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Rose

 

 

 

Unlike the spiky radiance of the lotus flower, the rose unfolds in a gentle circling that invites one to yield inward. The rose is a symbol of lovers and of union. The rose resonates strongly with the gently awakened heart.

In the chakra system, the color most associated with the heart is green. But when we are in love the heart reveals its inner color: a warm rose hue.

The rose grows from a bush of thorns yet reveals a delicate inner beauty and shares an intimate, sweet wine-like fragrance, symbolic of how the soul emerges from the tribulations of worldly difficulty and, in so doing, recognizes her innate beauty.

The rose is a sacred symbol found throughout the mystical writings and poetry of Judaism, Islam, and especially developed in the esoteric Christian traditions. The rose is often used as a symbol of Christ. More precisely, it is a symbol of the soul that has recognized the presence of Christ.

The rose, with its wine-like scent and deep red color, is sometimes thought of as a more tangible embodiment of wine -- the drink of communion.

The inner rose reveals itself in the heart when the individual soul completely and joyously opens itself to the Transcendent Reality.

The many Sufi references to a Rose Garden describe the awareness that occurs when God has taken up residence within the heart (or, rather, when we finally recognize the Divine presence already there). And dwelling there, God makes of the heart a living garden.

See also

Heart
Lotus
Spring Blossom
Wine
Wine

Poems with the theme of Rose

  Ashford, Eric Perfectly
  Ashford, Eric Stay Close to the Lovers
  Ashford, Eric Suddenly
  Attar, Farid ud-Din The Dullard Sage
  Attar, Farid ud-Din The Nightingale
  Basho, Matsuo Temple bell,
  Battacharya, Mahendranath Screening its face amongst lotus stalks
  Beni Raga Ramkali
  Catherine of Siena We were enclosed, (from Prayer 20)
  Coleridge, Samuel Taylor Reflections on Having Left a Place of Retirement
  Coleridge, Samuel Taylor To Nature
  Dariya Without love there can be no devotion and wisdom. (from Love Chapter)
  Dogen Wondrous nirvana-mind
  Francis of Assisi The Canticle of Brother Sun
  Ghalib, Mirza The drop dies in the river
  Ghalib, Mirza The Rose with its redolent petals
  Granger, Ivan M. white world
  Hafiz A New World
  Hafiz Spring and all its flowers
  Halevi, Judah O My Lord, Your dwelling places are lovely
  Hanh, Thich Nhat Contemplation
  Hanh, Thich Nhat Interrelationship
  Hanh, Thich Nhat Please Call Me by My True Names
  Hayati, Bibi Before there was a hint of civilization
  Hayati, Bibi Is it the night of power
  Herbert, George The Flower
  Hildegard of Bingen O Euchari in leta via / Sequence for Saint Eucharius
  Hildegard of Bingen O mirum admirandum / Antiphon for Saint Disibod
  Hildegard of Bingen O virga mediatrix / Alleluia-verse for the Virgin
  Iqbal, Allama Muhammad To the Saqi (from Baal-i-Jibreel)
  Islam, Nazrul Come silently like the Moon
  Islam, Nazrul O Nightingale!
  Islam, Nazrul Song of Dawn
  Islam, Nazrul Talk to me, javas, talk to me --
  Jayadeva [3] When spring came, tender-limbed Radha wandered (from The Gitagovinda)
  Jayadeva [6] My heart values his vulgar ways, (from The Gitagovinda)
  Jimenez, Juan Ramon Who Knows What is Going On
  John of the Cross Full of Hope I Climbed the Day
  Kabir (4) Do not go to the garden of flowers!
  Kabir (6) The moon shines in my body
  Kalidas (Edwards, Lawrence) The mountain stands steady in its grandeur,
  Kalidas (Edwards, Lawrence) What mind can possibly approach you
  Kamalakanta The black bee of my mind is drawn in sheer delight
  Kerouac, Jack The Scripture of the Golden Eternity
  Khayyam, Omar [6] And David's Lips are lock't; but in divine
  Khayyam, Omar [8] And look -- a thousand Blossoms with the Day
  Khayyam, Omar [13] Look to the Rose that blows about us -- "Lo,
  Khayyam, Omar [18] I sometimes think that never blows so red
  Khayyam, Omar [26] Oh, come with old Khayyam, and leave the Wise
  Khayyam, Omar [48] While the Rose blows along the River Brink,
  Ko Un In a Temple's Main Hall
  Lalan As the man and the woman in me
  Lalla (Ded, Lal) What is worship? Who are this man
