Three of the epic series of poems penned by artist, writer and spiritual visionary Sri Chinmoy contain imagery from the plant kingdom in the choice of title for the series. Flowers, plants and trees. Was it a coincidence that three series of poems (comprising 87,000 poems in total and composed in a 24 year time period) looked to the natural world for titles that married creativity and spirituality?

I must confess that I am a bona-fide nature-lover. I find much fascination in taking photographs of birds, animals and flowers. You are usually hard-pressed to find a photo of a person in my online photo albums unless perhaps that person is reading a story to a therapy dog.

That tendency noted, I still surprised myself with what happened to me yesterday as I sat in an outdoor setting filled with beautiful flowers while on spiritual retreat with the International Sri Chinmoy Centres.

I was watching musical performances, absorbing the life messages in moralistic plays based on Sri Chinmoy’s writings and sharing meditation with the hundreds of people surrounding me during an afternoon function.

Slowly but surely, my attention was drawn to the climbing and unfolding greenery that I sat alongside of and up into the sky I was drawn to look at the tree limbs and myriad variety of leaves that dappled the sunlight and shaded us from the hot summer sun.

The more I looked at the greenery right next to me, the more it seemed to pulsate with life and I became convinced that these plants were striving upwards and aspiring in much the same fashion as the people who sat in their midst. The tendrils of the climbing vines and other plants were in various states of unfolding just as surely as those of us gathered together were all embodied in perfect divinity within regardless of how much it had yet to actually blossom. I started to feel that the plants were more than simply alive, but actually sentient and spiritual in some unusual way.

As my own meditation embraced the natural beauty and, spirit if you will, of the plants around me, a sense of contentment and completeness heightened within and I began to feel convinced that if I was ever so lucky to experience Heaven, this is what it must be like.

Later I wondered if it could be that plants are like people and have feelings and strivings just as we do. Lo and behold, the online library of Sri Chinmoy’s writings produced the following question and answer on precisely this subject. I think my sentiments were “barking up the right tree” after all.

Bob: What is our relationship to the plant kingdom in our aspiration-life?

Sri Chinmoy: Our relationship to the plant kingdom should be extremely sweet. The plant kingdom has real aspiration. We don’t see the seed; it is under the ground. But when we see the plant, we see how it aspires to become a tree and then how it aspires to have flowers. The Indian scientist J. C. Bose discovered how plants quarrel and fight for their own existence. But here we are dealing with their aspiration.

The relationship between the plant kingdom and your own existence is extremely important, extremely deep, extremely intimate. First you are a child. Because you are a child, you aspire to become physically strong, tall. You are a seed that germinates into a plant. Then you become an adolescent, and all the time you are dreaming of becoming a tree, a spiritual tree. So there is a child in you, a soul, that aspires to become a spiritual banyan tree. Plant life and human life are like two brothers. One human brother and one plant brother are here together. Your plant brother is reminding you of your aspiration. The plant brother is going upward to reach the sky and this helps to increase your own aspiration. It makes you feel that you also have to grow into your divinity to reach the highest.

Sri Chinmoy, Father’s Day: Father With His European Children, Agni Press, 1976.

And I can further console myself that this unusual sentiment towards plants is explored in a May 2011 scholarly publication from the State University of New York in a book titled, Plants as Persons: A Philosophical Botany by Matthew Hall, a conservationist affiliated with the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh. He explores many religious traditions and their attitudes towards plants as well as scientific studies that posit plants have feelings and are sentient.

The next time that I think about the natural world as a symbolic and tangible aid to spiritual practice, I will have to remind myself that the plants themselves could be part and parcel of the process. Think twice before you step on that plant. It is a living, breathing organism in the interconnected web of life.

