This is the story of the lotus flower,
A metaphor of our lives.
Before I tell you the story,
Find a comfortable position,
Either seated or lying down.
Allow yourself to relax,
Soften your breath,
And release.
In ancient wisdom traditions of the East,
The lotus flower metaphorically represents our lives and how we can endure life's challenges.
It represents our potential,
Our awakening,
Our spiritual growth,
And our enlightenment.
The lotus grows towards light,
The truth,
Love,
And compassion.
The lotus flower appears delicate and fragile on the surface,
But in truth it's resilient,
It's flexible,
Strong,
And anchored underneath the surface.
It has an inner strength,
An inner essence that sees through all that it faces with courage and no fear,
To meet the challenges of its journey through its life,
Towards the surface,
Towards the sun.
And so the story goes.
The lotus flower lives in the dirtiest part of the pond or the lake,
In the end where waters are calm and still,
From a seedling,
An impermeable seed,
The lotus rises from the mud,
Surrounded by muck and fish and insects,
Rough conditions.
It sprouts from a seedling,
From under the mud into the dirty water,
Yet despite these conditions it pushes aside,
Through and onward with growth,
A growth at this phase of its life that represents our physical world,
Our physical body,
And the struggles that we experience.
The lotus grows through the murkiest and dirtiest of the waters,
Making its way towards the surface,
Its growth guided towards the warmth and light.
Its life seems dubious at best,
Challenging,
An upward climb,
A struggle,
A struggle representing our emotional issues and the stress and turmoil that we face through our lives.
Eventually the lotus penetrates the air,
Drawn by the light,
It reaches as a stem breaking through the surface,
Breaking through into warmth and light.
This transition represents our thoughts and our ideals.
Aspiring towards the sun,
The lotus blooms with delicate beauty into clean air,
Freeing itself from the harsh life below the surface.
It slowly opens each beautiful fragrant petal to the sun.
It basks into the world around it,
Ready to express its full bloom,
Its full brightness,
Its full aliveness in the world.
It's pure,
Bright and beautiful,
Just as our spiritual illumination is bright and beautiful.
Despite being born in the darkness,
The lotus grows and rises above adversity.
Ironically the dirty water washes its stem.
There is light within the shadows,
There is light within the shadows of our lives.
There is an inner essence of the lotus,
Just as there is an inner essence within each one of us.
The jewel of that life-giving force is the same jewel that lies within our hearts.
It's quiet,
Ever-present,
Everlasting inner essence.
It's our true selves.
This light that lied within the seedling of the lotus is the light that lies within our heart and is symbolically represented through the very ancient chant,
Om Manipadne Om.
Om Manipadne Om.
The jewel lies within the lotus.
There is a light that lies within each of us.
Likewise there is the light of the sun,
The light of the universe.
The sun radiates its warmth,
Its light and its life-giving force throughout the universe to all beings with no discrimination.
The very ancient chant,
The Gayatri Mantra,
Perhaps the most ancient of chants written,
Expresses this.
Om Borobhuvahatsvaha Om Tatsavethu Vaanyam Bhargo Devasya De Mahi Deyoyodhna Prashodayat Om Borobhuvahatsvaha Om Tatsavethu Vaanyam Bhargo Devasya De Mahi Deyoyodhna Prashodayat May we all take on the same qualities of the sun,
Share that light from within us,
Share the love that is us with all those that we share this earth with,
Sharing it indiscriminately to all beings.
Om Shanti Shanti Shanti Peace,
Peace,
Peace.
Namaste.
Om Shanti Shanti Shanti Peace,
Peace,
Peace.
