FLOWERS - THEIR SPIRITUAL SIGNIFICANCE

Soul of a Flower

    The unselfish movement,  uncalculating, is one
of   the   most   beautiful   forms   of   psychic
consciousness  in  the  world.  But the higher one
rises in the scale of mental activity,  the  rarer
it  becomes.  For  with  intelligence come all the
skill and cleverness, and corruption, calculation.
For  instance,  when  a  rose  blossoms it does so
spontaneously,  for the joy  of  being  beautiful,
smelling sweet,  expressing all its joy of living,
and it does not calculate,  it has nothing to gain
out of it: it does so spontaneously, in the joy of
being and living.  Take a human being, well, apart
from a very few exceptions, the moment his mind is
active he tries to get some advantage out  of  his
beauty  and  cleverness;  he wants it to bring him
something,  either men's admiration or  even  much
more  sordid  gains  yet.  Consequently,  from the
psychic point of view,  the rose  is  better  than
human beings.                                     
    Only, if  you  climb   a   rung   higher   and
consciously  do  what the rose does unconsciously,
then it is much more beautiful. But it must be the
same  thing:  a  spontaneous  flowering of beauty,
uncalculating, simply for the joy of being. Little
children   have  this  at  times  (at  times,  not
always).  Unfortunately,  under the  influence  of
their  parents and the environment,  they learn to
be calculating when yet very young.               
    But this  kind of wish to gain by what one has
or does is truly one of the ugliest things in  the
world. And it is one of the most widespread and it
has  become  so  widespread,  that  it  is  almost
spontaneous  in man.  Nothing can turn its back on
the divine love more totally than that,  that wish
to calculate and profit.                          

    Do flowers love?                              

    This is  their form of love,  this blossoming.
Certainly,  when one sees a rose  opening  to  the
sun,  it is like a need to give its beauty.  Only,
for us,  it is almost unintelligible,  for they do
not think about what they do. A human being always
associates with everything he does this ability to
see  himself  doing  it,  that is,  to think about
himself, think of himself doing it. Man knows that
he is doing something.  Animals don't think. It is
not at all the same form of love.  And flowers, so
to speak,  are not conscious:  it is a spontaneous
movement, not a consciousness that is conscious of
itself,  not at all. But it is a great Force which
acts  through  all  that,  the   great   universal
Consciousness  and  the  great  Force of universal
love which makes all things blossom in beauty.    

    Is there a sense of beauty in flowers?        

    Directly there  is  organic  life,  the  vital
element  comes  in,  and  it is this vital element
which gives to flowers the sense of beauty.  It is
not   perhaps   individualised  in  the  sense  we
understand it,  but it is a sense of  the  species
and the species always tries to realise it. I have
noticed a first rudiment of the  psychic  presence
and  vibration  in vegetable life,  and truly this
blossoming  one  calls  a  flower  is  the   first
manifestation of the psychic presence. The psychic
is individualised only in man,  but it  was  there
before  him;  but  it  is  not  the  same  kind of
individualisation as in man,  it is more fluid: it
manifests  as force,  as consciousness rather than
as individuality.  Take the rose, for example; its
great perfection of form,  colour, scent expresses
an aspiration and a psychic giving. Look at a rose
opening  in  the morning at the first touch of the
sun,  it   is   a   magnificent   self-giving   in
aspiration.                                       

    What is  this  psychic  prayer  that   flowers
represent?                                        

    The psychic,  when it manifests in a plant, in
the form of a flower, is in the form of a wordless
prayer;  it is the elan of the plant  towards  the
Divine.                                           

    You have  written:  "Love  of  flowers  is   a
valuable  help  for  finding  and uniting with the
psychic. Could you explain this more in detail?   

    Since flowers  are  the  manifestation  of the
psychic in the vegetal kingdom,  love  of  flowers
would  mean  that  one  is  drawn  by  the psychic
vibration and consequently by the psychic in one's
own self.                                         
    When you  are   receptive   to   the   psychic
vibration,  that  puts  you  in  a  more  intimate
contact with the psychic in your own self. Perhaps
the  beauty  of  flowers  too  is  a means used by
Nature to awaken in human  beings  the  attraction
for the psychic.                                  

