Padma

padma (P. paduma; T. pad ma པད་མ་; C. lianhua/hong lianhua 蓮華/紅蓮華). Translated as “lotus”, "water-lily", etc. The most commonly occurring flower in Buddhist art and literature.

Because the lotus flower blooms above the muddy waters of stagnant ponds, the lotus is used as a symbol for the purity of mind that develops out of the pollution that is samsara but remains unsullied by it. In addition, the lotus is said to be the only plant that produces its flower and fruit simultaneously, indicating in some interpretations that the cause (the Buddha’s teaching) and its effect (enlightenment) are not separate.

In the Mahayana, the lotus also symbolizes the purity of a bodhisattva's motive. Just as a lotus blooms unblemished upon the mire of a swamp, a Bodhisattva remains in cyclic existence without being polluted by its negative aspects. The white lotus in particular symbolizes the pure nature of discriminative wisdom analyzing the nature of reality.

The lotus is one of the eight auspicious symbols and is the symbol of the padma family in the Vajrayana teachings on the five families.

Sources

• Buswell, Robert E.; Lopez, Donald S. (2014), The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, Princeton University 

External links

• pad_ma, Rangjung Yeshe Wiki