Heart Offering

for the
Unfoldment of the Soul

Lotus Flower: Universal Symbol for Spiritual Enlightenment

The Lotus flower grows in muddy water and rises above the surface to bloom with remarkable beauty. Each night the flower closes and at dawn opens once again. Untouched by the impurity of the muddy water, lotus symbolizes purity of heart and mind and becomes a metaphor for the development of the individual being toward spiritual unfoldment and enlightenment.

The Indian lotus flower is associated with the goddess of wealth, Maha Lakshrni, who brings prosperity and generosity. She sits on a fully blossomed lotus flower, symbolizing purity, beauty, divinity, fertility, wealth, knowledge and enlightenment.

In the postures of Iultha yoga, the lotus position, padmasana, is adopted by those striving to reach the highest level of consciousness, which itself is found in the thousand-petalled lotus chakra at the top of the head.

According to Hinduism, within each human inhabiting the earth is the spirit of the sacred lotus. It represents prosperity, eternity, purity and divinity and is widely used as a symbol for life, fertility, ever-renewing youth and to describe feminine beauty. Hindu scriptures say that the Atman dwells in the lotus within the heart.

In the Egyptian mythology the lotus flower is a symbol of the sun, of creation and rebirth. According to one creation myth, a giant lotus emerged from the watery chaos at the beginning of time. Out of its center, the sun itself rose on the first morning.

For Buddhists, lotus symbolizes the most exalted state of man! woman - head held high, pure and undefiled in the sun, with feet rooted in the world of experience.

Om Mani Padme Hum meaning, "Hail to the Jewel in the Lotus" is the sacred mantra of the Tibetans.

The influence of a lotus flower in Chinese paintings is to open us up to beauty and light. A Chinese lotus flower painting can act a reminder of the miracle of beauty, light and life. This reminder, communicated on an emotional level, is said to aid both spiritual and practical understanding of Tao, the world and our place in it.