(image by me)
The ego is like the rose and also like the thorns which surround the rose. It takes the place of the thorns when it is not
cultivated, and it becomes a rose when it is refined.
When the ego remains in the condition of a thorn, more thorns come; and more and more, till it increases its thorns to such an
extent that everyone who touches that person is dissatisfied. We all have friends to whom we should be most grateful if they
would keep away from us. We love them, we like them, but we would be very glad if they would keep away. What is it? It is
the thorns that hurt.
In what way do these thorns manifest? They manifest in the form of words, of actions, of desires, in the form of manner. Why
does one feel annoyed with certain people in life, even before they have uttered one word? Because the thorn is pricking.
Perhaps that person will say, ‘But I have not said anything, I have not done anything,’ but he does not know that he has thorns;
there are perhaps so many that even before he utters one word, before he moves, his presence pricks us. It is a natural
outcome of the ego. Either the ego develops thorns, or it develops into a rose; and when it develops into a rose, then everyone
is attracted to it because of its beautiful petals, its delicacy, its fragrance, its color, its softness, its structure. Everything about it
is attractive, appealing, and healing.
For every soul there are four stages to pass through in order to come to the culmination of the ego, which means to reach the
stage of the rose.
The first stage is that a person is rough, thoughtless and inconsiderate. He is interested in what he wants and
in what he likes; as such he is naturally blind to the needs and wants of others.
In the second stage a man is decent and good as
long as his interests are concerned. As long as he can get his wish fulfilled he is pleasant and kind and good and harmonious;
but if he cannot get his wish and cannot have his way, then he becomes rough and crude and changes completely.
And there is
a third stage, when someone is more concerned with another person’s wish and desire, and less with himself; when his whole
heart is seeking for what he can do for another.
In his thought the other person comes first and he comes afterwards. That is
the beginning of turning into the rose. It is only a rosebud, but then in the fourth stage this rosebud blooms in the person who
entirely forgets himself in doing kind deeds for others.
axinia
1000 petals by axinia 
I love it! Just to the point.
Fabulous !!!!! “the other person comes first and he comes afterwards. That is the beginning of turning into the rose. It is only a rosebud, but then in the fourth stage this rosebud blooms in the person who entirely forgets himself in doing kind deeds for others” Beautiful compilation of words where selflessness is stressed upon. the rose is also so perfect.
Cultivating the ego is to honor the spirit within, and that is to understand how to honor the spirit of others. So the “ROSE” is the connection of honored spirits who have cultivated their egos. Perhaps this simple thought will lead to cultivation… “no one can make you happy, no one can make you sad… except you”.
I think it is the best explanation how ego works and how, when developed, it can do a good job to a person.
i think i am bet. 2nd and 3rd stage … it s such a great explanation! do u read this master online or you do have books he wote?
both: I have some his books in Russian and online I am using http://www.sufimessage.com/ (the best aource I ahve found, but still limited).
Somehow, I don’t quite agree with everything this bubble-dwelling saint says, Axinia 🙂
Dwelling in his self-made bubble where the saint believes a “divine being” created man in his own image and that every other living thing was made for these vile creatures called humans, he seems to have forgotten the basic laws of nature.
The rose is a part of the rose plant, as are the thorns. The thorns are there for a purpose, as is the rose. The purpose of the thorns is to protect the rose from being gobbled up by creatures. Unfortunately, the thorns can never prevent the vilest creatures on Earth, called humans, from separating the rose from the rose plant. The purpose of the rose flower is to help propagate the rose plant – it is the reproductory organ of the plant. The rose is beautiful and fragrant in order to attract insects like bees, which help in the pollination process. The rose plant never wanted its reproductory organs to be used as accessories in the hair of humans, or to be used as “gifts” that these creatures present to each other, only to let them rot and be thrown in the dust-bin after a few hours.
It is the vile nature of humans that thinks the thorns are a bane, while the rose is a boon. For the rose plant, the thorns are a part of the rose itself and are there to perform the very important function of protecting its reproductory organ, the rose flower.
