Photo Essay & Eckhart Tolle on the Flowering of Human Consciousness

By Chris Dunmire

Each spring I am so inspired by the 'explosion of color and scent' all around Northern Illinois found in the prolific blossoming of trees, budding of bushes, and blooming of flowers.

This sunny morning, after a weekend of rain and learning how to gently mulch my new flower beds (thanks to a very special friend who taught me how to plant perennial bulbs last fall), I took my digital camera outside and snapped some photos — some beautiful moments in time — of the spring flower blooms (mostly tulips) and tree blossoms (crab apple) populating my yard.

You'll appreciate looking upon these images as you read about the inspirational power of the flower in between them.

Eckhart Tolle, in the evocation for chapter one of his book, A New Earth, beautifully describes the inspiration flowers have provided to countless artists, poets, and mystics since the beginning of time through their delicate beingness of artful beauty, color, and scent.

In this opening chapter, The Flowering of Human Consciousness,Tolle writes concerning flowers and their evolution, "Humans would increasingly be drawn to and fascinated by them. As the consciousness of human beings developed, flowers were most likely the first thing they came to value that had no utilitarian purpose for them, that is to say, was not linked in some way to survival."

This inspiration and experience of beauty, no doubt, is something that occurs explicitly because of our participation in it. And although we perceive with our human senses, when we gaze at the flower, it mirrors back what is already in us. How so? Tolle writes, "Seeing beauty in a flower could awaken humans, however briefly, to the beauty that is an essential part of their own innermost being, their true nature." Could it be that we easily recognize in the flower what we already are?

If you are seeking creative inspiration today, go outside and find some flowers (these photos are nice, but you'll get a fuller sense of their greatness in person). Notice their artful beauty. Take in their fragrance. Gently touch their silky-soft petals and know that you experience this awesome wonderment because of the consciousness you bring to it.

More importantly, know that this same consciousness-energy is available in you all the time to express through your life, your creative projects, and your love towards others. Now that's inspiring, isn't it?

Yes, the inspirational power of the flower. •

© 2008 Chris Dunmire www.chrisdunmire.com. All rights reserved.