“
The lotus is the most beautiful flower, whose petals open one by one. But it will only grow in the mud. In order to grow and gain wisdom, first you must have the mud --- the obstacles of life and its suffering. ... The mud speaks of the common ground that humans share, no matter what our stations in life. ... Whether we have it all or we have nothing, we are all faced with the same obstacles: sadness, loss, illness, dying and death. If we are to strive as human beings to gain more wisdom, more kindness and more compassion, we must have the intention to grow as a lotus and open each petal one by one.
”
”
Goldie Hawn
“
A flower can't grow without rain. (Alexion)
Too much rain and it drowns. (Danger)
And yet the most beautiful of the lotus flowers are the ones that grow in the deepest mud. (Alexion)
”
”
Sherrilyn Kenyon (Sins of the Night (Dark-Hunter, #7))
“
Most people are afraid of suffering. But suffering is a kind of mud to help the lotus flower of happiness grow. There can be no lotus flower without the mud.” —THICH NHAT HANH
”
”
Thich Nhat Hanh (No Mud, No Lotus: The Art of Transforming Suffering)
“
There is the mud, and there is the lotus that grows out of the mud. We need the mud in order to make the lotus.
”
”
Thich Nhat Hanh
“
In life hard times will befall you that will create doubt in yourself, and life will ask questions of the authenticity of the person you are. Carrying the lotus means being true to yourself and in the realization that you were always meant to grow above this mud. We are meant to grow, progress, and evolve in this relentless environment of the World and through it all achieve happiness with grace in letting go. Carry the Lotus within; grow and rise above from the harsh and remorseless world beneath you.
”
”
Forrest Curran (Purple Buddha Project: Purple Book of Self-Love)
“
I wonder if the world’s fascination has less to do with the flower itself, and more with the muck that it flourishes in. The Lotus flower is of an unparalleled beauty in its elegance and grace, yet its’ origins are of an environment that is a stark contrast. We cannot help but ponder such strange juxtaposition. However, there is something telling in this natural contrast between the flower and its environment: we are meant to grow, like the Lotus, and not dirty our hands in the mud that surrounds us.
”
”
Forrest Curran (Purple Buddha Project: Purple Book of Self-Love)
“
if we cultivate compassion for those who have hurt us, we have the possibility of overcoming our anger,pain, and fear. compassion is a great medicine.
”
”
Goldie Hawn (A Lotus Grows in the Mud)
“
NO MUD, NO LOTUS Both suffering and happiness are of an organic nature, which means they are both transitory; they are always changing. The flower, when it wilts, becomes the compost. The compost can help grow a flower again. Happiness is also organic and impermanent by nature. It can become suffering and suffering can become happiness again.
”
”
Thich Nhat Hanh (No Mud, No Lotus: The Art of Transforming Suffering)
“
here is the mud, and there is the lotus that grows out of the mud. We need the mud in order to make the lotus.
”
”
Thich Nhat Hanh
“
It is the simplest things in life that hold the most wonder; the color of the sea, the sand between your toes, the laughter of a child.
”
”
Goldie Hawn (A Lotus Grows in the Mud)
“
From the mud of adversity grows the lotus of joy
”
”
Carolyn Marsden (The Buddha's Diamonds)
“
Because people learn from their mistakes, Danger. Pain and failure are a natural part of life. It's kind of like a parent who watches their child fall down while learning to walk. Instead of coddling the child, you set them back on their feet and let them try again. They have to stumble before they can run. (Alexion)
Do you really believe that we need to have our hearts ripped out? (Danger)
A flower can't grow without rain. (Alexion)
Too much rain and it drowns. (Danger)
And yet the most beautiful of the lotus flowers are the ones that grow in the deepest mud. (Alexion)
”
”
Sherrilyn Kenyon (Sins of the Night (Dark-Hunter, #7))
“
Everyone knows we need to have mud for lotuses to grow. The mud doesn’t smell so good, but the lotus flower smells very good. If you don’t have mud, the lotus won’t manifest. You can’t grow lotus flowers on marble. Without mud, there can be no lotus.
