Vedanta Society of New York---Flowers</

--The Bhagavad-Gita,, IX-26

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Master: ". . .One day I tried to pluck some durba grass, but I found I couldn't do it very well. Then I forced myself to pluck it. . . One day I was about to gather some flowers. They were everywhere. . .At once I had a vision of Virat; it appeared that His worship was just over. The flowers look like a bouquet placed on the head of the Deity. I could not pluck them . . ."

-- The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, pp. 687-88
Publisher: Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Center
17 East 94 Street
New York, NY 10128, USA

"Once I told Maharaj (Swami Brahmananda) about a swami who had been stung by a scorpion and seemed to be miraculously cured by the power of a mantra. Maharaj laughed and said: 'Come along!' He took me to the garden, pointed to a plant, and told me: 'Look, the juice of this plant cures a scorpion sting!' Maharaj did not want his disciples to be credulous or superstitious. By his attitude he taught me to rely upon natural explanations rather than look for supernatural phenomenon. . .
At every math he visited, he gave valuable advice as to the laying out of garden. Often he would gaze at the blossoming flowers and remark: 'Look! There you see the worship of God in his universal form going on unceasingly.' "

--The Eternal Companion, by Swami
Prabhavananda and Swami
Yatiswarananda, pp. 81, 117-118
Publisher: Sri Ramakrishna Math
Mylapore, Chennai 600 004 -- India

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