We all love fruits—each of us is drawn to different kinds. Some may prefer the sweetness of a mango, others the crispness of an apple, or the juiciness of a pomegranate. Are we ware of that? Just as our tastes in fruits vary, so do our preferences for flowers—some are drawn to the delicate colors, others to the enchanting fragrance, and still others to the way petals shimmer under the sunlight. When a flower has a pleasing fragrance or glows with life in the daylight, our love and attraction to it deepen. It gives us joy, it pulls us closer, and we find ourselves returning to it again and again.
In much the same way, our mind is like a garden—a vast, fertile garden where we are the gardeners. It is up to us to decide what kind of trees and plants we will grow within it. Just as in a real garden, if we want beautiful, fragrant flowers, we must plant the right seeds. We must select the saplings carefully, nurture them, water them regularly, and protect them from weeds. Our thoughts, emotions, habits, and beliefs are like seeds. The thoughts we plant today will grow into the feelings and experiences we live with tomorrow.
If I want a flower that brings fragrance to my life—peace, joy, kindness, or wisdom—then I must seek out the right seed, plant it with intention, and care for it with dedication. I must spend time with it, be near it, protect it from the storms of negativity and the drought of indifference. Only then, after consistent effort and presence, will that flower blossom in my inner garden. The mind responds just as nature does—it reflects the care we give it, the thoughts we feed it, and the dreams we dare to nurture. What we grow inside eventually becomes what we live outside. So, let us plant wisely, tend gently, and believe in the beauty that can grow within us. In fact, our consciousness is like an open space—a vast inner landscape where experiences, thoughts, and feelings can unfold. It is the seat of awareness, a place where we come to know ourselves and the world around us. However, despite its depth and potential, our conscious awareness operates within a narrow window. The field of attention—the spotlight of the mind—is limited, allowing only one or a few things to be clearly seen at a time. Much like a flashlight in a dark room, it illuminates only a small portion of what is present, leaving the rest in shadow.
Because of this narrowness, only one thought, image, or experience can fully occupy the center of our conscious mind in any given moment. When something enters this focused spotlight—whether it is a sound, a memory, a sensation, or a realization—it is revealed with clarity. We become consciously aware of it, we may reflect on it, analyze it, or react to it. However, attention is naturally restless. It shifts quickly, pulled by distractions, new stimuli, or changing inner states. What captures the mind’s attention now may soon be forgotten or overlooked. As soon as something new appears, the previous focus often fades into the background. But this fading does not mean it disappears. Rather, the information, though no longer in the forefront, often slips into the subconscious. The subconscious mind acts like a vast reservoir, collecting and holding onto experiences that the conscious mind has passed over or moved on from. These stored impressions do not vanish—they may resurface later as dreams, intuitions, sudden insights, or emotional reactions that seem to arise without warning. In this way, the subconscious acts as both a storehouse and a filter, retaining what the conscious mind cannot hold at once.
Thus, our experience of consciousness is shaped by this dynamic interplay between attention and memory, between the light of conscious awareness and the shadowed depth of the subconscious. The mind is always processing far more than we realize. What we notice is only a fragment of the whole. Understanding this helps us appreciate the complexity of our mental life and reminds us to be mindful of what we choose to focus on, because even fleeting moments can take root in the deeper layers of the self.