”
”
Thich Nhat Hanh (No Mud, No Lotus: The Art of Transforming Suffering)
“
Most people are afraid of suffering. But suffering is a kind of mud to help the lotus flower of happiness grow. There can be no lotus flower without the mud.
”
”
Thich Nhat Hanh
“
Wonder shows in the light of our eyes. Without it, they become dull and old.
”
”
Goldie Hawn (A Lotus Grows in the Mud)
“
If you don't take responsibility, then you'll never grow. You will never learn. And you will only repeat your mistakes.
”
”
Goldie Hawn (A Lotus Grows in the Mud)
“
If you know how to make good use of the mud, you can grow beautiful lotuses. If you know how to make good use of suffering, you can produce happiness. We do need some suffering to make happiness possible. And most of us have enough suffering inside and around us to be able to do that. We don’t have to create more.
”
”
Thich Nhat Hanh (No Mud, No Lotus: The Art of Transforming Suffering)
“
that the mud and muck of life’s challenges can provide fertile ground for our development. As the lotus grows, it rises through the water to eventually blossom.
”
”
Jay Shetty (Think Like a Monk: Train Your Mind for Peace and Purpose Everyday)
“
If we are to strive as human beings to gain more wisdom, more kindness and more compassion, we must have the intention to grow as a lotus and open each petal one by one.
”
”
Goldie Hawn (A Lotus Grows in the Mud)
“
They say that wisdom is a dying flower, and I disagree. In a world covered in mud, the lotus still continues to grow. Even after mankind washes itself away from the surface of the earth, knowledge will still remain. Look no further than the bosom of Nature. It offers all the solutions needed to cure and unite humanity. Wise men only exist as interpreters and transmitters of Truth. Their time on earth is limited, but Nature's existence is eternal. Open books shall always exist for those with an opened eye and pure heart; for Truth can only be seen by those with truth in them.
”
”
Suzy Kassem (Rise Up and Salute the Sun: The Writings of Suzy Kassem)
“
One day, the lotus spoke again. "You remember me? The flower that grows through the mud?" I did. I said as much. "Have you ever considered my significance? I'm everywhere - art, religion, nature.... Have you ever wondered why?"
... It spoke, "Nothing touches me. I radiate beauty. You can do the same."
"How?" I asked.
"Easy," it said. "I grow in a pond. I take the water and nutrients I need to grow, and let the rest sink to the bottom. What's in mud, anyway? Water, nutrients, life and a little bit of sludge. Let the sludge go like I do. Then stand tall above the leaves.
”
”
Dawn Casey-Rowe (Don't Sniff the Glue: A Teacher's Misadventures in Education Reform)
“
There are those who say that in their heaven there is no suffering. But if there is no suffering, how can there be happiness? We need compost to grow flowers, and mud to grow lotuses.
”
”
Thich Nhat Hanh
“
The key is not to let these things fester. Worst of all, don't revel in being a victim. Don't become comfortable in your misery. Take back control. You may not be able to change what happened, but you can change your perception of it. All you need is the intention, and you have the power to change. Face up to what happened, admit it and try to move on. Through understanding, try to forgive not only yourself but the person who did this to you. This is truly another path to happiness.
”
”
Goldie Hawn (A Lotus Grows in the Mud)
“
The only path to happiness is to really be all that you can be. The be secure and unafraid of speaking your own mind. If your intentions are not just to win the game, then you can feel good that you have spoken your mind without malice or anger but just from the depths of your truth.
”
”
Goldie Hawn (A Lotus Grows in the Mud)
“
A world full of people hating themselves is not a happy world. Buddhism does not seem to be about self-punishment. A key buddhist symbol is that of the lotus flower. The lotus flower grows in mud at the bottom of a pool, but rises above the murky water and blooms in the clear air, pure and beautiful, before eventually dying. This metaphor for spiritual enlightenment also works as a metaphor for hope and change.