    How can one enter into  psychic  contact  with
flowers?                                          

    When one is in conscious  contact  with  one's
own  psychic,  one  becomes aware of an impersonal
psychic  behind  the  whole  creation  and   then,
through  this,  one  can  enter  into contact with
flowers  and  know   the   psychic   prayer   they
represent.                                        

    Mother, when flowers are brought to  you,  how
do you give them a significance?                  

    To the flowers?  But it's in the same way,  by
entering  into  contact  with  the  nature  of the
flower,  its inner truth.  Then one knows what  it
represents.                                       

    Each flower  has  its  special   significance,
hasn't it?                                        

    Not as we understand it mentally.  There is  a
mental projection when one gives a precise meaning
to a flower.  It may answer,  vibrate to the touch
of  this  projection,  accept  the meaning,  but a
flower   has   no   equivalent   of   the   mental
consciousness. In the vegetable kingdom there is a
beginning  of  the  psychic,  but  there   is   no
beginning of the mental consciousness.  In animals
it is different;  mental life begins to  form  and
for them things have a meaning.  But in flowers it
is rather like the movement of a little baby -  it
is   neither   a  sensation  nor  a  feeling,  but
something of both; it is a spontaneous movement, a
very special vibration.  So,  if one is in contact
with it,  if one feels it,  one gets an impression
which may be translated by a thought.  That is how
I have given a meaning to  flowers  and  plants  -
there   is  a  kind  of  identification  with  the
vibration,  a  perception  of   the   quality   it
represents and,  little by little,  through a kind
of approximation (sometimes this  comes  suddenly,
occasionally  it  takes  time),  there is a coming
together of  these  vibrations  (which  are  of  a
vital-emotional  order)  and  the vibration of the
mental thought,  and  if  there  is  a  sufficient
harmony,  one  has a direct perception of what the
plant may signify.                                
    In some  countries (particularly here) certain
plants  are  used  as  the  media   for   worship,
offering,  devotion.  Certain  plants are given on
special occasions. And I have often seen that this
identification  was  quite  in  keeping  with  the
nature  of  the  plant,   because   spontaneously,
without  knowing anything,  I happened to give the
same  meaning   as   that   given   in   religious
ceremonies.  The vibration was really there in the
flower itself....  Did it come from the  use  that
had  been made of it or did it come from very far,
from somewhere deep down.  From a beginning of the
psychic life? It would be difficult to say.       

    If our flower-offering depends on our state of
consciousness,  does  it  help  us  to  learn  the
significances of flowers  even  if  it  is  purely
mental to begin with?                             

    Yes, surely.                                  

    Have flowers a power in the occult world?     

    Yes, they have an occult power;  they can even
transmit a message if one knows how to charge them
with it.                                          

    Can the  flowers transmit other messages apart
from the significances you have given?            

    It is  not impossible but the person who sends
the message must have a great power of formation. 

    Is the power of formation purely occult or can
a mental or vital power of formation also transmit
messages?                                         

    The mental power of  formation  can  certainly
transmit  messages.  But  for these messages to be
received and understood,  the person to whom  they
are  sent  must himself be very receptive mentally
and particularly attentive.                       

    When we  offer  flowers,  with  what  attitude
should we offer them?  Does it matter if we do not
know the significance?                            

    This depends complely on the person who  gives
the flowers and on his state of consciousness. The
same answer may be given to  both  the  questions.
According to the degree of consciousness of people
what they do has a deep significance.             

    Do flowers retain the force always,  even when
they decay?                                       

    Decay? No,  my child;  when they dry up,  yes.
Decayed flowers are just nothing.  A decomposition
takes place,  so the thing disappears.  Perhaps it
brings energy to the soil,  that's quite possible;
but still,  when it decays it is good only to make
manure to grow other flowers.  But if it dries up,
it  is  preserved,  it can remain for quite a long
time.                                             

    Sweet Mother,  what  should  we  do  with  the
flowers which you give us every day?              

    Flowers? You  ought  to  keep  them as long as
they are fresh,  and when they are no  longer  so,
you  must  collect  them  and  give  them  to  the
gardener (any gardener you know),  so that he  can
put  them  in  the earth to produce other flowers.
Yes,  one must give back to the earth what it  has
given us, for otherwise it will become poor.      

                                        THE MOTHER