The lotus flower grows in muddy water. At night the blossom closes and sinks underwater, at dawn it rises and opens again. In ancient faith traditions of Egypt, Asia (and Christianity), lotus (and lily) blossoms symbolize purity of heart and mind.
Ken McLeod teaches in the Tibetan tradition of Buddhism. He says:
Discomfort is the stimulus for creativity. Or, as Joseph Goldstein says, “We move only when we are uncomfortable.” The [Buddha’s] first noble truth, “There is suffering,” implies that there should be a lot of creativity in the world. This creativity can be one of two types. The first is an active reaction to suffering, seeking to avoid it in the most immediately efficient manner (as opposed to a passive reaction which just results in tension).
The second is a response to suffering and opens to the experience of suffering and acts on its implications, just as Buddha Shakyamuni did 2,500 years ago. The difference is the matter of attention. Without attention, no matter how brilliant and ingenious the creation, it’s still a product of reaction, avoids actual experience, and reinforces conditioned patterns. With attention, there is the possibility of responding to what arises, experiencing it fully and having that understanding pervade our future experience and contribute to others’ understanding.
… Bring the attention to what is arising and we know, directly, what needs to be done. … The source of that knowing is buddha nature. And the practice is very simple in principle: strip away whatever prevents it from manifesting.”
This is an excerpt–click to access the entire talk.
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