”
”
Matt Haig (Reasons to Stay Alive)
“
The flower, when it wilts, becomes the compost. The compost can help grow a flower again. Happiness is also organic and impermanent by nature. It can become suffering and suffering can become happiness again.
If you look deeply into a flower, you see that a flower is made only of nonflower elements. In that flower there is a cloud. Of course we know a cloud isn’t a flower, but without a cloud, a flower can’t be. If there’s no cloud, there’s no rain, and no flower can grow. You don’t have to be a dreamer to see a cloud floating in a flower. It’s really there. Sunlight is also there. Sunlight isn’t flower, but without sunlight no flower is possible.
If we continue to look deeply into the flower, we see many other things, like the earth and the minerals. Without them a flower cannot be. So it’s a fact that a flower is made only of nonflower elements. A flower can’t be by herself alone. A flower can only inter-be with everything else. You can’t remove the sunlight, the soil, or the cloud from the flower.
”
”
Thich Nhat Hanh (No Mud, No Lotus: The Art of Transforming Suffering)
“
Knowing your limits, and that there is a limit to getting what you want, comes from a sense of self-respect instilled in you from an early age. It takes guts to stand up in the face of what you really want, but you have to know in your heart that if you make the wrong choice you won't be able to live with yourself for the rest of your life. There is only one person who matters at that point and that's you. If you give in to such pressures, you strip away your self-respect, your personal ethics and your standards-the very things that create the fiber that will hold you together for the rest of your life.
”
”
Goldie Hawn (A Lotus Grows in the Mud)
“
What did it take to move from that, to develop a shell, a protective boundary, to pull the shades on the imposing mostly male Gaze, to allow a fertile darkness within my being, where “I” could begin? What did it take to create this kind of darkness, a safe place to Be, to shut out the world and scream “I”? … A sex object has to completely fall apart before she can rebuild herself in her own image. She has fall into the mud, begin again, perform her own acts of Creation, mold herself of this solid material. It is out of the mud that the lotus blossoms. It does not grow on some pedestal, under the light of the eternal Gaze. How ironic that our paternal mythmakers made Medusa’s gaze the deadly one!
”
”
Glenys Livingstone
“
Wonderful-Voice is told not to think less of this world, our world, just because it is full of mud, stones, and impurities. I think this is an important reminder for us. We should not think that we are somehow inferior, or that our faults are something to be ashamed of. There is much in society that seeks to have us believe that we are somehow inferior. Think about advertisements for example, the whole purpose of advertisements is to convince you that you are incomplete, or lacking, or inferior to some ideal because you don’t use a particular product. You may have even received messages in school or growing up, which you carry around, that make you feel you are not worthy of being happy. The message of this chapter is that there is not one among us who is disqualified from attaining enlightenment or of being happy. We are not missing anything, nor are we short of anything, nor are we not good enough to become Buddhas.
”
”
Ryusho Jeffus (Lotus Sutra Practice Guide)
“
Lotus grows on mud. No mud no lotus.
”
”
Hindu's
“
the symbol of the lotus flower was the most powerful image of all. It grows from the mud, the dirt, and emerges resplendent in its breath-taking beauty. It’s a symbol of purity, self-regeneration, and spiritual enlightenment. I chose the lotus flower because I identify with it. I grew from the mud and the dirt, and I have created something beautiful.
”
”
M.J. Hardy (The Resort)
“
your future, and the symbol of the lotus flower was the most powerful image of all. It grows from the mud, the dirt, and emerges resplendent in its breath-taking beauty. It’s a symbol of purity, self-regeneration, and spiritual enlightenment. I chose the lotus flower because I identify with it. I grew from the mud and the dirt, and I have created something beautiful. So,
”
”
M.J. Hardy (The Resort)
“
No mud, no lotus,” says Thich Nhat Hanh. “Lotus flowers do not grow on marble.