  Lawrence, D. H. And Oh--That The Man I Am Might Cease To Be--
  Lawrence, D. H. I Am Like a Rose
  Leon, Luis de The Life Removed
  Lu Tung Pin Sojourning in Ta-yu mountains --
  Machado, Antonio Proverbs and Songs
  Machado, Antonio Songs
  Mahadevi, Akka Would a circling surface vulture
  Maharshi, Ramana The Marital Garland of Letters
  Mathias, Michael (2) Dukkha - The Cause of All Suffering (from The Cosmic Soul and the World Tree)
  Mathias, Michael (6) Ramana Seeks out the Mountain of Arunachala (from The Cosmic Soul and the World Tree)
  Mathias, Michael (13) Jalal's Search for Jamal and the Mystical Tree (from The Cosmic Soul and the World Tree)
  Mechthild of Magdeburg Of the voices of the Godhead
  Merton, Thomas Aubade -- The City
  Merton, Thomas Song for Nobody
  Merton, Thomas The Fall
  Meshullam da Piera Song at Dawn
  Misri, Niyazi Now No Trace Remains
  Mistral, Gabriela Song of Death
  Mistral, Gabriela The Rose
  Nasimi, Imadeddin Both worlds within my compass come, but this world cannot compass me.
  Neruda, Pablo Too Many Names
  Neruda, Pablo [3] Tell me, is the rose naked
  O'Donohue, John On the death of the Beloved
  Oliver, Colin Here I see no-one
  Oliver, Mary Have You Ever Tried to Enter the Long Black Branches?
  Oliver, Mary This World
  Po, Li Alone and Drinking Under the Moon
  Po, Li Clearing at Dawn
  Po, Li Self-Abandonment
  Rahman Baba Sow Flowers
  Ramprasad (Sen, Ramprasad) Conquer Death with the drumbeat Ma! Ma! Ma!
  Ramprasad (Sen, Ramprasad) Kulakundalini, Goddess Full of Brahman, Tara --
  Ramprasad (Sen, Ramprasad) Meditate on Kali! Why be anxious?
  Ramprasad (Sen, Ramprasad) Why disappear into formless trance?
  Reninger, Elizabeth Deer
  Reninger, Elizabeth Deluge
  Rilke, Rainer Maria We are the driving ones.
  Rosenstock, Gabriel to fully explore
  Rosenstock, Gabriel (1) You are in me (from Year of the Goddess)
  Rosenstock, Gabriel (4) A daisy picked (from Year of the Goddess)
  Rumi, Jelaluddin I'm neither beautiful nor ugly
  Rumi, Jelaluddin Seizing my life in your hands, you thrashed me clean
  Ryokan The Lotus
  Ryokan The plants and flowers
  Ryokan The winds have died, but flowers go on falling;
  Sanai, Hakim Bloom Like a Rose
  Sanai, Hakim The Wild Rose of Praise
  Saraha The Royal Song of Saraha (Dohakosa)
  Sarmad He and I are one,
  Sarmad My heart searched for your fragrance
  Shabistari, Mahmud The Effect of the Draft (from The Secret Rose Garden)
  Sinan, Ummi The Rose
  Solovyov, Vladimir Sophia in Egypt (from Three Meetings)
  Solovyov, Vladimir Three Meetings
  Soseki, Muso Snow Garden
  Soseki, Natsume Plum flower temple:
  Sun Buer Cut brambles long enough,
  Surdas Krishna Awakes
  Tagore, Rabindranath He's there among the scented trees, (from The Lover of God)
  Tagore, Rabindranath Who are You, who keeps my heart awake? (from The Lover of God)
  Tagore, Rabindranath Your flute plays the exact notes of my pain. (from The Lover of God)
  Tagore, Rabindranath (75) Thy gifts to us mortals fulfil all our needs (from Gitanjali)
  Tagore, Rabindranath (81) On many an idle day have I grieved over lost time (from Gitanjali)
  Teasdale, Sara Two Songs for Solitude
  Therese of Lisieux The Divine Dew
  Thompson, Francis The Hound of Heaven
  Trungpa, Chogyam A flower is always happy
  Trungpa, Chogyam A Heart Lost and Discovered
  Tung-Shan (Tozan) Verses on the Five Ranks
  Valad, Sultan The Soul That Does not Live in God is not Alive
  Vaughan, Henry The Morning Watch
  Vidyapati As the mirror to my hand,
  Walters, Dorothy Don't Make Lists
  Walters, Dorothy Still Life
  Walters, Dorothy The Abundance of Brightness
  Wei, Wang Living in the Mountain on an Autumn Night
  Wei, Wang Stone Gate Temple in the Blue Field Mountains
  Wordsworth, William Imagination--here the Power so called (from The Prelude, Book 6)
  Wordsworth, William "To every Form of being is assigned," (from The Excursion, Book 9)
  Wu Men (Hui-k'ai) Ten thousand flowers in spring, the moon in autumn,
  Yeats, William Butler The Secret Rose
  Zorman, Alenka mother's last letter


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Ivan M. Granger's original poetry, stories and commentaries are Copyright © 2002 - 2008 by Ivan M. Granger.
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