By Paulo Coelho
In the newspaper, a text I cut out and place on my briefcase. The author is W. Timothy Gallway:
“When we plant a rose seed in the earth, we notice it is small, but we do not criticize it as “rootless and stemless.” We treat it as a seed, giving it the water and nourishment required of a seed.
“When it first shoots up out of the earth, we don’t condemn it as immature and underdeveloped, nor do we criticize the buds for not being open when they appear. We stand in wonder at the process taking place, and give the plant the care it needs at each stage of its development.
“The rose is a rose from the time it is a seed to the time it dies. Within it, at all times, it contains its whole potential. It seems to be constantly in the process of change: Yet at each state, at each moment, it is perfectly all right as it is.
“A flower is not better when it blooms than when it is merely a bud; at each stage it is the same thing — a flower in the process of expressing its potential.”
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The rose was stolen from Emerson…..
This section above, from The Inner Game of Tennis by W. Timothy Gallway (1974), focuses on players who are too self-critical and say things like, “I can’t hit my backhand today.” after missing three shots–forgetting the six they made.
“When we plant a rose seed in the earth, we notice it is small, but we do not criticize it as “rootless and stemless.” We treat it as a seed, giving it the water and nourishment required of a seed.
“When it first shoots up out of the earth, we don’t condemn it as immature and underdeveloped, nor do we criticize the buds for not being open when they appear. We stand in wonder at the process taking place, and give the plant the care it needs at each stage of its development.
“The rose is a rose from the time it is a seed to the time it dies. Within it, at all times, it contains its whole potential. It seems to be constantly in the process of change: Yet at each state, at each moment, it is perfectly all right as it is.
“A flower is not better when it blooms than when it is merely a bud; at each stage it is the same thing — a flower in the process of expressing its potential.”
Now this from Ralph Waldo Emerson from Self-Reliance (1841)
“Man is timid and apologetic; he is no longer upright; he dares not say ‘I think,’ ‘I am,’ but quotes some saint or sage. He is ashamed before the blade of grass or the blowing rose. These roses under my window make no reference to former roses or to better ones; they are for what they are; they exist with God to-day. There is no time to them. There is simply the rose; it is perfect in every moment of its existence. Before a leaf-bud has burst, its whole life acts; in the full-blown flower there is no more; in the leafless root there is no less. Its nature is satisfied, and it satisfies nature, in all moments alike. But man postpones or remembers; he does not live in the present, but with reverted eye laments the past, or, heedless of the riches that surround him, stands on tiptoe to foresee the future. He cannot be happy and strong until he too lives with nature in the present, above time.”
Merry Christmas friends of old, friends for always!
Anderson
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So beautifull comparison to human life.The icon,the seed ,was from long time ago seen by poets or writers the expression of a world in miniature.All the potentiall lies inside.I remember Leibnitz,with his monade.So sensitive and touching lines.
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nice!!!! and amazing……
Why must a rose, why not a jasmine… whatever…i trully fall in love with the alchemist…
sky with shine of suhshine
and world with full smelled of roses..
beautiful
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Its the same with people too, even as an egg or embryo we are in awe of how it will develop and grow …a person is the same whether they have opened up or bloomed it makes them still the same person just under constant change as we grow …but always beautiful and full of potential at every step ,perfect in all stages .I had a wonderful experience many years ago a bit like Astro travel where I went into the heart of a flower and its one of those things you can not put words too, just experience the feeling of it .But I love flowers and feel so much joy when I soak in there beauty .Blessings Tania
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Paulo te esperamos aqui en Belgrado, cuando vas a venir otra vez? Te extrañamos
Besos
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The Rose Family
The rose is a rose,
And was always a rose.
But the theory now goes
That the apple’s a rose,
And the pear is, and so’s
The plum, I suppose.
The dear only knows
What will next prove a rose.
You, of course, are a rose -
But were always a rose.
Robert Frost
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So beautiful…
I remember now that somewhere i read that Love is like rain falling on a rose..some raindrops fall at the petals, some at the thorns…
Love perfect as this rose…..from the early stages of love till the last…Love’s eternal beauty….
Annie
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That is so beautiful! I Love it!!
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I thinks thats really quite brilliant and its own right really quite true. A true reflection on our lives that we only appreciate the rose when it has blossomed and do not always see the potential in the seed. Perhaps what is even more true is that the seed cannot become the rose without the nature and nurture required to satisfy its own inherent needs. The seed is dependant on rain and sunshine (nature) and the loving hand of the gardener (nurture)and when these are satisfied it will return Gods bounty by refecting all the glory of life in its perfect blossom. And we will stand and stare at its perfect beauty and for an amount of time and feel joy at what the entire process of love and life can achieve (and we will draw much comparison between those two entities). Proof that life is love and love is life and that life seeks only itself and will judge neither the sun or the gardener but will simply give its bounty without needing anything in return. The rose realises the perfection of live and love and shows us all its glory in celebration of the miracle. I wonder that it we all knew to love without compromise, to give without needing anything in rturn then we could reflect the perfection of the rose and draw ourselves closer to the true nature of life and love.
With thoughs for all those suffering in Burma and China.
Love John
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Hmm..rose..
such a beautiful flower..but with thorns..
I wander why? to protect the flower from outsiders or maybe to let them dare to touch her..
“But he that dares not grasp the thorn Should never crave the rose.” — Anne Brontë
So many songs about the rose:
“La vie en rose” by Edith Piaf, “Desert rose” by Sting..
we love roses..
maybe the rose represents…love…beautiful yet it comes with pain, beutiful…and both strong and fragile…
and…as every flower…doesn’t live long..
hmm…that wouldn’t apply to love…because love stays forever…in our hearts, sometimes strong, sometimes frail, but it keeps on living, keep on surviving..
and the rose…even if it dies…we still remember how it smelled, how beautiful it was..
nobody would want the world without roses…and…without love…
love
Agnieszka
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yes !
the whole potential is there, in the seed. every stage has its own unqiueness and ‘beauty’.
just as the whole potential is there in all of us to bloom and sing our song: be godly ; but just as not all seeds realise the full potential, not all humans beings do.
for a seed to realise its full potential. conducive environemnet is needed, similarly for human beings ! two crucial diffrence though - 1. seed is not responsible for realisation of its full potential, in human beings or from human beings onwards part of the responsibility lies with humans and
2. the most crucial diffrence, a seed which does not realise its full potential may get destroyed and go back to elements, for the humans, the body goes back to elements but the conciousness carries on; till the full potential ( of being godl, of being one with god ) is relaised; across births and deaths. postponement is possible, cancellation is not..
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