Purity and Beauty Emerging From Muddy, Murky Waters
RADIATE LOVE ❤️
For these past few years i have been drawn to the magnificence of the lotus flower, the national flower of India and revered by the Vietnamese.
And although i have not grown up in a nation where the lotus is native, it has, in other words not been a part of my culture nor heritage, i still feel a deep connection to it, a deep bonding with it. Perhaps this affinity stems from my own adversities and in having finally overtaken the darkness that has plagued much of my life.
This story however begins with an anecdote with a lotus connection. An experience i had some time ago when i was an overnight guest with some dear friends in the vicinity of the city of Modena in the region of Emilia Romagna in the North of Italy. It was a most wondrous and beautiful evening, the company, the food and the wine were all quite exquisite. Really lovely, a lovely, lovely evening!
i resided in the daughter’s room who had by then flown the nest and set up her own home. But the room had been preserved as if the daughter was still present, nothing it seemed to me had been touched, nor moved nor removed.
Roma’s football heroes posters hung on the wall. The study desk and chair with shelves above supporting a solitary lamp, a large humorous poster with a cat and a mouse snoozing together in a hammock, inspirational quotes placed strategically on the wall around the study table, and many more such items that would sum up the average teenager’s bedroom, wouldn’t you think?
However, i remember sensing a wonderful energy within the room, it was an energy that lifted and inspired me, extremely calming and peaceful.
Hanging at eye level, as you sat on the chair, just above the desk was a calendar with a picture of a blooming lotus flower. i took a photo of this picture and never, never would i have thought then, that i would be using this very same photo for this piece of writing. Incredible, incredible!
Actually, the energy i just there spoke about was the source of my poem, ‘She,’ where i also mention the lotus.
It is this significance and symbolism that truly fascinates even enchants me. A symbolism of purity and beauty.
The lotus grows in murky, muddy, stagnant waters – a metaphor for the human experience in a world filled with suffering, ignorance, and craving. Yet, despite its roots embedded in mud, the lotus rises above the surface to bloom into one of nature’s most exquisite flowers.
It undergoes a dramatic transformation, emerging from darkness into light, emerging clean and unblemished.
It is more than mere flora; it is an archetype of human potential. It reminds us that even in the darkest circumstances (stagnant, muddy water = suffering), we can rise above challenges with grace and panache.
In his book ‘Discussions on Youth‘ (p.410) Daisaku Ikeda writes:
Nothing, no matter what happens, can change your inherent worth. Please have courage. Please tell yourself that you are not going to let this ordeal defeat you. Those who have suffered the most, those who have experienced the greatest sadness, have a right to become the happiest of all. What would the purpose of our Buddhist practice be if the most miserable could not become happy?
In an era where engineered chaos seeks to drown us in fear and division, we must remember:
True growth comes from within. You are not the mud—you are the lotus, you too have the potential to bloom out of the darkness and radiate into the world.
The sound of your own lotus blooming could very well be the sweetest symphony you will ever hear.
If my expressions radiate your heart…
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