Tradition says that Japanese bamboo grows in a very particular way. For Zen culture, the story of how its seed germinates is a metaphor for the work necessary to fulfill a dream.
The story of bamboo growth is a legend told by the wise:
“There is something very interesting that happens with Japanese bamboo and it teaches us an important lesson. When a grower plants a seed from this tree, the bamboo does not grow immediately even if it is watered and fertilized regularly.
In fact, Japanese bamboo does not surface for the first seven years. An inexperienced grower would think that the seed is infertile, but surprisingly, after these seven years, the bamboo grows more than thirty meters in just six weeks.
How long could we say that bamboo really took to grow? Six weeks? Or seven years and six weeks? It would be more correct to say that it took seven years and six weeks. Why?
Because during the first seven years the bamboo is dedicated to developing and strengthening the roots, which are going to be the ones that after these seven years can grow so much in just six weeks. Also, if at any point in those first seven years we stop watering or caring for it, the bamboo dies.”
This story, which in Zen and Eastern culture has been passed down from generation to generation, has more than one teaching. One of them is that what looks easy, in reality it is not always so. When bamboo seems to grow a hundred feet overnight, it has actually been preparing for it for seven years.
In addition, the story calls us to be patient and wait calmly, because the results of work and waiting come, and they are amazing.
Finally, an important detail is that the seed, during those seven years that it does not grow, is not indifferent to the love it receives: when it is not cared for, the growth of its roots is interrupted and it dies, and the years that it has been preparing they are useless. But when it is given love and watered for seven years without expecting anything, time gives us the miracle of life.
Everything this story has to teach us can be summed up in one sentence:
“If you don’t get what you aspire to, don’t despair… maybe you’re just putting down roots.”
If you liked the legend, you can also read: “Egg”, a story about the origin of everything we know.