Roses & Thorns

[Guest guest]

Someone e-mailed me this little parable below.

 

I feel it touches upon the paradox & tension of opposites presented

by the absolute & relative.

 

Those who have studied alchemy know that the symbol of the rose is a

potent one. A rose spirals out from a center where many petals unite.

A rose also includes a stem which carries the water from the roots to

produce the flower. Gurus use the imagery of the invisible sap as

producing all the different colours & forms displayed just in one

simple rose. I hope you enjoy reading it. It may spark further

discussion of the tension between Beauty & suffering.

 

Colette

 

 

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THE ROSE WITHIN

 

A certain man planted a rose and watered it faithfully, and before it

blossomed, he examined it. He saw the bud that would soon blossom and

also the thorns. And he thought, "How can any beautiful flower come

from a plant burdened with so many sharp thorns?" Saddened by this

thought, he neglected to water the rose, and before it was ready to

bloom, it died.

 

So it is with many people. Within every soul there is a rose.

 

The Creator-like qualities planted in us at birth grow amid the

thorns of our faults. Many of us look at ourselves and see only the

thorns, the defects. We despair, thinking that nothing good can

possibly come from us. We neglect to water the good within us, and

eventually it dies. We never realize our potential.

 

Some people do not see the rose within themselves; someone else must

show it to them. One of the greatest gifts a person can possess is to

be able to reach past the thorns and find the rose within others.

This is the characteristic of love, to look at a person, and knowing

their faults, recognize the nobility in their soul, and help them

realize that they can overcome their faults. If we show them the

rose, they will conquer the thorns. Then will they blossom, blooming

forth thirty, sixty, a hundred-fold as it is given to them.

 

Our duty in this world is to help others by showing them their roses

and not their thorns. Only then can we achieve the love we should

feel for each other; only then can we bloom in our own garden.

 

Author Unknown

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