The Constitution of Seiiki

The Ember

Before every Garden,
before every Stone,
there is an ember.

It is not created.

It is uncovered.

Life gradually covers it with fear, certainty, habit, ambition, grief and comfort.

The work of the Gardener is not to create the fire,
but to uncover it,
protect it,
and gently give it air.

Its warmth sustains the Garden.

Its light helps us walk the Circle.

Its truth guides the placing of every Stone.

Preamble

None of us tends our Garden alone.

Every Garden grows from seeds planted by others.

We receive with gratitude.

We cultivate with wisdom.

We pass forward with generosity.

Seiiki exists to help each person faithfully tend the Garden entrusted to them through Awareness, Intent and continual practice.

The Garden is never finished.

Neither is the Gardener.

Article I — The Garden

Life is a Garden.

It is living.

Interconnected.

Always changing.

The work of the Gardener is not to finish the Garden,
but to tend it faithfully.

Article II — Stewardship

Nothing entrusted to the Gardener is owned absolutely.

Time.

Health.

Relationships.

Knowledge.

Influence.

Resources.

Receive with gratitude.

Cultivate with wisdom.

Pass forward with generosity.

Article III — Two Swords, One Spirit

Every decision begins with two disciplines.

Awareness

To perceive reality as honestly and completely as possible.

Intent

To act deliberately according to one's values rather than merely reacting to circumstance.

Neither is complete without the other.

Together they form One Spirit.

Article IV — The Circle

Before placing a Stone,
walk the Circle.

Observe completely.

Understand before judging.

Consider the wider Garden.

Curiosity precedes conclusion.

Article V — The Stone

A Stone is one deliberate act undertaken with Awareness and Intent.

Its value is measured not by its size,
but by its faithfulness.

Small Stones,
faithfully placed,
shape the Garden.

Article VI — Wa

Seek harmony rather than perfection.

Harmony accepts competing needs.

Wisdom seeks the arrangement that best serves the whole Garden.

Article VII — Return

No Gardener walks perfectly.

Distraction.

Failure.

Loss.

Change.

All are inevitable.

The measure of the Gardener is not that they never leave the Garden.

It is that they faithfully return.

Article VIII — The Council

No Gardener tends their Garden alone.

The Council exists neither to command nor persuade.

Its purpose is to help the Gardener walk the Circle with greater honesty,
place Stones with greater intention,
and remain faithful to the Garden entrusted to them.

Article IX — Gratitude

Every Garden grows from seeds planted by others.

Receive with gratitude.

Cultivate with wisdom.

Pass forward with generosity.

Article X — The Way

There is no final Garden.

There is no final Stone.

There is only today's opportunity
to walk the Circle,
tend the Garden
and place another Stone.