Be like the Lotus.

According to Buddhism every person has the potential to become perfect and enlightened, and it is just a matter of time until each human reaches the light. Its characteristics are a perfect analogy for the human condition : even when its roots are in the dirtiest water, the Lotus produces the most beautiful flower. The Lotus grows deep in the mud, far away from the sun, but sooner or later, the Lotus reaches the light becoming the most beautiful flower ever.

The Lotus flower closes and sinks in the water at night and rises and opens again at dawn, just like the sun. Like the sun, some believe that humans are born, they perform their tasks, die, and ultimately they are reborn again.

The seed of the Lotus flower contains perfectly formed leaves as miniatures of what they will become when the Lotus blooms. Every person is already perfect and the model of perfection is already formed inside each being, awaiting the opportunity to emerge when ones reaches the condition of being aware of his perfection.

Essentially, the lotus flower represents creative power and purity amid adverse surroundings. Here is a beautiful old Chinese poem :

"The leaves break the bandage of the green stem, stretch themselves and form a green pool with untidy edges.
Now the flower comes out of the vast surface of water,
just like a very beautiful woman
coming gracefully from her bath".

"When rain drops fill a lotus petal, the petal sways for a while together with each drop, and when the water has pooled to a certain extent, the petal pours the pure crystal - like water without any regret or attachment.

Then when the water falls again on to the lotus leaf below, there again it wells up and rolls  right on off again, emptying into the lotus pond.

                                                                                  The lotus petal takes on only as much weight as it
                                                                                   can hold; anything more and it empties everything
                                                                                   out completely!        
Here ones sees the wisdom of the lotus. Were the Lotus to instead take the water greedily, the petal would end up tearing or its stem would snap.

The principles of living in the world are exactly the same ....."  


So let us be like the Lotus flower, bringing beauty and light from the murky darkness at the bottom of the pond......