Sri Chinmoy inaugurates ‘The& Garland of Divinity’s Love’ flower store on Parsons Blvd. Jamaica, Queens, New York.
The Significance of a Flower
A talk by Sri Chinmoy
during the inauguration of The Garland of Divinity’s Love
AUM. AUM.
In the Name of the Supreme we are opening this flower shop: The Garland of Divinity’s Love, The Garland of Divinity’s Love, The Garland of Divinity’s Love.
The flower signifies beauty and purity. The flower signifies our awakened consciousness.
The flower talks. As we talk, the flower also talks. We talk to the flower with our eyes. And when we talk to the flower with our eyes, the beauty of the flower talks. There is a running conversation between our eyes and the beauty of the flower.
Then our nose talks. When our nose talks, it talks with the fragrance of the flower. The fragrance of the flower and the human nose talk in a most significant way.
Then there is a talk, a most significant talk, between our consciousness and the purity of the flower. The purity of the flower and the consciousness of our aspiring soul talk together.
The flower sings. As we sing, the flower sings. Early in the morning, when the florist touches the flower with his inspiration, the flower sings with its divine inspiration.
When the customer buys the flower, he buys it with his aspiration. He wants to offer this flower; he wants to use this flower for a special purpose. Inside the purpose looms large his aspiration. When, with his aspiration, the customer buys the flower, the flower sings.
When the customer fulfils his aspiration — that is to say, when the customer takes the flower home and offers it on the altar or gives it to the person it is meant for, whether it is for a special event or for something else most significant — when the purpose is fulfilled, again the flower sings. The flower is fulfilling its purpose.
The flower dances. Early in the morning, when the birds sing on the top of the tree, immediately the flower- consciousness dances with delight. Soon after, when the golden disc, the sun, peeps out, the flower dances once again with Immortality’s Light.
The sun is immortal. When its Immortality’s Light enters into the living breath of the flower, the flower starts dancing. Then, in the evening, when the sun wants to retire in the western sky, when the sun wants to take rest, the sun says to the flower, “My child, now I am resting. I want to offer you my infinite Peace. You also take rest and enjoy infinite Peace.” When infinite Peace enters into the flower, the flower again starts dancing with joy.
When we enter into the world, the flower welcomes us. At that time, when the flower welcomes the soul, the flower offers a divine surprise to the soul. The soul enters into the world and smells profuse fragrance. With the flower, Mother Earth offers her deepest, most sincere welcome to the soul that has entered into her arena. Then, when the individual has played his role on earth for fifty, sixty or seventy years, he has to retire. When his journey comes to an end, Mother Earth offers him her blessingful gratitude. At the beginning, when the child enters into the world, Mother Earth offers him her blessingful joy. When this child grows up, he becomes an adult, a mature man. Then he enters into dotage, old age. When he finishes his role on earth, Mother Earth again blesses him with a flower, this time with blessingful gratitude. The first time she gave blessingful joy, and this time she gives blessingful gratitude, because he has played his role on earth for Mother Earth, for the earth-consciousness.
We offer flowers to a spiritual Master. When we offer a flower to a spiritual Master with folded hands, and again when a spiritual Master accepts the flower with his folded hands, that means he is also offering. While accepting the flower, he is offering his love and joy. His love and joy he offers when he accepts with his folded hands. When we give with folded hands, we also offer our joy and love.
When we offer flowers to spiritual Masters, when we place the flowers at their feet, at that time we are offered compassion and concern. Concern and compassion we get when we place flowers at the feet of holy figures, spiritual Masters.
When we place flowers in front of the picture of our Guru, of our spiritual Master, of a great spiritual figure, at that time we get blessingful gratitude and blessingful pride, for we have the inner awareness to appreciate the spiritual as well as the physical. When we place a flower in front of the picture, at that time we are actually offering our aspiration to the spiritual aspect more than the physical aspect. In the physical of the Master is the Supreme. Again, in the picture also, the living Consciousness of the Supreme is there; but when we stand in front of the physical we get more joy, because the physical proximity makes us feel that we both belong to earth. One person is in the form of the spiritual Master, and the other person is in the form of the disciple.
When we are standing in front of a picture, it is the consciousness that is playing the major role. The Master’s outer limbs are not functioning, but his inner consciousness is functioning, so we are entering into his spiritual world. That means we are adoring, we are loving and we are worshipping the spiritual aspect. While living on earth, when we give importance to the spiritual aspect also, side by side with the physical consciousness, at that time we get blessingful gratitude and blessingful pride from the Master, from the Guru.
I really wish you to buy flowers from this place. Flowers always offer divine fragrance. You can buy flowers very often, if possible every day, for your shrine, for your house. A flower is God’s purest and brightest message. Please try to see all beauty in you, with you and around you in the lap of Mother Earth.
Published in Not Every Day, But Every Moment: illumining questions and answers, comments and talks