Flower and Their Spiritual Significance

What are flowers? Are they not messengers of love, prayers of the vegetal world, the aspiration and adoration of Nature, the smile of the Divine?

Flowers may appear frail and fleeting, but for a brief moment they bring a touch of eternity, of joy and beauty which lie beyond the sorrows and cares of the human world. In the beautiful words of Sri Aurobindo,

In all countries flowers have been associated with religion and worship, with myths and legends. And to people all over the world they have been symbols of love and remembrance. A flower contains all the elements of Nature — air, water, fire, earth and ether. Apart from its beauty of form, colour, fragrance and texture there is something more — an indefinable, subtle and mysterious quality about it. In the words of Liselle Raymond, "in its simplicity, it carries the vibrations of the Akasha, the ethereal element itself, — that is all that is most abstract, pure and perfect. It is, above everything else, the form, behind which is the sound, the all powerful creative Mantra. "

This is why flowers have charmed and attracted men and women alike, down the ages. It is this subtle element, their soul which has given them a very special place in the life of men and of communities. This is very evident in the Sri Aurobindo Ashram at Pondicherry, where the Mother has revealed the spiritual meaning of flowers, where the flowers are tended with great love, affection and care and are looked upon as powerful means of finding oneself and communing with the Divine.

This book primarily focuses its attention on this new, and not so commonly known, spiritual and deeper aspect of flowers. The flowers have been grouped together according to certain themes in various chapters. The book also takes in its ambit articles from different lands which reveal the many facets of one of the most wonderful of Nature's creations. We begin to see the great truth contained in the lines of Tennyson,

Yes, if only we could understand or, rather, if only we could be like a flower. Indeed this, in a way, is the entire theme of the book. If it can help to kindle this aspiration in even a few of us, the book will have served its purpose.

Of all the messages sent through flowers, the one which is predominant is love. May we pray with the Mother,

"O Lord, let this pure flower of love blossom in me, so that it may make fragrant all who approach me and its perfume sanctify them."

Book's Contents and Sample Pages