. The sharing of these gifts is done with a generous and open heart; for we realize that in this honest and detatched giving we retain and strengthen what we have. There is no fear of loss and no thought of deserving. Ego succumbs to Spirit. The ability to see beyond situations and conditions allows us to maintain our faith and bring forth to the world what is our uniqueness. In this do we remember, finally, who we truly are and that is a Miracle.

This book is a guide for those who desire...dare to improve their Garden. The sources of our discontent do not matter, for they are all different only in form. The beginning of true gardening, gardening from the Soul, is recognizing that what we have created is not what we truly want and making a commitment to using our gardening capabilities in a new way.

Everyone is a gardener. We each have spent our entire lives learning to plant and cultivate our small patches of soil, convinced that our methods would, in the end, produce the best (or at least a satisfactory) Garden. The kinds of seeds we sow, how we till the soil, what types of nutrients we add are often old family recipes for gardening, handed down from generation to generation. The first step in creating our own Garden, one that contains our individual colors, scents and sensation, is to start assessing the current conditions and growth of our Garden and detach from the old automatic responses. Listen to your thoughts and the words you speak, they reflect how you view your Garden. This internal dialogue is the model for the physical Garden you are experiencing. Are your thoughts ones that bring you joy and nurture you? Is your garden full of pests, weeds and recurring blights? Is tending it drudgery or peaceful joy?

Realize and accept that whatever the current condition of your Garden is it has, in truth, been created in the exact manner you intended. Being a Master Gardener requires that we accept the responsibiity for our work. All that blooms or withers in our Garden have been the consequence of our attentions and desires. The primary rule for gardening is simple. What we nourish, put our energy into, grows. This rule applies to the growth of weeds as well as the miracles. Where we put our energy, our beliefs, and our true feelings is what we are cultivating. Do not deceive yourself about this.

Many Gardeners spend their lives denying that this wonderful ability to create is within them because of the Counsciousness and responsibility that it carries. They battle the weeds, complain about the poor quality of the soil, insist that everything dried up in the sun, plant at the wrong time of year, over-fertilize and underwater. They have become rootbound, stuck in one place, insistent that the growth around them change to meet their needs. Crisis after crisis occurs with the seasons and needless struggles to overcome every changing conditions sap their energy supplies until finally they submit.

For those who would be Master Gardener's a time comes when the blandness and continual turmoil in ther Garden suggests to them that maybe their methods have been in error and they begin to look for a new way. With this sift in thought they begin to reclaim ther Garden and can then have it evolve into the one otheir own vision. Vision is the critical thought here. Before re-designing your Garden it is important to ask yourself what the purpose is. Without a clear purpose there can be no plans, no goals, and no concentrated and perpetual growth. The purpose may change with time, but start with what gives you pleasure now. Do you want a cutting, vegetable or rock Garden? Go into your heart and allow whatever springs up to bloom. Do not limit the scope of your Garden before it starts with all those "practical" concerns; How much time will it take? Do I have the right tools? Is the soil right?

Take on a small patch of earth; envision what you want to grow there. Spend quiet time in your Garden- all Master Gardener's do. Ask what would be best for your garden now and an answer will come to you. It may be to weed, prune, weater or till the soil. Whatever the answer is act on it!

Being a Master Gardener means that we build our faith and trust in ourselves and our ability to accomplish the Garden of our grand design. It may be but a spark within you now, but the spark itself already proclaims its existence. Focus on it and it will grow. To discount that spark, that little seed, is to discount yourself and all of us who would be Master Gardeners. Do not look outside yourself for the answers to how you "should" garden. There is no absolute answer for it is your Garden and yours alone.