Maulana Wahiduddin Khan I The Sunday Guardian I February 02, 2014

The tree is a physical illustration of spiritual life. The tree is manifested spirituality. The tree has a unique quality. It begins from a small point, and then it grows and grows until it becomes a full-fledged tree. How does this miracle take place? It is due to an inner quality of the tree. The tree is able to take food from everything: from soil, water, air, and from sunlight.

A seed is small, less than half an inch, but then it grows and becomes a large tree. Man, also, initially is a seed. Man is born with great potential. When a man is born, he is like a seed. He possesses all the great qualities of man. But all these things are in terms of potential, not in terms of actual. It is man himself who can turn the potential into actual.

But there is a difference. Seed grows automatically by the law of nature. However, man is required to develop his personality by his own effort. It requires conscious planning.

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Man must take food from everything. When he is angry, and he controls his anger, he is developing in his personality the art of turning negativity into positivity. When he faces a crisis situation and he keeps patience, he develops the ability of positive planning.

If he faces a situation of violence, and refrains himself from reaction, he is developing his personality in a way that he may keep a peaceful mind in every situation.

One who tries to face these situations with a positive mind is growing himself. He is enhancing his creativity and he is developing his personality on positive lines.

One who adopts this course is like a healthy tree, he will surely emerge sometime as a developed personality like a full-grown tree.