Lotus Flower – Symbol of Enlightenment

White Water-Lily - Shetland
White Water-Lily – Shetland

Just rest your eyes on this beautiful image of the quite rare Shetland White Water-Lily. Thank you to Kevin who is a long time reader here. As some of you will know the Lotus flower is used in Buddhism to symbolize training and enlightenment. With its roots growing deep into the mud and nourished through them. Then there is the long stem representing faith and the flower which rises out of the water untouched by the water that surrounds it. The Lotus flower itself is used as the symbol of enlightenment. We have a blessing verse which goes thus:

Just as the Lotus
is not wetted by the
water that surrounds it
pure and beyond the
world is the mind
of the trainee.
Let us bow to
the highest Truth.

The last couple of lines are paraphrased. As I understand it the water-lily flower floats on the surface of the water unlike the Lotus so the lily can’t really be used in quite the same way, with the same meaning, as the Lotus. That said I’m sure I have seen lily flowers sticking out of the water….

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