Footnote:
In the case of the Flower-Flames, ten thousand of them were composed over a five-year span begun in 1979 and completed in 1983. In the spirit of transcendence so central to Sri Chinmoy’s philosophy and life, the next series of poems called Aspiration-Plants numbered twenty-seven thousand in all and started the same year that the Flower-Flames  were finished (1983) and continued until the 27,000th aspiration-plant was composed in 1998. The final series of poems  called Service-Trees began immediately after the Aspiration-Plant series completed and the final poem composed in this series was the 50,000th and was published posthumously in 2009.

Fall Pumpkin with Ocean Waves and Rocks

Fall Pumpkin with Ocean Waves and Rocks

Is it Indian Summer when there is a beautiful day almost 70 degrees F just after some real cold nights with frost and flurries?

Whatever the qualification, one thing was certain – on a sunny warm Sunday in November it was imperative to spend time outdoors communing with nature.

So off to Chase Point in Little Compton – an area right on the coast of the ocean where the friend of a friend lives.

This was my first visit to Little Compton and it was certainly love at first sight. See if you agree in the slideshow of my visit there today:

This collage contains photos taken around the library where I work in Dartmouth, Massachusetts and at Bishop’s Orchard in Guilford, Connecticut.

Happy Halloween 2009

Happy Halloween 2009

Here is a photo of this year’s crocuses:

Crocus blooming in my yard March 2009

Crocus blooming around my house is a fairly new addition even though I’ve lived here in East Providence, RI for ten years. Squirrels had typically eaten crocus bulbs I planted until I tried waiting until December to plant them. Now they are the first flowers to bloom at my house in the barely arriving season of Spring.

The crocus is part of the iris plant family and is most noted for the variety of crocus that is used to produce saffron – used for its dye, medicinal purposes and for its use in cooking.

Emily Dickinson called the crocus “Spring’s first conviction.” Here is an Emily Dickinson poem about Spring that is the perfect usher for today’s Vernal Equinox.

Spring is the Period
Express from God.
Among the other seasons
Himself abide,

But during March and April
None stir abroad
Without a cordial interview
With God.
The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson, poem no. 844

Read about Crocus Lore at The Butterfly Barn Nature Center Website in Pennsylvania.
Read my post about success with the squirrels not eating the bulbs.

Baby Ducks in Buttonwood Park - Photo by Sharani

Canada Geese Family at Buttonwood Park - Photo by Sharani

Yesterday at the park, dark rain clouds dotted the canvas of blue skies with white clouds. A passing shower found me taking shelter under the canopy of a tree’s branches and I was on high alert for a rainbow but I did not see one. Nature’s beauty was hardly tarnished by its absence. The abundance of water fowl parading their children across the pond served up a heady dose of cuteness and charm all by themselves. Families with children reaching out to give bits of bread to the ducks was equally adorable. I flashed back to my own childhood trips to a park in Michigan to feed the ducks.

Cygnet at Buttonwood Park - Photo by Sharani

As May fades into summer, I bid it a fond adieu. It is definitely one of the best months in New England.

“Daughter of heaven and earth, coy Spring,
With sudden passion languishing,
Teaching barren moors to smile,
Painting pictures mile on mile,
Holds a cup of cowslip wreaths
Whence a smokeless incense breathes…

Where shall we keep the holiday,
And duly greet the entering May?
Too strait and low our cottage doors,
And all unmeet our carpet floors;
Nor spacious court, nor monarch’s hall,
Suffice to hold the festival.
Up and away! where haughty woods
Front the liberated floods:
We will climb the broad-backed hills,
Hear the uproar of their joy…”
- Ralph Waldo Emerson, May Day

Everything that slows us down and forces patience,
everything that sets
us back into the slow circles of nature, is a help.
Gardening is an instrument of grace.
- May Sarton

Center of Tulip Closeup - Photo by Sharani

Shortly after I bought my first home, flush with newness and enthusiasm, I planted an abundance of flower bulbs – tulip, crocus, daffodils. I added bone meal to deter squirrels from eating the bulbs and waited for the wonder of spring color the following year. To my dismay, the only flowers that bloomed from that massive planting were the daffodils. This novice gardener asked around and learned that the squirrels don’t like daffodil bulbs but that they surely ate the tulips and crocus. I was pretty dejected and my future gardening projects mostly were annuals or perennials added as an already existing plant rather than a bulb.

