By Vijay Phanshikar :
Tightly shut bud
Opens through night ...
Blossom !
-  Self 

THE process -- of the opening of the bud -- is always silent, and away from anybody’s eyes ! Most buds become flowers in the dark veil of the night -- away from any gaze, away from anybody’s contemplation on how that growth takes place. True, many people have recorded on the celluloid how the buds blossom; modern technology having made the difference. Yet, one remembers keeping awake the whole night to see those countless jasmine buds flower in the morning. In those good old days, summers were special times. The whole family slept out in the open -- under the cool umbrella of night with stars twinkling in the sky and the full-moon casting its silvery glow on the world. In the flower-beds nearby, jasmine buds danced in the rare slow breeze, promising that they were all willing to open their petals in some time.

 

 

So, we kept awake, keeping a tight vigil on those buds on the verge of opening up -- pointing to their growth as flowers. Yet, we never actually saw a bud opening its petals slowly, deliberately, delicately. No matter how hard we tried, we never captured that sight, but felt pleasantly surprised to see the buds having become flowers in the morning -- spreading smile, spreading fragrance, spreading hope, spreading promise that blossoms are the gifts of the divine. The story of growth -- of anything and everything -- is often scripted in silence.

 

There is no violence of any sort in that process. For, the growth actually takes place within -- and then it manifests on the exterior of things. This does not happen with just the buds-into-flowers’ case, but also in the case of human little ones and animal little ones. It also happens in the case of how human intelligence matures -- silently, potentially, internally, intrinsically. The manifestation, of course, is external. What the blossom, the growth, suggests that in the divine design, everything must reach its pinnacle of fullness, brightness, completeness, expanse, depth. Whatever is seen externally is only a reflection of what happens within.

 

That moment is often beyond easy capture of human eyes. Yet, its pulsations can be sensed, its silent breath can be experienced. Its fragrances, its freshness can be understood. A near-similar story is also true about the rot that often takes place -- rot inside which becomes visible or sensable outside through stink etc. But that is not the subject today. The subject is the blossom that is the gift of the divine ! As we think deeply about this process of growth, of blossoming of buds, we marvel how the divine operates. Our heads bow in honour of that vitality, spirit, that resides in every being. I, for one, love to stay basking in that thought -- of astonishment of the power of blossom !