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CosmicLotus.org
A metaphysical and holistic healing cyberministry, offering
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Article:
The Spiritual Meaning
of the Lotus
by Rev. Sue Annabrooke Jones
The lotus flower, a type of water lily, is held sacred among many
of the world's religions and cultures.
With its roots in the mud, the lotus rises through the murky water
to blossom clean and bright, symbolizing to the Buddhist purity, resurrection and the enlightened
being who emerges undefiled from the chaos and illusion of the world.
The eight-petalled lotus
that is used in Buddhist mandalas symbolizes cosmic harmony, and the thousand-petalled lotus
represents spiritual illumination.
In the iconography of the Greek and Roman Christian Churches, the Archangel
Gabriel is portrayed holding a spray of water lilies in every picture of the Annunciation when he
appears to the mother of Jesus.
The Hindus of India noted that the ungerminated seeds of the lotus contain
perfectly formed leaves, a blueprint for the future plant. Thus to the Hindu, the lotus represents
divine ideation passing from abstract into concrete form.
The lotus is featured prominently in Egyptian art and architecture, especially
in connection with Egypt's temples.
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