For at least the next seven years, I never tried to plant additional bulbs. Last Fall, I decided to research if there might not be some little-known remedy to deter squirrels from eating flower bulbs and again nearly gave up when most of what I read on the Internet declared it a truly lost cause.

With a tenacity to somehow persevere and make it happen, I finally found a site that said if you wait and plant the flower bulbs in December just before the ground freezes that the squirrels have finished their major foraging period and are not actively seeking out food.

Tulip Ringed with Raindrops - Photo by Sharani

Mother Nature and my own gardening laziness conspired together in this regard. Decembers have been relatively mild in New England the last couple of years and I’m so busy that I do not automatically think to complete gardening chores in a timely fashion. So in mid-December, I easily dug up dirt and planted tulip and crocus bulbs.

Tulip in my Yard - Photo by Sharani

Eureka! It worked. This spring I have tulips and crocus pretty much everywhere I planted them. I am giddy with tulip mania – maybe some of it rubbed off on me when I went to Turkey last year. Tulips are the national flower of Turkey and they were revered there long before they came to Holland.

Or maybe I am harkening back to growing up in Michigan with its own renowned tulip festivals in Holland, Michigan.

Regardless of the influence, I am so delighted that I did not give up in my quest to have tulips and crocus bloom in my yard. I am camera happy to take their portraits. This post is scattered with the results of said shutterbugging.

So if you are trying to keep squirrels from ravaging your flower bulbs, take my success story to heart. Plant them late, never give up and you too will find the perseverance of tulips is possible.

Quotes from Sri Chinmoy on this theme:

Inside each one of us is a beautiful flower garden.
This is the garden of the soul. With each lesson
we learn, the garden grows. As we learn together,
our individual gardens form a tranquil paradise.
- Sri Chinmoy

God’s favourite season is spring, when new hope, new life and new creation dawn. What God always wants from Himself is transcendence. This He can do only when He exercises new hope, new life and new creation constantly.
- Sri Chinmoy

Daffodil Field in Dartmouth - Photo by Sharani

The bridge over the Padanaram Harbor in Dartmouth, Massachusetts was closed and the bridgekeeper was motioning cars to go around rather than wait. I was on a dinner break from work and in the spirit of seizing the moment decided to visit the Daffodil Reserve owned by the town’s Department of Natural Resources Trust. I was bound and determined to still take this field trip and get back to work in one hour flat. So I dashed off down the road through the scenic and quaint environs of New England coastal charm.

Flowering trees serenaded my eyes. Tulips and daffodils were blooming in yards. Leaves were almost budding on trees. I was treated to Spring in all its glory as I drove to Parson’s Reserve on the edge of the Russells Mills national historic district in Dartmouth. I lost some precious time not taking the bridge over the harbor but still managed to make a short pilgrimage to the daffodil field at the top of a hill and at the end of a path through the woods.

Daffodil Field in Dartmouth Photo by Sharani

Last year I visited the daffodils for the first time and was sorely lamenting that this year’s blooming coincided with me being sick and not up to making field trips through the woods. I knew that the daffodils would be finished soon and as quickly as my health permitted, I made a beeline to this vista.

Daffodil Field in Dartmouth - Photo by Sharani

A field of flowers as far as the eye can see is a heady bouquet for the heart to savor. Even a short visit enchanted me and I marvel at the enduring quality of cheerfulness and sunshine embodied in this flower family.

William Wordsworth wrote a famous poem about daffodils in 1804. It expresses perfectly the sentiment found in feasting upon Dartmouth’s daffodil field in full blossom.

