This article may be a bit spooky, hence I leave it up to you to believe it or not….
Years ago, I was told by a spiritual master that my garden had wandering spirits occupying it because my garden was overgrown with weeds, was messy and unkempt. Due to its unkempt nature, the spirits did not know that the garden had belonged to someone.
She had said some prayers and requested them to politely leave which they obliged. However, it goes to say that if my garden had continue to be in that condition, new occupants would start to occupy the place.
Her observation also explained why I had always felt uneasy in the garden. We had quite a big land space which is much envied by others but somehow our family hardly hang around the garden.
On and off I would try to clear out the weeds but I had always find the effort very draining and tiring. Sometimes, I would be unwell for a few days after a bout of clearing the garden. Or while clearing the dry leave, somehow I would have missed the tree trunk and ram my head straight to it (ouch, very painful!).
Until a few years ago, I started developing interest in maintaining my garden so I made more effort to try to keep it clean by sweeping up the dry leaves (from my fruit trees) and pulling out the weeds.
There have been particularly a few shrubs that somehow insists to grow back in the very same position again and again each time I chopped it off. Once, I remember it was particularly hard to chop down some shrubs that were growing at my backyard.
I remembered that day was a Sunday and I was so determined to get rid of these shrubs that I went out to look for a sharper knife (parang knife) which I observed was being used by some Thai people to chop down shrubs and weeds. I managed to buy it from a shop and happy, I came back and was using the sharp parang knife to chop off the stubborn scrubs.
It was about 2 – 3pm. The afternoon sun was hot but I was chopping under the shade of a fruit tree. I was alone.
Then while I was chopping the scrub, I felt a few tap on my shoulder, you know the kind where someone is calling you from the back. I turned, and there was no one. I resume chopping again till I got rid of the scrubs.
The next day, I suffered severe pains in my back and I also fell sick. I wondered why this happened and ask someone who advised me that sometimes people do fall sick when they chop of certain plants or trees. I offered some prayers and promptly got better.
As I did not want to fall sick again, each time I would inform before hand that I intend to clear the garden and then offered to go to temple to make merits. And I would not run into any issue, such as falling sick or getting pains if I were to do it.
However I find strangely that this practice would made the weeds and scrubs grew double as fast. As if they would like me to make merits on their behalf. I decided I need to stop this. What I did I would say my prayers and send goodwill to these beings only.
Eventually earlier this year I had a contractor came to chop of a number of trees and trim the branches of my fruit trees. Whether ‘they’ heard it or not, I just made a courtesy to inform mentally to say that I needed to cut off some trees and for ‘them’ to find lodging elsewhere.
At the same time, I have started outsourcing the weeding and dry leave sweeping to some workers who would come about once a month to clean out my garden. The first time they came (almost a year ago), I paid more for them to rearrange my garden- moving unused flower pots to the edge, and setting a nice perimeter for me to plant flowers. Their work standard surpasses my work many folds as these workers have full time jobs as gardeners but trying to earn some extra money during weekends. They have skills in using the weedtrimmer and swept my garden clean.
I also send goodwill energy the area surrounding my place. After a while, I noticed that the energy have changed to a positive and even protective energies. Birds are chirping and hanging out in my garden more often. I also walk around my garden more often.
Even if you do not exactly believe in such unseen energies, having a messy and unkempt garden may cause reptiles such as snakes to come. With rapid deforestation to build new houses and townships, animals that used to occupy the forests have no where else to go hence they would wonder to look for another suitable lodging place. Furthermore, if the house is also unkempt and has rats, it would really attract snakes.