Lotusflower

The priests and other religious leaders also brewed the flowers to make a tea with sedative and mild psychotropic effects, which heightened their sense for ritual work.

The Lotus meaning in Hinduism is a little different. As ideas were exchanged with Buddhists for thousands of years, Hindu religious leaders began to use the flower as a symbol of peace and eternity.

White lotus flowers are usually seen under the feet of deities like Lakshmi, Ganesha, and Saraswati. Brahma, the ultimate creator, emerges from a Lotus as well.

The Buddhist Lotus represents:. These deep spiritual meanings gave rise to a way of sitting known as the Lotus position.

The legs are crossed and tucked in a way that makes the bent knees look like the petals of a lotus. It is an important position in both Buddhist meditation and Hindu yoga practices.

The soles of the feet are tucked away, which makes it a respectful position to sit in when visiting a temple where exposing the bottom of your feet is considered rude.

Another example is the use of the lotus in mandalas , which are spiritual and artistic representations of divine energies and meditation aids in Buddhist traditions.

Aside from decorating thrones and acting as seats for enlightened beings, both main types of Lotus are surprisingly useful for edible and medicinal purposes.

Anybody who has taken a look at Egyptian culture cannot fail to have noticed the significance of the meaning of the Lotus flower in their culture.

In ancient Egypt there were two main types of lotus that grew, the white, and the blue scientifically a waterlily Nymphaea caerulea , but symbolically a lotus.

Further to this another type, the pink lotus flower was introduced into Egypt sometime during the late period of their civilization.

If one is to observe the many hieroglyphics, it is easy to see that the blue Lotus flower is the most commonly portrayed.

This Egyptian artwork shows the Priest Nebsini holding a blue lotus flower. As mentioned in the introduction above about the meanings of the lotus flower, this plant has a strong association with rebirth.

This is a consequence of it supposedly retracting into the water at the night, and emerging a fresh in the Sun the next day see the introduction for how this beautiful plant actually comes into bloom.

The Egyptians therefore associated the lotus flower with the sun which also disappeared in the night, only to re-emerge in the morning.

Therefore the lotus came to symbolize the Sun and the creation. In many hieroglyphics works the lotus is depicted as emerging from Nun the primordial water bearing the Sun God.

As something that is associated with rebirth, it is no surprise that the lotus flower is also associated with death, and the famous Egyptian book of the dead is known to include spells that are able to transform a person into a lotus, thus allowing for resurrection.

Another interesting fact about the lotus flower meaning to the Egyptians was the way that it was used as a symbol for the Unification of the Two Egyptian kingdoms , that is to say the bonding of upper and lower Egypt.

The lotus flower's daily resurrection is certainly interesting, and surely symbolic of revival. This makes it the perfect gift for anyone recovering from injury or a traumatic experience.

But the flower also has a fascinating will to live. A lotus seed can withstand thousands of years without water, able to germinate over two centuries later.

The flower also blooms in the most unlikely of places such as the mud of murky river water in Australia or Southern Asia.

Not only does it find sanctuary in the muck, but due to the waxy protection layer on its petals, its beauty is blithely unaffected when it re-blooms each morning.

It continues to resurrect itself, coming back just as beautiful as it was last seen. The association between the Lotus flower and Hinduism is fairly complex with the flower having many roles to play, both in creation and in awakening.

The flower is associated with Vishnu, who following tender care as he slept from Lakshmi, was awakened by the creation sound Om. Then follows a Lotus flower blossoming from the naval of Vishnu.

These facts have contributed to lotus symbolism in cultures and religions throughout time. Yet, their contribution is minor compared to how the lotus flowers grow.

The durability of the lotus flower is a major contributor to its association with the gods. However, they can die, and sometimes do in natural disasters.

The catastrophic flooding of the Yangtze River in killed all the lotuses in the area. Three years later, the water had finally receded.

Once normal water levels returned, the flowers began to grow again in the shallow part of the lake.

The floods tore their root system, but their seeds survived. The seeds scattered around the lake, restoring its abundance of lotus flowers.

Their seeds can survive for thousands of years without water. Lotus flowers appear most prominently in wetlands and usually grow in mud. But they are also very adaptive to their local environments.

They can survive under ice as long as their roots remain in water or mud.