Love and Happiness: A Bouquet of Thoughts for Weekend Cheer

By Deepak Hiranandani

A flower, a thing of beauty, brings joy - but not forever. Soon, it withers and dies. Its transience helps us to understand the value we attach to flowers. Their ephemeral qualities, their fragility and vulnerability, make flowers precious. Flowers are transient like life itself.

In all creation, change is eternal. This and their sensory qualities, particularly colour and scent, have made flowers popular as a universally loved symbol of greeting and felicitation. Whether traditionally worn in the hair of women, in the cap of a Himachali farmer or in the buttonhole of a gentleman's tuxedo, flowers are the ultimate in personal adornment, their freshness, unsullied purity and natural perfection enhance the celebratory spirit of the wearer.

Flowers have inspired creative people: poets, lyricists, writers and artists, designers and craftspersons. A great deal of applied decoration is derived from flowers, on a vast range of objects from handkerchiefs to furniture to architecture. The magnificent Bahai temple in Delhi is in the form of an enormous flower, a lotus in bloom, frozen in time.

Flowers and expressions derived from them are a part of everyday life, as in ‘the flower of the collection', ‘blooming beauty', ‘budding genius' and ‘flower children'.

We impute human characteristics to flowers: Shy and retiring wallflowers, vain narcissism, brazen sunflowers, cheerful daisies. Flowers are brave, thrusting themselves out into the world and blooming valiantly in environments we may consider harsh and inhospitable.

Flowers are used extensively in the rituals of organised religion. Like great works of art, flowers, too, go beyond merely pleasing and delighting. Bewitching, flowers help strengthen our perceived link with that great entity. Flowers are therapeutic and are used in the healing process.

In his book Dhanavantari (named after the mythical physician of the Hindu gods) based on ancient concepts of good health, Harish Johari recommends looking at flowers first thing in the morning. Interestingly, looking at white flowers is supposed to be particularly beneficial.

More recently, in 8 Weeks to Optimum Health , Andrew Weil, a medical doctor in America, recommends buying flowers for the home, together with dietary modifications, taking supplements, exercising, purifying air and water, avoiding radiation exposure, observing the breath, taking steam baths and observing a ‘news fast'. Contemplating the tiny flower of a roadside weed can transport you to a world of imagination and philosophical thought. A poet saw the world in a grain of sand; surely a flower could lead to comparable experiences?

Traditionally, flowers and flames are popular subjects for yogic contemplation. Meditating on a flower could possibly lead to a spiritual experience.

One of the most profound thoughts about the holistic nature of all creation contains mention of a flower. The quotation about it being impossible to pluck the petals of a flower without affecting a star, far away in outer space. The statement is rich with potential for interpretation applicable to everyday life: for example, every little act of kindness or truth which one can choose to perform is an act of some significance. Every drop of water or tiny bit of fuel saved; every bit of pollution prevented; every truth uttered, even if uncomfortable; every action of cruelty abstained from or prevented - despite the loud, rough cries of "What difference does it make?" made by some people every bit does indeed make a difference.

Why not go contemplate a flower today?

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See also: Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Death and Dying, Body Mind and Soul)