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The Lure of the Lotus

Ask the Spiritual Explorer

Dear Spiritual Explorer: Could you suggest to me a beautiful decal for my room’s window? Beatrice P., Rhine, NY

Sunseal Decal

Today as I was shopping at Ma’s India, I gazed upon the particularly beautiful Sunseal Midnight Lotus Decal with that brilliantly white lotus framed against the backdrop of that rarely captured blue midnight color. It’s a stunner and I am particularly anxious to see how the sun comes through the decal in the early morning sun. I asked myself, how the lotus has had such a spiritual significance. I have found out wonderful information.

I had always known that one of the primary things about lotuses is that they somehow grow out of mud, pure and clean, like morning dew. That this is a phenomenon of beauty arising out of muck and mud has been the reason for the many inspirational quotations about the lotus. Not only Chinese poets have used lotus flowers to inspire people to continue striving through difficulties and to show their best part to the outside world, no matter how bad the circumstances may be. I think this inspiration has always been part and parcel of other religions also and is integrated into the basic teachings of any spiritual person’s attempt to separate themselves from the more mundane and less worthy aspects of our beings.
Someone told me that a symbolic characteristic of the lotus flower is from the observation that the plant’s stalk is easy to bend in two, but very hard to break because of its strong, sinuous fibers. This flower has become a part of marriage rituals in that it represents a close unbreakable relationship between two lovers or members within a family.

In Buddhism the lotus flower symbolizes faithfulness. The golden lotus mentioned in Buddhist sutras has two meanings; one is the symbol for the achievement of enlightenment and the other points towards a real flower which is beyond our normal perception. A good lotus flower painting can act as a reminder of the miracle of beauty, light and life. The sacred lotus is an extremely important spiritual symbol in Eastern religions. It represents purity, divine wisdom, and the individual’s progress from the lowest to the highest state of consciousness.

And lastly, lotuses are perhaps the most spectacular plants in aquatic environments. The Chinese say that once having seen the growing lotus, you never forget it. The lotus flower has colors from red, pink, pale yellow to brilliant white.

“Bathing in the clear water of the spiritual pond, the lotus’ roots dig deep into the soil.”

Thanks for writing, Spiritual Explorer

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