Lotus

As a water symbol, the lotus has resonances of life, health and prosperity, but primarily the lotus represents purity and enlightenment.

 

The lotus was common to both ancient India and ancient Egypt, and had very similar symbolic meaning in both societies. In this regard, the lotus was a symbol of birth, especially royal birth. Gods, kings, pharaohs and the Buddha have been represented as emerging from a lotus flower or throned on or standing on a lotus flower or seed pod. Here we see a copy of the famous statue, found in his tomb, of Pharaoh Tutankhamun emerging from a lotus, being reborn into the next life.

 

In Indian water cosmology the lotus was born in the water of the Ocean of Infinity, being a seat, a pedestal, a base, a platform – even the earth itself. In Egypt the sun god Ra was considered to have emerged from a lotus flower floating on the Primeval Waters, being born from a floral womb. The lotus was much admired for its beauty and perfume, with the lotus petals like the points of the compass, indicative of endless expansion in all directions.

 

In Buddhist iconography, as a water symbol, the lotus has resonances of life, health and prosperity, but primarily the lotus represents purity and enlightenment – purity of the body, deeds, speech, and mind as if floating above the muddy waters of attachment and desire. At a deeper level, the lotus is representative of creation and cosmic renewal, the lotus as primordial purity. The dhamma or teachings of the Buddha are referred to as the Lotus of the Good Law.

 

Also shown is a lotus plant emerging from a pot which is indicative of good fortune and prosperity.

  

The Buddha used the image of the lotus to explain the stages of approaching and attaining enlightenment. The roots of the lotus are in the mud, which represent our messy human lives. It is within our human experiences and our suffering that we seek to break free and bloom. Some bud as they rise towards the surface fade away and drop back into the mud. These are the people who are not receptive to the dhamma. Some buds rise and reach the surface. These are the people who are seeking the path. Some buds break through the surface and begin to open. These are the people who have started on the path. Some buds open fully and gloriously. These are the people who have attained enlightenment. 

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