The Jewel Inside The Lotus
Om Mani Padme Hum has been a mantra close to my heart for more years than I can remember. Indeed the lotus has so much rich symbolism in Buddhism, from the mud that it rises from to the wisdom of emptiness.
“It is said that you should not seek for Buddhahood outside of yourself; the substances for the achievement of Buddhahood are within.As Maitreya says in his Sublime Continuum of the Great Vehicle (Uttaratantra), all beings naturally have the Buddha nature in their own continuum. We have within us the seed of purity, the essence of a One Gone Thus (Tathagatagarbha), that is to be transformed and fully developed into Buddhahood.” — From a lecture given by His Holiness The Dalai Lama of Tibet at the Kalmuck Mongolian Buddhist Center, New Jersey.
As much as I’ve loved the mantra, I’ve cherished the lotus flowers in my koi pond. My husband has always made sure that I had beautiful blooms and pristine water conditions for our water garden and the sunset lily has always been one of my favorite dynamic blooms, changing color over the course of a few days from a bright white to pale orange and yellow hues. We have both hardy lilies, tropical lilies and I’ve thought about night blooming varieties but haven’t yet added one of those to our aquascape. I consider myself an experienced novice when it comes to waterlillies, even enjoying a Monet tri canvas print in our bedroom.
So when the redneck went to Van Ness Water Garden as his first shopping trip after more than a year of staying at home during the pandemic (and yes ever adult in our house is now vaccinated) I was puzzled when he messaged me and asked if I wanted a Lotus from the nursery and he sent a picture of this elegant plant that was growing up ABOVE the surface of the water. Apparently in all my years of using the terms lotus and lily interchangeably, I failed to learn that they are entirely two different pond plants. Simply put, a lily and it’s lily pads float on the surface of the water, but a lotus sends it’s shoot way up into the air, typically 2 feet but as high as 7+feet in some varieties.
It gets better! These magical plants have such special properties there’s a physics principal named after them, called The Lotus Effect. Check out the water repellent nature of these leaves! How cool is that?
Some people speculate that the jewel inside of the lotus refers to the bubble of water that collects in the center of the frond. It may be true or a simple western misinterpretation that misses the teaching entirely, much like how in nearly 60 years I did not realize a waterlily and lotus plant were two entirely different species — Nymphaea and Nelumbo respectively.
The redneck says that now we have an honest Zen garden. Because our koi pond was without a lotus all of these years. There’s something really cool for me in this lotus story — that was completely new to me. A thread woven into the tapestry of the ever always knowing when it turns up completely empty and we realize we knew nothing at all. Shoshin at it’s finest.
