(Written by a former teacher of physics in Shanghai)

Rainy days were coming, and Lao Tian reminded me that I should sow fava bean seeds in the garden as soon as possible.   Lao Zhou had already plowed my garden plot.  He always does that, as he knows that I keep myself very busy and might not get around to it.  I know I should do it, but I appreciate his help.  I’m fortunate to have an 82-year-old man managing my garden for me. 

I had never asked to have one of the plots assigned to me though I was aware that there were several of them by the parking lot.  I had done very little gardening in my life and was surprised when Lao Zhou asked me three years ago to attend a meeting about our community gardens.  At the end of the meeting, our manager told us that we could put our names on a waiting-list if we were interested in having a garden of our own, and I was surprised to see that my name had been added to the list by my friend.

Several months later, Lao Wang asked if her name had risen to the top of the list, and she was told that she’d have to wait until one more person got a garden.  I was surprised to find that that person was me.  I got a garden quite by chance. 

I’ve planted fava beans and had a good harvest every year since I got the garden, but I haven’t worked there as much as I should and frequently forget watering.  My friends Lao Zhou, Lao Chen, Lao Wang, and a few other people keep an eye on it for me and have spread fertilizer when it was needed.

They planted tomatoes and vegetables after the fava beans were gathered in.  Vegetables have also been washed and pickled by two neighbors who recently moved into apartments on my floor.  I was really ashamed that they did so much more of the work than I did.

Nowadays, I plant favas when Lao Tian reminds me.  When I did it recently, two women passing by, saw how hard I was working, and immediately stopped to help.  One of them dug the holes, and after I put in the seed, the other one flattened the soil.  We worked together quickly and easily.  It was so much better than working alone.

The willingness of everyone to help me with gardening was completely unexpected, and when I started getting far more vegetables than I could use, I shared them with my friends.  I started calling my plot the “Garden of Friendship”.

My friends not only worked in my garden, sometimes I’d find vegetables hanging in a bag from my door knob, and one evening when I got home late after translating for  Chinese neighbors applying for energy assistance, I found a complete meal right outside my door.  I was so touched by their thoughtfulness that tears of gratitude filled my eyes. 

They seemed more like relatives than just good friends.  I give so little and receive so much!  

Then they decided they wanted to give me a nickname, and my friend Wu told me they had settled on “Bodhisattva Chen”.  She told me it had been chosen by several friends, and that at first they had thought of me as a volunteer.  However, that didn’t seem quite right, as volunteers have schedules, and I was willing to be of help anytime.  Then they remembered that a bodhisattva never refuses a request and that made the nickname seem just right even though none of us are Buddhists.

Mr. Li had once used the same term for me, and I told him that it wasn’t accurate.  Quite recently, another friend had called me a “living Bodhisattva”, but I’d told her that I was a Catholic and that it just didn’t fit. 

I’ve looked it up, and found that such people live an “enlightened existence”.  

It’s slightly ridiculous that I should be given nicknames, but another friend said that a better one would be “Mother Mary”, as she knew I was a Catholic.  I didn’t agree with that either.  The person who suggested it has no religious beliefs and doesn’t understand Catholicism.  I’m far from being a truly good person, as I have selfish thoughts.  As a good Catholic I strive to have a good relationship with God; to love oneself in unacceptable.

I’m happy to have acquired so many good friends through the operation of my Garden of Friendship, and I’ve vowed to continue to be of service wherever I can be useful.