Ensuring the Outcome Honors the Effort

“Whoever sows the wind will reap the storm” (what goes around comes around) sounds ominous, even though we often use it simply to vent our frustration at someone’s behavior or at the actions of an institution. Yet if we manage to drive away the “monkeys of emotion leaping from branch to branch,” a deeper meaning begins to reveal itself. It becomes a kind of mantra, one that can invite happiness into the darker corners of our lives.

Looking back, the creator of that expression seems to have understood something fundamental: human beings react more quickly to negative experiences and remember them more vividly than positive ones. Long before scientific research discovered that trauma can be passed instinctively from one generation to the next, people had already realized that hardship and suffering leave deeper marks, even though life’s challenges often soften over time.

That is why the ancestors of many nations and tribes created frightening stories about the consequences of violating taboos and customary laws. Their purpose was to ensure that future generations would remember and reflect on the wisdom hidden beneath those stories. Yet history eventually led many communities through painful experiences that hypnotized them into questioning the legitimacy of the actions and traditions of those who came before them.

Illustration: Malang City Square.

Prosperous Because Others Prosper Too

In the indigenous Armenian faith, Hetanism, the apricot tree (Prunus armeniaca) is regarded as the tree of life for good reason. Unlike sacred trees found in tropical regions, its roots are not designed to store water. In fact, they rot if the soil contains too much moisture. Even so, the apricot tree survives in intense heat, and its fruit remains sweet despite requiring very little water.

Its remarkable ability to absorb large amounts of carbon dioxide has made it something of a quiet hero amid the climate crisis. The apricot tree is also a vital source of livelihood for rural Armenian communities, serving as one of the country’s main export commodities, especially to Russia and Central Asian nations. Although scientists still debate its exact origin, evidence shows that ancient Armenians had known and cultivated it for at least six thousand years.

Yet this tree of life has one 'weakness': it cannot grow normally to maturity without forests or clusters of other plants surrounding it within a certain range. Excessive deforestation is disastrous for apricot plantations, because the disappearance of surrounding roots also means the loss of the “others” that help maintain the ideal moisture balance in the soil for apricot trees to thrive.

Armenian ancestors concealed the deeper meaning of the tree of life within myths and legends, many of which are now misunderstood or distorted by modern assumptions about the “other world.” Their teachings may be read as a reminder that the tree of life is part of the universe, not the center of it. Ideally, human beings should act from the same understanding: by creating the conditions that allow potential to grow and flourish into something truly life-giving. 

Moving On and Becoming Better?

Yes. Moving on and becoming better, that is the ideal condition we should be able to see today. If ancestral teachings are truly no longer relevant, then our present situation should be better precisely because we have replaced them with newer and supposedly more relevant ideas. It is never too late for people who genuinely want to change things for the better, not merely advertise the appearance of change.

A step deserves to be called “moving on” only when it frees people from mystical thinking, from the belief that miracles will somehow arrive to solve every problem in life. Real help, in every age, comes from actions grounded in knowledge and understanding of the world around us. (dswas).