Seeds of Virtue: 100 Classic Stories for Youth Virtue Education

Author: Sun Jinghua
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-09-01
Features: A philosopher takes his group of students on a journey around the world. Over ten years, they travel to all countries and visit all the learned people. Now they have returned, each becoming a well-read scholar. Before entering the city, the philosopher sits down on a patch of grass in the suburbs and tells his students, "After ten years of travel, you are all scholars. Now our studies are coming to an end. Let’s have our last lesson!" The disciples gather around the philosopher. The philosopher asks, "Where are we sitting now?" The disciples reply, "We are sitting in the wilderness." The philosopher then asks, "What is growing in the wilderness?" The disciples say, "The wilderness is overgrown with weeds." The philosopher says, "Yes, the wilderness is overgrown with weeds. Now, I want to know how to get rid of these weeds." The disciples are greatly astonished. They had not expected that the philosopher, who had always explored the mysteries of life, would ask such a simple question for his last lesson. The first disciple speaks up, saying, "Teacher, a shovel is enough." The philosopher nods. Another disciple then says, "Setting it on fire is also a good method." The philosopher smiles and gestures to the next one. The third disciple says, "Spreading lime will get rid of all the weeds." The fourth disciple then speaks, saying, "Cut the grass at the root—just dig it up." After all the disciples have spoken, the philosopher stands up and says, "That’s enough for today’s lesson. When you go back, remove a patch of weeds using your own methods. If any weeds remain, come back in a year to meet again."
A year later, they all return, but the place where they once gathered is no longer overgrown with weeds. Instead, it has become a field of grain. The disciples sit around the field, waiting for the philosopher’s arrival, but he never comes. Years later, the philosopher passes away. The disciples, while compiling his teachings, privately add a chapter at the end of the book: "To get rid of the weeds in the wilderness, there is only one method—plant crops on it. Similarly, to keep the soul free from disturbance, the only method is to fill it with virtue."
Leonardo da Vinci said, "The honor of a person’s virtue is far greater than the honor of their wealth." Virtue is like a cup of fragrant tea, a cup of fine wine, or a flower that fills the air with its scent. Virtue can make the heart joyful and steadfast. When the heart is filled with virtue, all filth and evil lose their place to exist, and life never withers.
In life, the vast majority of people uphold qualities such as kindness, honesty, courage, responsibility, tolerance, diligence, self-control, humility, loyalty, resilience, and sharing, because they are all considered virtues. These virtues have always shone brightly in the long history of human development, illuminating and inspiring us above the soul and consciousness.
It is because we have hope in virtue that our steps in exploration are always full of strength. It is because virtue nourishes us that we always retain the source of hope. It is because virtue guides us that we do not stray from our course even in the face of hardship and storms. It is because virtue accumulates within us that life becomes as unyielding as a mountain and as boundless as the sea.
It is certain that everyone should possess virtue and find their lifelong "protector."
Adolescents, in the stage of their growth, should cultivate the noble virtues that will shape their lives. Only in this way can you grow on healthy soil, basking in sunlight and rain, and embracing the good.
Know this: all beautiful qualities and natures, like a gentle breeze from a pure land, blow into people’s hearts, and without realizing it, our souls draw closer to all that is good, giving us a natural sense of familiarity with them.
Therefore, learn to plant "seeds of virtue" in the years of your growth. One day, when these seeds grow into towering trees and bear you abundant fruit, you will be able to taste the beauty and sweetness of life.