Chapter 34, “Finding the Lotus Before Winter,” uses the lotus plant as a metaphor for human growth and development. The lotus plant is traditionally referred to in Buddhism and Hinduism as a sacred plant. It grows in a body of water with roots deep in the mud at the bottom. A thick stem grows upwards towards the surface, and at the surface it sprouts large green leaves and beautiful flowers. These glorify the top of the pond, above the surface, prospering in the light.
The lotus flower is regarded as a symbol of purity, enlightenment, self-regeneration and rebirth. Its characteristics seem to me to be a perfect analogy for the human condition—even with its roots in the dirtiest waters, the plant grows upward towards the light, and produces a most beautiful flower. In a similar way, humans can be seen as rooting in the muck of physical/material life with its negative emotions, thoughts, and behaviors, and using conscious attention and intention, we grow upwards towards enlightenment.
In Buddhism, every person is seen to have the potential, like the lotus, to become perfect, enlightened, and it is just a matter of time until every human reaches the light. Buddhists believe that it may be necessary to be reborn thousands of times, polishing one's being through many incarnations, until one reaches nirvana or enlightenment—the highest state of consciousness that humans can access. The Buddha is often depicted sitting on a lotus flower, symbolizing the One who overcame the pain and suffering that prevails in the material world and became enlightened. Many Hindu gods are also depicted sitting or standing on a Lotus flower for the same reason.
Levine talks about the way lots of people approach the end of their lives feeling a sense of dissatisfaction and discouragement over lost opportunities to fulfill their dreams. This makes them fear death and subsequently causes great suffering as their death looms near. In his years of sitting at the bedside of dying people Levine listened to many who felt that they had failed in life. They had not accomplished what they had hoped to. He states that when we focus on material goals in life and ignore our spiritual lives we tend to feel this way.
Discovering our true nature in life is called “finding our lotus.” Levine tells us that the lotus is not difficult to find if we know where to look. It is the sense of accomplishment and satisfaction brought about by a life of healing and growth spiritually. We find it in our meditation practice as we grow in awareness and divine energy. If we can find it before our deathbed, we have the opportunity to see our lives as being fully accomplished and worthy of a peaceful death.
It is possible to recognize it even when on our deathbed. Levine tells us about a man who wanted to find his lotus before he died; he said he wanted to “complete the course.” In his search he discovered that what was limiting him was not necessarily the pain and suffering of his disease or his failure to accomplish everything he had wanted to, but the suffering created by the desire itself. He reached a point where he did not care whether his lotus bloomed or not now that he had found it.
Where are you with finding your lotus? If you wrote your obituary right now what would it say about you? Who are you anyway? A basic question in Buddhist meditation practice is: “who am I?” Have you worked with that?
For me, working with the question “who am I?” comes up regularly as I try to be more loving and compassionate in my daily life. Several teachers have appeared lately to spur me on in my quest. Eben Alexander and Karen Newell are now offering workshop classes to help us discover who we really are. And their guided meditations and musical meditations with the Hemi-Sync vibrations help us to move deeply into our conscious awareness and connect with divine energy.
Most recently I received a guided meditation from The Monroe Institute created and led by Suzanne Giesemann called “Getting to Know Your True Nature.” It is a 2 CD album. One CD is a guided meditation with Suzanne giving us words, ideas, and concepts to inspire a deeper understanding of our true nature, our spiritual self, our inner divine. There is incredibly beautiful synthesizer music in the background which is meditative in itself and Hemi-Sync vibrations are embedded in the music. The second CD has brief guidance of words followed by silence with Hemi-Sync “white noise” for deeper meditation. Both CDs are quite powerful and I find myself listening to one or the other of the CDs regularly.
So have I found my lotus? I know I have been on a spiritual journey/search for many years, being guided in many ways, with many words, and by many teachers. Now I find myself excited about new ways, new words, and new teachers, but the message is the same. Who am I? It is as simple and as wonderful as I Am. I am That I Am. Divine Awareness. Universal Consciousness. And now something else pops up in my mind. The Boddhisattva Vow. This I learned and accepted as my own back when I was first studying Buddhism and realizing its value to me in my life.
The Boddhisattva Vow is described as the commitment to put others before oneself. It is a statement of willingness to give up one’s own well-being, even one’s own enlightenment, for the sake of others. And a bodhisattva is a person who lives in the spirit of that vow, perfecting the qualities of generosity, discipline, patience, exertion, meditation, and transcendental knowledge in his/her effort to liberate other beings. In Buddhism, a bodhisattva is someone who has realized enlightenment, or nirvana, but out of compassion for the suffering of all sentient beings deliberately resolves to delay reaching final nirvana, and complete release from rebirth, in order to aid others in achieving enlightenment. In other words, I choose to reincarnate as many times as I need to in order to help others move out of the suffering human existence and into the Divine Light of Love. Does this take away fear of death? It certainly might and I think it does.
It is amazing to me to discover that over most of my adult years I have learned the same lessons over and over again. And have come to deeper and deeper understanding of what it means to be human, and how to do that, be that, in daily life. To me, this means that I choose to work on healing myself to the best of my ability—physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually—and then to be in service to others as best I can. Every day, in every way, to be kind, compassionate, joyful and filled with peace and to wish this for all others. Do I have the potential to reach enlightenment? I think I do. Even me.
Self-Inquiry Questions:
1. Have you ever been near a pond that had lotus blossoms in it? What was that like for you?
2. How does the metaphor of the lotus blossom and human life resonate with you? How do you see this playing out in your life?
3. Have you been introduced to the Boddhisattva Vow before this? How do you see this influencing how you live your life from now on?
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