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Earth 114 million years ago one morning just after sunrise the first flower ever
to appear on the planet opens up to receive the Rays of the Sun prior to
this momentous event that heralds an evolutionary transformation in the life
of plants the planet had already been covered in vegetation for millions of
years the first flower probably did not survive for long and flowers must have
remained a rare and isolated phenomena since conditions were most likely not
yet favorable for a widespread flowering to occur one day however a critical
threshold was reached and suddenly there would have been an explosion of color
and scent all over the planet if a perceiving consciousness had been there
to witness it much later those delicate and fragrant beings we call flowers
would come to play an essential part in the evolution of consciousness of
another species humans would increasingly be drawn to and fascinated
by them as the consciousness of human beings developed flowers were most
likely the first thing they came to value that had no utilitarian purpose
for survival they provided inspiration to countless artists poets and mystics
Jesus tells us to contemplate the flowers and learn from them how to live
the Buddha is said to have given a silent sermon once during which he held
up a flower and gazed at it after a while one of those present a monk called
maha Kasyapa began to smile he is said to have been the only one who had
understood the sermon according to legend at smile
that is to say realization was handed down by 28 successive masters and much
later became the origin of Zen seeing beauty in a flower could awaken
humans however briefly to the beauty that is an essential part of their own
innermost being their true nature the first recognition of beauty was one
of the most significant events in the evolution of human consciousness the
feelings of joy and love are intrinsically connected to that
recognition without our fully realizing it flowers would become for us an
expression in form of that which is most high most sacred and ultimately formless
within ourselves flowers more fleeting more ethereal and more delicate than the
plants out of which they emerged would become like messengers from another
realm like a bridge between the world of physical forms and the formless they not
only had a scent that was delicate and pleasing to humans but also brought a
fragrance from the realm of spirit using the word enlightenment in a wider sense
than the conventionally accepted one we could look upon flowers as the
enlightenment of plants any life-form in any realm mineral vegetable animal or
human can be said to undergo enlightenment it is however an extremely
rare occurrence since it is more than an evolutionary progression it also implies
a discontinuity in its development a leap to an entirely different level of
being and most important a lessening of materiality what could be heavier and
more impenetrable than a rock the densest of all forms and yet some rocks
undergo a change in their molecular structure turn into crystals and so
become transparent to the light some carbons under inconceivable heat and
pressure turn into diamonds and some heavy minerals into other precious
stones most crawling reptilians the most
earthbound of all creatures have remained unchanged for millions of years
some however grew feathers and wings and turned into Birds thus defined the force
of gravity that had held them for so long they didn't become better at
crawling or walking but transcended crawling and walking entirely since the
beginning of human memory flowers crystals precious stones and birds have
held special significance for the human spirit like all life forms they are of
course temporary manifestations of the underlying one life one consciousness
their special significance and the reason why humans feel such fascination
for an affinity with them can be attributed to their ethereal quality
once there is a certain degree of presence of still an alert attention and
human beings perceptions they can sense the divine life essence the one
indwelling consciousness or spirit in every living creature every life-form
recognize it as one with their own essence and soul of it as themselves
until this happens however most humans see only the outer forms unaware of the
inner essence just as they are unaware of their own essence and identify only
with their own physical and psychological form in the case of a
flower a crystal precious stone or bird however even someone with little or no
presence can occasionally sense that there is more to the mere physical
existence of that form without knowing that this is the reason why they are
drawn toward it because of its ethereal nature its form
obscures the indwelling spirit to a lesser degree than is the case with
other life forms the exception to this are all newborn life forms babies
puppies kittens lambs and so on they are fragile delicate not yet firmly
established in materiality an innocence a sweetness and beauty that are not of
this world still shined through them they delight even relatively insensitive
humans so when you are alert and contemplate a flower crystal or bird
without naming it mentally it becomes a window for you into the formless there
is an inner opening however slight into the realm of spirit this is why these
three enlightened life-forms have played such an important part in the evolution
of human consciousness since ancient times why for example the jewel and the
lotus flower is a central symbol of Buddhism and a white bird the Dove
signifies the Holy Spirit and Christianity they have been preparing
the ground for a more profound shift in planetary consciousness that is destined
to take place in the human species this is the spiritual awakening that we are
beginning to witness now this passage comes from the first pages of Eckhart
Tolle A's book a new earth awakening to your life's purpose you can listen to
the entire audio book or any other audio book for free on audible just visit
audible.com backslash after school or text after school to 500 500 you'll also
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for a garlis of price we highly recommend listening to the
profound wisdom of Eckhart Tolle his ideas are truly enlightening so go to
audible.com backslash after school or text after school to 500 500 to begin
your journey today