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced, but they
Out-did the sparkling leaves in glee;
A poet could not be but gay,
In such a jocund company!
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.
-William Wordsworth

Flowers at Aspiration Ground - Photo by Sharani

Somewhat prone to worry in spite of my best intentions, one night I fitfully fell asleep only to then dream of powerful soothing guidance as I was surrounded by flowers – especially white hydrangea- which I later learned could be found in abundance lately at the Sri Chinmoy Centre meditation grounds I frequent in New York.

The big surprise in this dream, however, was that I heard I should drink lavender tea to calm my nerves. I woke up slightly puzzled. I certainly had heard of lavender’s properties for reducing stress and anxiety, but I had never heard of drinking lavender flowers. Was there really such a thing as lavender tea? Quick Internet research showed me it certainly is also drunk as tea. Gail Kavanagh explains that “Drunk as a tea, lavender is a natural treatment for anxiety and headaches” in her article The Healing Powers of Lavender at DoItYourself.com. Lavender contains many healing properties and was widely used in the Middle Ages for medicinal purposes. Lavender has antiseptic properties, aids in healing of scar tissue, soothes bites and burns, repels insects (used to ward off the plague in the 1600′s), aids sleep and is anti-depressive.

Lavender blooms in my yard Photo by Sharani

Excited to take this prescription for calm that I received in a dream to heart, now I just had to find lavender tea. I succeeded in buying two teas that included lavender in them at a local supermarket that includes a large natural foods and specialty item selection.

One organic spearmint lavender tea that lived up to its name “Charm” from Treleela contained a very clever tea bag that opens up and rests on the cup in such a manner that it is as if the tea is infused as loose leaves instead of in a traditional tea bag. The company is based in Chicago but the tea is grown in the Himalayas in India. Here is a picture of the tea bag inside a Jharna-Kala mug inspired by Sri Chinmoy’s artwork.

Treleela Spearmint Lavender Tea in Jharna-Kala Mug Photo by Sharani

I am indeed a newfound fan of lavender tea and everything lavender scented. When the lavender growing in my yard blooms this summer, I will view it with a renewed sense of appreciation and respect. Lavender’s healing properties have been used for centuries and I salute the power of this tiny flower. And I am humbly grateful that the powers of spirit intervened in my life in such a detailed and loving way – like a kindly Grandmother – telling me to drink a hot cup of herbal tea to infuse my life with greater happiness.

Praying Mantis - Photo by Sharani

All God’s critters got a place in the choir
Some sing low, some sing higher
Some sing out loud on the telephone wire
And some just clap their hands, or paws
Or anything they got.

Listen to the bass, it’s the one on the bottom
Where the bullfrog croaks and the hippopotamus
Moans and groans with a big to-do
The old cow just goes MOOOOO

The dog and the cat pick up the middle
While the honey bee hums and the cricket fiddles
The donkey brays and the pony neighs
And the old coyote howls

All God’s critters got a place in the choir
Some sing low, some sing higher
Some sing out loud on the telephone wire
And some just clap their hands, or paws
Or anything they got.

Listen to the top where the little birds sing
On the melody with the high note ringing
The hoot owl hollars over everything
And the jaybird disagrees

Singin’ in the night-time, singin’ in the day
Little duck quacks, and he’s on his way
The possum ain’t got much to say
And the porcupine talks to himself

All God’s critters got a place in the choir
Some sing low, some sing higher
Some sing out loud on the telephone wire
And some just clap their hands, or paws
Or anything they got.

It’s a simple song of livin’ sung everywhere
By the ox and the fox and the grizzly bear
Grumpy alligator and the hawks above
Sly raccoon and the turtle dove.

All God’s critters got a place in the choir
Some sing low, some sing higher
Some sing out loud on the telephone wire
And some just clap their hands, or paws
Or anything they got.

Here you can watch a video of a performance of it by the children’s singer/performer Red Grammer.

