Letter # 8: "A Rose Bush"

Solomon 2:1: "I am a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys."
I enjoy roses and planted some in my garden last week. The late fall, early winter is a good time to plant them. The local garden shop had a sale on, and I bought all seven of the last rose bushes they had. I stood back and watched the sturdy plants proudly sporting their rose hips and sharp, healthy thorns. You wouldn't want to get pricked with one of those thorns. I've handled roses since I was 14 years old, when I first became enamoured with them. I've seldom got pricked, even though I've used my bare hands. You see, you have to have good hand-eye co-ordination, and watch carefully as you hold the rose bush. Hold near the base where there are fewer thorn, and gently balance with the other hand. I've been pricked more by life than by rose bushes. Life is like a rose bush. Life offers wonderful experiences akin to the flowers on a rose bush, as well as misery, akin to the thorns. But just as you would step back to enjoy the whole rose bush, flowers, thorns and all, so step back from life and observe it in its entirety. Take some time out, go for a walk, meditate or pray. Local Vancouver poet, Ryan Daniels, of the Sufi tradition and devotee of Baha Ullah, wrote on the "Divinity of a Rose" (Trafford Publishing). Let's appreciate that divinity. For the divinity is in everything, not just the pleasures - the flowers, but also in the whole bush of life, including the leaves and the thorns - the pain. Heaven is in that divinity. Contemplate.


God Bless; Allah Hu Akbar; May The Forces Of The Universe Bring You Harmony; Hare Krishna; Radha-Swami; and Nanak Naam Chardi Kala Tere Bhane Sarbat Dha Bhalla.

I wish to express my gratitude for your comments, which inspire me to carry on writing. Please forgive my fallibilities in presenting this material. Also, feel free to send this message on to someone that you might think would like to receive it. If you do send it on, my only request of you is that you send it as it is, in its entirety, and to not alter or modify any of the text, references or authorship information. Thus you will help to give credit or liability to where they are properly due.

Jas Bhopal
Copyright© 2007
“Practicing goodwill makes for a good life."
Tel: 604 273 6641 (also for fax on request)

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References: "The Holy Bible" Online version; "The Koran" as translated by SV Mir Ahmed Ali 2005 ISBN 0-9761870-0-0); "The Bhagavad Gita As it Is" as translated by Srila Prabhupada ISBN 0-89213-268-X; The Srimad Bhagavatum as translated by Srila Prabhupada ISBN0-89213-259-0; "I Am That. Talks With Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj” ISBN 0-89386-022-0; The Dhammapada ISBN-10:1-84483-344-5; The Sacred Sukhmani ISBN 81-7205-098-4; Wikipedia.