sol72us@...
09-03-2001, 04:52 PM
"the secret of improved plant breeding, apart from
scientific knowledge, is love." luther burbank uttered
this wisdom as i walked beside him in his garden in
santa rosa, california...
"while i was conducting experiments to make 'spine-
less' cacti," he continued, "i often talked to the plants
to create a vibration of love. 'you have nothing to fear,'
i would tell them. 'you don't need your defensive thorns.
i will protect you.' gradually the useful plant of the
desert emerged in a thornless variety."
...."i see humanity now as one vast plant, needing for
its highest fulfillments only love, the natural blessings
of the great outdoors, and intelligent crossing and selec-
tion. in the span of my own lifetime i have observed
such wondrous progress in plant evolution that i look
forward optimistically to a healthy, happy world as soon
as its children are taught the principes of simple and
rational living. we must return to nature and nature's
god."...
"new types of training are needed - fearless experiments.
at times the most daring trials have succeeded in bringing
out the best in fruits and flowers. educational innovations
...should likewise become more numerous, more courageous."
"the most stubborn living thing in this world, the most
difficult to swerve, is a plant once fixed in certain
habits...do you suppose, after all these ages of repetition,
the plant does not become possessed of a will...of
unparralleled tenacity?...the human will is a weak thing
beside the will of a plant. but see how this whole plant's
lifelong stubbornness is broken simply by blending a new
life with it, making, by crossing, a complete and powerful
change in its life. then when the break comes, fix it by
these generations of patient supervision and selection,
and the new plant sets out upon its new way never again to
return to the old, its tenacious will broken and changed
at last.".."when it comes to so sensitive and pliable a
thing as the nature of a child, the problem becomes vastly
easier."
..intimate communion with nature, who unlocked to him
many of her jealously guarded secrets, had given burbank
a boundless spiritual reverence.
"sometimes i feel very close to the infinite power,"
he confided shyly. his sensitive, beautifully modeled
face lit with his memories. "then i have been able to
heal sick persons around me, as well as many ailing plants."
as our friendship grew deeper, i called burbank my
"american saint."..his heart was fathomlessly deep, long
aquainted with humility, patience, sacrifice. his little
home amid the roses was austerely simple; he knew the
worthlessness of luxury, the joy of few possessions. the
modesty with which he wore his scientific fame repeatedly
reminded me of the trees that bend low with the burden of
ripening fruits; it is the barren tree that lifts its head
high in an empty boast.
i was in new york when, in 1926, my dear friend passed
away. in tears i thought, "oh, i would gladly walk all
the way from here to santa rosa for one more glimpse of
him!"..
his name has now passed into the heritage of common
speech. listing "burbank" as a transitive verb, webster's
new international dictionary defines it: "to cross or
graft(a plant). hence, figuratively, to improve(anything,
as a process or institution) by selecting good features
and rejecting bad, or by adding good features."
"beloved burbank," i cried after reading the definition,
your very name is now a synonym for goodness!"
from
"autobiography of a yogi"
by paramahansa yogananda
self-realization fellowship, 1999
scientific knowledge, is love." luther burbank uttered
this wisdom as i walked beside him in his garden in
santa rosa, california...
"while i was conducting experiments to make 'spine-
less' cacti," he continued, "i often talked to the plants
to create a vibration of love. 'you have nothing to fear,'
i would tell them. 'you don't need your defensive thorns.
i will protect you.' gradually the useful plant of the
desert emerged in a thornless variety."
...."i see humanity now as one vast plant, needing for
its highest fulfillments only love, the natural blessings
of the great outdoors, and intelligent crossing and selec-
tion. in the span of my own lifetime i have observed
such wondrous progress in plant evolution that i look
forward optimistically to a healthy, happy world as soon
as its children are taught the principes of simple and
rational living. we must return to nature and nature's
god."...
"new types of training are needed - fearless experiments.
at times the most daring trials have succeeded in bringing
out the best in fruits and flowers. educational innovations
...should likewise become more numerous, more courageous."
"the most stubborn living thing in this world, the most
difficult to swerve, is a plant once fixed in certain
habits...do you suppose, after all these ages of repetition,
the plant does not become possessed of a will...of
unparralleled tenacity?...the human will is a weak thing
beside the will of a plant. but see how this whole plant's
lifelong stubbornness is broken simply by blending a new
life with it, making, by crossing, a complete and powerful
change in its life. then when the break comes, fix it by
these generations of patient supervision and selection,
and the new plant sets out upon its new way never again to
return to the old, its tenacious will broken and changed
at last.".."when it comes to so sensitive and pliable a
thing as the nature of a child, the problem becomes vastly
easier."
..intimate communion with nature, who unlocked to him
many of her jealously guarded secrets, had given burbank
a boundless spiritual reverence.
"sometimes i feel very close to the infinite power,"
he confided shyly. his sensitive, beautifully modeled
face lit with his memories. "then i have been able to
heal sick persons around me, as well as many ailing plants."
as our friendship grew deeper, i called burbank my
"american saint."..his heart was fathomlessly deep, long
aquainted with humility, patience, sacrifice. his little
home amid the roses was austerely simple; he knew the
worthlessness of luxury, the joy of few possessions. the
modesty with which he wore his scientific fame repeatedly
reminded me of the trees that bend low with the burden of
ripening fruits; it is the barren tree that lifts its head
high in an empty boast.
i was in new york when, in 1926, my dear friend passed
away. in tears i thought, "oh, i would gladly walk all
the way from here to santa rosa for one more glimpse of
him!"..
his name has now passed into the heritage of common
speech. listing "burbank" as a transitive verb, webster's
new international dictionary defines it: "to cross or
graft(a plant). hence, figuratively, to improve(anything,
as a process or institution) by selecting good features
and rejecting bad, or by adding good features."
"beloved burbank," i cried after reading the definition,
your very name is now a synonym for goodness!"
from
"autobiography of a yogi"
by paramahansa yogananda
self-realization fellowship, 1999