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/OjkvQm8M6k0" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]The philosophy in this song’s lyrics were never more true than during a week-long memorial vigil after Sri Chinmoy‘s passing. The praying mantis photographs shared here were taken by me while sharing in these memorial activities. During the entire time I spent in Queens, NY for the wake, memorial service and burial of spiritual leader Sri Chinmoy, this particular praying mantis stayed nearby. It was as if the insect world joined us in paying respects to this revered spiritual figure.There is much lore concerning this insect. Insectlore.com’s entry on the praying mantis states,

“Mantises are famous in many cultures. In some cultures, they are considered holy. Some believe that if you are lost, and you see a mantis, that you should go in the direction it is facing: that will lead you home. Others think that the mantis always ‘prays’ facing Mecca.”

Chinese martial arts movements derive inspiration from the praying mantis and after I saw this one during my sojourn in New York I wrote, “This morning when I folded my hands at my personal shrine to sing the Invocation I felt as if the spirit of the praying mantis was teaching me to yearn for the capacity to keep my hands folded sleeplessly in prayer and gratitude for the glory of God and His Love.”

More photos I took of the praying mantis

Praying Mantis - Photo by Sharani

Fall Leaves From Birthday Walk - photo by Sharani

Then again, maybe it was the blush of birthday magic adding an enchanted flavor to my surroundings. My spiritual leanings include a philosophy learned from meditation teacher Sri Chinmoy that one’s soul comes center stage on the anniversary of the day we take incarnation. Indeed, my day would include an extra dose of meditation and contemplation before it drew to a close. Whatever the reason, all I know is that as I walked a mile out and back early in the morning, my ever-familiar surroundings turned into a beckoning adventure.

A few of the trees were turning technicolour and I began an impromptu scavenger hunt to pick up pretty leaves to bring home. Maples are a money-back guarantee of fall beauty but as I walked along my quest evolved into finding as many different kinds of leaves as possible. Species such as oak were old friends but as I honed in on my route through the neighborhood all manner of unfamiliar leaves jumped out at me.

My hands were soon overflowing with various shapes, sizes and colors. How is it possible that I have walked these streets countless times yet never noticed the diversity of trees in such a small radius in relation to my house. I felt almost like a time traveller back to childhood when we had to collect leaves and iron them between waxed paper for science lessons in school. What shall I do with them today I thought? I have to rush off to work in short measure.

With a kind of childlike glee, I decided to arrange them around a flower box sitting on my porch and take their picture. The centerpiece was a smiling rock I keep perched on the flower box. Bravo – a taste of all these jewels captured by a camera in a group portrait.

Birthday Walk Leaves - photo by Sharani

Like our fingerprints or snowflakes or human souls, no two leaves were completely alike. The uniqueness of each leaf preached a sermon to me about the glories of God’s creation and the specialness of each person’s voice in the choir called life. What a perfect lesson from the universe to ponder on one’s birthday as we humans are as uniquely individual as these diverse leaves I brought home. Spiritual visionary Sri Chinmoy speaks of this uniqueness and its relation to divine unity in his following words,

As you say, each child is unique; this is absolutely true. God’s creation is like a lotus or a rose. Each petal is unique in its own way. Through each individual child God is manifesting Himself in an unprecedented way.

Each child is bringing down a new message from God which was not known before. Naturally, if the world accepts it, the world is getting new light, new power, new joy, new love. So what you are saying, that each child is a miracle, each child is unique, is so true, because God wants to manifest Himself in infinite ways, in infinite forms, in infinite Light. A child is here on earth to show us that God does exist, and God is manifesting through that child.
Excerpt from Four Summit-Height-Melodies by Sri Chinmoy.

This simple task of collecting different species of leaves started my day with an opening paragraph of joy and beauty. Time and again Nature is my teacher and companion. I feel blessed whenever she steps forward to teach me important life lessons. Next time I observe the trees found amongst my midst, I will do well to remember that classic lesson – No two the same yet all are one.