My sweetheart’s question made me stop and think. Do you know what his question was?
“Why are you doing the Rose Banquet, and why should people come?”
Here is what came from my reflection on that question; it seemed important to share.
Roses are a symbol of love, beauty, and soul in Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. They are popular in the Middle East and in India, and in many other countries. For me, roses are also a symbol of awakening and unfolding, because of my experiences of meditating and finding myself while seated in my 90-bush rose garden.
Roses have a special place in my heart as they are the medium wherein I woke up to new realizations and a richer experience of life. Unfolding to know myself, unfolding to express myself authentically: unfolding my highest potential. Although I sold my house and its rose garden a year ago, that experience continues to unfold.
I have developed what I call the Rose Method for sharing this important experience with others. Summarizing this Method as it applies to a group such as the Rose Banquet, it consists of:
- first helping each person drop the busy, anxious mind that we often have, by centering in present experience.
- then, when everyone feels safe, exploring the nature of being present, and what each individual’s experience is (for those who wish to share).
- then we deepen that experience of presentness through meditation and experiential exercises.
- finally, we leave the event carrying with us a more embodied awareness, appreciating each moment more fully and with less worry for the past, present, and future.
When you open up to go deeper into your own being, you have an understanding of the impact you make in your own life and the life of others through mastery of yourself. This awareness takes 
away from the anxiety that makes you believe that outside circumstances create your life, and instead into a response-able mindset where you know that through inner mastery of yourself you become the creator of your own life.
We are each a beautiful unique rose in different colors, shapes, and sizes, with our thorns and all. And we are each the gardener, knowing when to fertilize, prune, and water ourselves!
We are each whole and complete; it is not our relationships, businesses, or wealth that determines that. Let’s awaken the force within each of us that can become our most powerful ally in all aspects of living.