”
”
Joseph Emet (Buddha's Book of Stress Reduction: Finding Serenity and Peace with Mindfulness Meditation)
“
The superconscient, not the subconscient, is the true foundation of things. The significance of the lotus is not to be found by analysing the secrets of the mud from which it grows here; its secret is to be found in the heavenly archetype of the lotus that blooms forever in the Light above.
”
”
Sri Aurobindo (Bases of Yoga)
“
The soil of our mind contains many seeds, positive and negative. We are the gardeners who identify, water, and cultivate the best seeds. Touching the seeds of joy, peace, freedom, solidity, and love in ourselves and in each other is an important practice that helps us grow in the direction of health and happiness.
”
”
Thich Nhat Hanh (No Mud, No Lotus: The Art of Transforming Suffering)
“
The lotus grows in the mud, but it reaches up for the sun, and as it emerges it produces the most beautiful flower in the world. According to Buddha, every person has the potential to become enlightened and to become perfect. It is just a matter of time before we reach the light. If not in this life, then the next, or the one after that.
”
”
William Dameron (The Way Life Should Be)
“
The lotus is a flower that grows in water. It starts off its life buried in the muck, struggling against the mud and sand, before rising up through the murky depths and breaking through the surface as it reaches for the light—truth rising from the ignorance of the world. The cross symbolizes the crucifixion of Christ, the Light of the World. He sits upon the lotus flower—life rising from the stain of death that taints the world. The truth eventually comes to light, and evil is eventually exposed, no matter how much we try to hide it.
”
”
Yisei Ishkhan (End of Serenity: A New World (End of Serenity, #3))
“
Most surf spots are best at low tide when the ocean’s ribs are exposed and vulnerable. People are like this too. When we’re hurting, when we feel rejected or unloved, our usual complacent approaches and all our hard-shelled survival mechanisms no longer seem to work.
But lotuses grow from mud - and from brokenness, in my experience, beautiful things emerge. We are forced, out of necessity to write a poem or song in tears. We’re forced to go on retreat, into silence, into the realization that this feeble body and brain can’t do it all.
”
”
Jaimal Yogis (Saltwater Buddha: A Surfer's Quest to Find Zen on the Sea)
“
Out of the mud grows the lotus
”
”
D. Brandon
“
Dear Lotus Flower,
Just like you, my roots were always latched in the mud. I envied you because you were in the dark, murky water only at night—when the daylight arose, you bloomed. Unlike you, I was submerged in nasty water every day and night, but the light abandoned me. Came the morning light, and somehow miraculously, you rebloomed, sparkling, and so clean. I sort of bloomed at night with the moonlight and stars. However, the next morning I wasn’t so lucky because the morning light was nowhere to be found. Things got better for me slowly but surely. I must say, no matter how many times our roots were in the dirtiest water, we survived. We survived because our roots provided the nutrients that allowed us to bloom.
I read that a lotus flower at times only partially opens, and the center is hidden. Just like you, there were times when I slowly opened up to people. I hid my inner core because mentally, I didn’t know who to trust. However, I arose from the midst of suffering. Again, just like you, I withstood highly adverse conditions and had to repair myself mentally and physically.
Nobody knows, but you are my favorite flowers. We are unique, and we have so much in common. Your shadowy, murky origin found enlightenment as you were on the hunt for light. I, too, was on the quest for light for many years. For 16 years, I was thirsty for light, and now my thirst is quenched. All of those years, I yearned and wanted to break free and bloom. However, I had to keep moving, growing, and believing.
My soul is no different from a Lotus flower. I didn’t start my journey in fresh water because my environment was not pleasant. Just like a Lotus flower, my life was surrounded by insects, debris, and so many unpleasant things and people. However, just like the Lotus petals are never contaminated by the murky water, my core remained pure. Just like the Lotus flower, I came from a place of suffering. However, I remained true to myself. I have overcome many obstacles in my life. I am proud of myself—because this time, I jumped a little higher over the hurdles. I have finished the never-ending race. I have officially crossed the finish line and have a fresh start! I am renewed, and I am loved!
