The Attraction Of Flowers

The Mother's Way with Flowers

When I showed this flower to my gardener friend he laughed and said that he remembered seeing a sadhak bringing these flowers to the Mother on a conspicuous branch. Before he could come near she vehemently told him not to bring those flowers to her. She 'could not even stand their presence! Either then or later she gave some bad meaning to them. I have quite forgotten.

So I wrote to the Mother telling her that I was very attracted to this flower although I had been told she did not like it. She accepted the loose flowers I had sent through a sadhak who took my note to read to her and she asked him to give her a piece of paper on which she wrote in French, "Beginning of realisation in Matter"! This he brought to me and the name filled me with joy and intense aspiration to identify myself with this flower and its deep power of fulfilment.

It seems to me that the consciousness of the person presenting the flowers had also a role in determining the spiritual significance of the flowers.

The Mother herself always got a beautiful response from the plants. Once she gave a sprig of Divine's Love to a sadhak, who was one of the Ashram gardeners, with the request: "Can we grow this?" He thought for a moment and then said: "Yes, Mother".

The sprig was planted, but nothing seemed to be growing and he had some misgivings. However, he was informed that the Mother took keen interest in the little sprig. When the Mother came to know about his despair, she asked that the small pot containing that sprig be brought and kept in a place where she could see it everyday. It was done and the Mother looked at it every time she passed by.

A few days later, new buds were seen and the small cutting grew vigorously. The Mother asked to transplant it into a bigger pot since the roots filled up the small pot. It filled one pot after another. Finally, it was suggested that it could be planted in the Ashram rockery, where you now see it as a full grown shrub or a little tree.

I believe a friendly understanding of the basic needs of vegetal life is necessary for establishing a contact with plants. Surprisingly, one of the most important needs of a plant is the same as that of a child: to be loved and recognised. The Mother says somewhere that a young child is so small that its chief need is to make itself seen or heard. Taking this hint, I often put my best plant of the day or week "on the throne" where it can be seen and admired.