Daily Inspiration Quote by Bodhidharma

Bodhidharma slips a karmic lesson into the language of ordinary ambition: fame, fortune, reward. He meets people where they already live mentally - in the marketplace of outcomes - then quietly reroutes the logic. The line flatters the listener with agency ("planted by us") while stripping away the comforting myth of sudden, unearned destiny. Blessing is not a jackpot; it's delayed causality.

As a leader associated with Zen's hard-edged insistence on practice over theory, Bodhidharma is doing two things at once. First, he's moralizing success without sermonizing. Calling reward "fruit" makes it feel organic and inevitable, not a trophy bestowed by a judge. Second, he's deflating entitlement. If your present life tastes bitter, the subtext says, don't blame the weather; examine the seed. That can sound harsh, but it's also empowering: the future is being cultivated even when no one is watching.

The choice to include "blessed" is strategic. It nods to the human desire for grace and luck, then reframes grace as something that arrives through disciplined continuity. In a monastic context, this reinforces patience and ethical conduct: meditation, restraint, attention to harm. In a broader cultural context, it reads like an antidote to instant-celebrity fantasies and hustle-culture delusions alike. You don't manifest; you practice. You don't get rescued by fate; you inherit yourself.