In any case, let’s assume something has pricked and got embedded deep in the skin of a person. Will he use a rose flower to take it out? He must be a fool if he tries to do so. Obviously, he will have to use the thorn to take it out. Of what use is a beautiful and fragrant rose to such a person who is writhing in pain because of the object in his skin, when only the thorn can heal his pain???
Intersting insight into biology of plants, I wonder only about this sentence “The rose plant never wanted its reproductory organs to be used as accessories in the hair of humans, or to be used as “gifts” that these creatures present to each other, only to let them rot and be thrown in the dust-bin after a few hours.” – how do you know that a rose plant wants?
Volodimir,
First, I didn’t mean anything on a personal level, I just mentioned humans in general 🙂 So, please continue presenting roses to Axinia, as she likes them 🙂
I don’t know what a rose plant wants, but what it does not want is quite clear. The plant surely would not like humans cutting its reproductory organs off to use them as “accessories” and “gifts”. It’s just like a crocodile or a snake or a cow not wanting its skin removed forcefully and converted into leather bags and belts.
Despite the greatest respect I have for Jesus Christ, I can never quite believe that an imaginary entity called “God” created a couple of humans out of thin air suddenly and then told them to exploit every other creature on the planet for their own benefit. Humans don’t have any special place among Earth’s creatures. If anything, considering the damage we have done, humans have to be the most hated beings on the planet. But since we humans are vain, selfish and vile, we tend to justify our deeds by believing that an all-powerful, non-existent entity “created” us in “His” own image in order to exploit all the other “creations” 😐
A M A Z I N G ! ! !
ps.: I feel like I’m on the second step… but at least I’m aware of it 😉
Thank u so much for this inspiring quote, and congratulations, this blog is bubbling with eternal wisdom and beautiful vibrations!
thank you, Adriano, that is the only purpose of this blog – to share beautiful vibrations and bring joy…
Very Interesting!
IS there a 5th stage? Where there are no distinct egos at all. I like to think it is there.
i think it is only possible for a divine being/God/what ever similar. As soon as there is a human touch, there always will be ego. And that is ok 🙂
But it must be possible, if we can understand everything…I mean true wisdom. It must be the essence of non-violence and mercy.
Really enjoyed your posts and all the past ones I’ve been reading. :)Your blogs are great, we share many of the same thoughts. Sufi is part of the islam mystics correct?
correct 🙂 and thanks for the compliment!
That is a good point Axinia. Being selfless is the right way to channelize our ego. There is one clarification though: If we are concerned about others, we still have the same ego right? We may not be egoistic about ourselves but are egoistic for others – what is the difference?
Destination Infinity
DI, i think I did not get your point here – what do you mean by
“We may not be egoistic about ourselves but are egoistic for others – what is the difference? ” please clarify, thanks!
So deep and so true!
Let us keep a pure desire such transformation to take place all over the globe, and the number or roses to increase rapidly.
I think it is happening steadily anway, but it is a long-time proccess.
Beautiful, Axinia.
hi axinia,
i just stumbbled on this article while searching for another article of urs of how to deal with ppl who get easily annoyed.
anyway i luvd this post of urs as every other post in ur blog. however, i do have a doubt, when a person starts entering the 3rd and 4th stage, r there no chances of other ppl using this person as a doormat?? i mean suppose someone is very dominating and there is this one person who lets the dominating person go his/her way always, it will never end right? the dominating person will take the submissive person for granted and continue to fuel his/her wishes only turning more thorny. At one point there has to be an end to this, which will not happen until the dominating person realises, which may or may not happen in this life.. can u comment on such a scenario????????
hi Triveni,
I can certanlly comment on this 🙂
The thing is that these phase 3 and 4 are only possible if a person is spiritually highly evolved. And in such a case this is not a common person. There are other rules for that kind of people. The poswer of a spirit, if manifested strong enough, is able to transform the whole surrounding and everyone around. Thus, any dominant person will become meak and weak next to a saint.
True. This was a question raised almost an year back and with time I do realise it becoming true as i got more deeper into SY 🙂 and today as i read this post I cant help but smile at the game of life 🙂
glad to read that triveni, it’s such a delight to see how we are all unfolding beautifully day by day, year by year – to the beautiful flowers that we really are…