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It's Like Growing Lotus Flowers

March 03, 2006

Alive in the Heart: Meditation for Inner Transformation with Sharon Salzberg, National Cathedral, lotus image

It's like growing lotus flowers. You cannot grow lotus flowers on marble. You have to grow them on the mud. Without mud you cannot have lotus flowers. Without suffering, you have no way to learn how to be understanding and compassionate.

~Thich Nhat Hanh
podcast interview with Krista Tippett

I have a friend in Kansas City who has traveled to India many times, having the privilege of meeting the Dalai Lama. Years ago, while talking about her trips to India, she remembered finding a lotus flower in the middle of a street floating in a puddle of raw sewage. "It was the perfect metaphor for India," she said. Her words come back to me now in a powerful way after listening to the podcast interview Krista Tippett conducts with Tich Nhat Hanh. (link below)

The beauty and the mess ~ we must learn to embrace them both if we expect to fully partake in the divine drama of being completely human.

CLICK here to download and listen to the podcast with Thich Nhat Hanh. And, thank you to Rob for posting the water flower image above which is available for purchase HERE.

Posted by vincent at March 3, 2006 03:12 PM

Comments

The beauty and the mess... what a wonderful and true phrase. Life is indeed messy at times, but if we never encounter those messes, we can never fully embrace the beauty. Thanks Susan.

Posted by: samtzmom at March 4, 2006 07:16 AM

How true and how beautifully stated; very stirring. Compassion is the most beautiful characteristic a person can have. Your portrait of a water lily is as beautiful as your words and who you are.

Posted by: janet at March 4, 2006 01:07 PM

Thank you, Susan...

(thank you, Rob!)

Posted by: dan at March 5, 2006 03:15 AM

The beauty and the mess -- wonderful phrase (which I am stealing, by the way); wonderful post; wonderful image.

Posted by: Lynn at March 7, 2006 10:35 PM