What Does the Lotus Flower Symbolise?

Thoughts on being a 'human being'

14th August 2016

---

If you go to Thailand, India or many Asian countries you'll see lotus flowers all over the place. They are like large water lilies but the blooms grow high up above the water and they have a thicker green stem that pushes it's roots right down into the mud of a lake.

In Hinduism the lotus flower is used as a symbol of divinity and you'll see many of the Hindu gods and goddesses holding or sitting in lotus flowers of various colours and they all have their own unique meaning. White often means purity of spirit and green can mean compassion and love. It's often used as a metaphor for living in the world but not of the world in transcendent practices. In Buddhism there is a famous zen quote 'No mud no lotus' and what this is referring to is that we cannot reach our highest potential without having our roots in the mud. This has been interpreted in various ways but from a therapeutic perspective it could be seen as a symbol for the integration of our highest potential or innate qualities with our human messiness.

Many spiritual practices take you inside and encourage you to sit in silence, connect with your true self or the witness part of you that is distinct from your mind. I like to think of that part as our innate wisdom or inner knowing. For many this is a really great way to find stability inside and it can be achieved in a variety of ways. This can become the start of a major shift in ones identity from seeing oneself as a body to experiencing oneself to be a spiritual being having a human experience. The purpose of many spiritual practices is to take you to that place and make that so vivid that your former identities gradually fall away. This is a really valuable journey to take for some because many of us struggle with feelings of unworthiness and low self-esteem.

However whilst the bloom of the flower can be extremely attractive it cannot be beautiful without the rich minerals and goodness that are feeding the flower from the roots. That mud represents the grit of life - the struggles, the wounding, the traumas and the pain. It's important that we value the many lessons we go through as part of our learning. That may be hard to swallow however most people over a long period of time are able to look back and see the significance of the difficult times or they may feel inspired to help others facing similar things. Through acknowledging our 'far from perfect' personality traits we also learn humility and that prevents us from falling into the trap of spiritual grandiosity or what's often referred to as a spiritual by-pass or avoidance of our vulnerability.

The lotus flower represents the bridge between the physical and the spiritual and the journey we all make in totally unique ways at different stages in our lives. It's somehow very easy to fall into extremes in life but far more challenging to bridge both worlds. We all need to give attention to our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health each day in small ways in order to touch into our potential and work towards that flower growing and opening. Some people may need to grow up and explore their purpose and find meaning and others may need to grow down and face into something of their own repression or denial.

Why bother......it sounds like hard work/doom and gloom?! Well ultimately greater integration is about feeling free from the inside, feeling comfortable in my own skin and feeling good to be alive. The entire health and wellbeing industry is based on projecting the perfect Instagram lifestyle however the lotus isn't about show or projecting perfection. It's about the modest beauty that shines from within when I remain humbly aware of everything that makes me human and flawed and everything that makes me great.

Psychotherapeutic counselling is a place for you to explore the direction your growth needs to take. It's not about wallowing in the mud of life but just looking at it and making a bit more sense of it with someone who has taken that journey themselves.

---

More blog posts

---