A flower and human life have the same purpose

Santiniketan means abode of peace. It is a small place in West Bengal where I grew up. Though it is surrounded with rural areas and small towns, it was different from them. Tagore established it with a vision of making it a cultural Centre. Scholars from different countries came, shared their knowledge, and also became familiar with Indian culture in its many different forms.Back when the caste system was quite predominant in many parts of India, Tagore expressed Buddha's universal brotherhood and unconditional love and compassions through many of his plays and poems that touched my young mind very deeply. Buddha said we all have Buddhahood in us, so without searching it outside, we must search for it inside and be free. Similar to that, in Santiniketan no traditional idol worship was practiced, and only Upanishadic sayings of self realization were taught through weekly sermons. I experienced the true flavor of Buddhist culture first when I visited the Buddhist country of Sri Lanka with my husband for an international conference and stayed with a very cultured Ceylonese couple in 1981. Even before landing there I could feel closeness with that island. It looked like a perfect picture painted in blue and green. I could see only tall coconut trees surrounded by the blue ocean.People looked friendly, happy and healthy. It was totally a different picture from what I'm reading of today's Sri Lanka. One morning my kind hostess invited me to accompany her to a very famous Buddhist temple in Colombo, the capital city. It was her daughter's birthday. While the daughter lived far from her in a different country, she wanted to celebrate the auspicious occasion with me. She loaded her car with home cooked delicious food and we drove to our destination, a temple. That morning I was surprised to hear a Bengali song on the local Colombo radio station but more surprises were waiting for me. After reaching there we were received by an elderly head monk. Knowing that I was from Bengal, with a smile in his face he recited few lines in Bengali, which said, long back prince Vijoy Singha from Bengal came and conquered Sri Lanka. Later I checked, and found it in history book. Our next move was to going to an alter made of shining black stone (but no idol), where we offered flowers. While offering flowers, the lady instructed me to pray mentally, "Lord, as these flowers will wither away at your feet, I am also offering my life at your feet, to do your service through love and compassion, and when time comes, let it wither away at your feet. That was a great message which stayed in my heart like a precious jewel all through life. I realized life gets full by giving, not by taking. She also asked me to offer a plate of food to Lord Buddha, and to serve food to all monks with her. Many years have past. The solemn fire which she ignited and touched my heart is still alive and helping me keep going in life.