There was a man who enjoyed gardening with a passion. Every year, he would enter his garden into a contest and every year he would win. One day, a man approached this gardener and asked, “What is your secret?! What do you use to grow such beautiful plants and flowers?” The gardener replied, “Well, when I go out to buy my seeds I also buy for my neighbors.” The man exclaimed, “What! I don’t understand! Why would you buy seeds for your neighbors?! We are living in a competitive world; you must look out for yourself first and then others. Why would you share your secret with your neighbors who also join this contest?” The gardener explained, “My dear friend, when I buy seeds for my neighbors and they grow beautiful plants and flowers then I too benefit. When my neighbor’s flowers pollinate, bees pick up the pollen from his garden and transfers it to my flowers. Just like when my flowers pollinate, the bees transfer the pollen from my flowers to my neighbor’s flowers. This is called cross-fertilization or pollination and the main purpose for this is to reproduce. So if either one of us plants with bad seeds then the other one suffers as well.”

Moral of the story: If you want good for yourself, both physically and spiritually, then you must want the same for others. Together we can help each other realize our potentials and achieve self-actualization.