Journey to Enlightenment Part 02

Author(s): Chitrabhanu, Nirmala Hanke
Publisher: Create Space

Page 13

Grow Flowers, Not Thorns
Fall 2003
A sick woman in a hospital was having lots of complaints, and the doctors tried to diagnose her illness. They took x-rays, MR!, and numerous other tests; still they could not find anything wrong with her. She spent so much money, so much time, and had so much agony, but there was no answer. A friend one day came to see her and brought sunflowers for her, which she placed in the window facing her. At night she slept and the next morning when she got up, she found that the flowers had changed their direction toward the sun. She could not understand why the flowers facing her in the evening were now facing the sun outside. She was wondering who might have come into her room during the night and changed the direction of the flowers. Meanwhile, when a nurse came, she asked her, "Have you changed the direction of my flowers when I was asleep?" She replied, "No." Yet, she continued to wonder who could have changed the direction. The nurse was wise and mature and she explained to her that sunflowers always change their face toward the light of the sun to grow and blossom. She now understood the secret of the sunflowers' beauty and freshness. This understanding changed her perception and thinking.
For the first time she saw that her eyes and her mind were focusing toward the negatives. She thought,
"All my life I go out and try to find what is wrong with the world, with my friends, and in my life. I am finding fault with everything that I have. Once I change the direction, it will make a great difference in my life. It is a simple question of direction." She also realized that to be happy or unhappy is not in God's hands; instead it is in her hands. We may assign the responsibility to God; we may find somebody on whom to throw the responsibility our problems. So the woman changed her direction and perception. At the time she did not know that healing takes place in a positive approach to life.
In the book Crime and Punishment a characteristic of the mind is revealed. there is no "With a little shift of the mind crime a man cannot commit." In the history of which mankind the people who killed others were killed by others.
Buddha and Mahavira gave blessings; they gave love, they gave life; and they received love, they received blessings, and they received life.
12- Journey to Enlightenment - Volume Two