Triumph should be my middle name because I never gave up.
”
”
Charlena E. Jackson (Pinwheels and Dandelions)
“
Times of suffering will come, use them
To grow into a better version of yourself.
Use the dirt to grow flowers. Let the storm water them. Watch them grow in the sunshine.
”
”
Eric Overby (Legacy)
“
Lotus plants grow in poor conditions. Their roots are in the mud, sometimes dirty swamps. But they rise above that. Their flowers are very beautiful. Sometimes when we have problems we, too, can use our difficulties to create something we may not even have considered before. We can turn our suffering into the cause of extraordinary growth.
”
”
David Michie (The Dalai Lama's Cat and the Power of Meow (The Dalai Lama's Cat, #3))
“
In contrast to most of the examples given in this chapter, it is occasionally recorded that even solitary confinement imposed by enemies can be the trigger for psychological experiences of lasting value. Anthony Grey, who experienced solitary confinement in China, and Arthur Koestler, who was similarly imprisoned in Spain, discussed their experiences together on television. The transcript of their discussion appears in Koestl’s collection of essays, Kaleidoscope. Both men were grateful that they did not have to share a cell with another prisoner. Both felt that solitude enhanced their appreciation of, and sympathy with, their fellow men. Both had intense experiences of feeling that some kind of higher order of reality existed with which solitude put them in touch. Both felt that trying to put this experience into words tended to trivialize it, because words could not really express it. Although neither man subscribed to any orthodox religious belief, both agreed that they had felt the abstract existence of something which was indefinable or which could only be expressed in symbols. Anthony Grey thought that his experience had given him a new awareness and appreciation of normal life. Koestler concurred, but added that he had also become more aware of horrors lurking under the surface. Koestler also refers to a feeling of inner freedom, of being alone and confronted with ultimate realities instead of with your bank statement. Your bank statement and other trivialities are again a kind of confinement. Not in space but in spiritual space . . . So you have got a dialogue with existence. A dialogue with life, a dialogue with death. Grey comments that this is an area of experience into which most people do not enter. Koesder righdy affirms that most people have occasional confrontations of this kind when they are severely ill or when a parent dies, or when they first fall in love. Then they are transferred from what I call the trivial plane to the tragic or absolute plane. But it only happens a few times. Whereas in the type of experience which we shared, one has one’s nose rubbed into it, for a protracted period.17 So, occasionally, good can come out of evil. Anthony Grey recalled being shown a painting by a Chinese friend in which a beautiful lotus flower is growing out of mud. The human spirit is not indestructible; but a courageous few discover that, when in hell, they are granted a glimpse of heaven.
”
”
Anthony Storr (Solitude a Return to the Self)
“
Lotus plants grow in poor conditions. Their roots are in the mud, sometimes dirty swamps. But they rise above that. Their flowers are very beautiful. Sometimes when we have problems we, too, can use our difficulties to create something we may not even have considered before. We can turn our suffering into the cause of extraordinary growth.” Like so much else of what His Holiness said, his words could be understood in different ways. I knew he was making not only a general observation but offering a deeply personal message—one that referred not only to my own recent challenges but to Mrs. Trinci’s, too. And, more important, to the fresh direction in which they could propel us. Instead of believing my infestation to be a cause of nothing but biting misery, I was beginning to see that it seemed it could become fuel for personal growth.
”
”
David Michie (The Dalai Lama's Cat and the Power of Meow (The Dalai Lama's Cat, #3))
“
How long will you keep fighting the mud? Grow out of it like a lotus.
”
”
Shunya
“
People complain that they don’t have any happiness in life. We need to find the many small joys that life has to offer and help them grow.
”
”
Thich Nhat Hanh (No Mud, No Lotus: The Art of Transforming Suffering)