9. Jesus said, "Look, the sower went out, took a handful (of seeds), and scattered (them). Some fell on the road, and the birds came and gathered them. Others fell on rock, and they didn't take root in the soil and didn't produce heads of grain. Others fell on thorns, and they choked the seeds and worms ate them. And others fell on good soil, and it produced a good crop: it yielded sixty per measure and one hundred twenty per measure."

This saying is a story in the conical Bible, but it is a little different in the Gospel of Thomas. I think when there is overlapping accounts of Jesus's life across multiple gospels, it gives them extra significance.

In Yogic tradition, Karma is associated with seeds. The seeds of karma are planted within us and can bear fruit when the timing is right. When we take actions, we often do not keep in mind that we are planting these seeds. You are the sower of the seeds and the reaper of their harvest. When your seeds fall on the proper ground, they will yield many times the volume of original.

Spiritual practice is like planting a seed. First we till the ground of our lives with the basic yogic practices of Yama and Niyama. The Ten Commandments were not only a set of rules to live by, they were one of the first guides to lay groundwork for spiritual discipline. By following these basic rules, the spiritual seeker will not create any additional karmic bonds, which are trampled on the path of daily life.

Once the ground has been tilled, the practitioner plants the seed of meditation in the fertile ground of the steadied mind. If the seeds meditation should fall on the rocks of stubbornness, they will not take root. If the seeker can commit to nurturing the seed by metaphorically watering it through daily practice, it will take root.

If the seed sprouts, it will encounter the thorns of past sense impressions. Perseverance is needed to cultivate the plant past these thorns as it works its way toward the Sun of enlightenment. Thus, the seed, fully germinated, will provide a bounty many times its original size. A tiny seed of intent becomes a harvest of bliss: the union of the soul with the divine.