Simple Steps: A New Years Gift to You: #40 The Lotus Flower

This post is the final installment in our 40 Simple Steps Series.  I hope you've enjoyed them!  I know you can find value here too, for the simplest step of all is the knowledge that within these words you are meeting and greeting your own true self.

In the East, the lotus flower is viewed as a symbol of spiritual unfoldment.

The lotus has its roots in earthly mud, but as it grows upward in aspiration toward the light, its petals open out in a beautiful flower.

This unfolding is the goal of reaching toward the eighth limb of yoga, Samadhi.

The Indian Lotus flower symbolizes divinity, fertility, wealth, knowledge and enlightenment.

It is associated with the goddess of wealth, Maha Lakshmi, who brings prosperity, purity and generosity.
She sits on a fully blossomed lotus flower, symbolizing purity, beauty and everything that is good.

Om Mani Padme Hum, meaning, "Hail to the Jewel in the Lotus" is the sacred mantra of the Tibetans. 

The meaning behind the lotus flower's use is beautifully articulated in the following poem by Swami Kriyananda, a teacher I studied with as a result of my introduction to the work of his teacher, Swami Paramahansa Yogananda in his book Autobiography of a Yogi.

May you breathe in peace as you read...

Todays Simple Step

Contemplating the Lotus Flower

"We were talking - about the space between us all - 
and the people who hide themselves behind a wall of illusion 
never glimpsing the truth.

Then it's far too late when they pass away.

We were talking - about the love we all could share when we find it -

to try our best to hold it there - 
with our love

With our love we could save the world - if they only knew.

Try to realize it's all within yourself - no-one else can make you change

And to see you're really only very small

And life flows on within you and without you.

We were talking - about the love that's gone so cold

And the people who gain the world and lose their soul.

They don't know, they can't see - 
are you one of them?

When you've seen beyond yourself

Then you may find peace of mind is waiting there

And the time will come when you see we are all one

And life flows on within you and without you."

Swami Kriyananda

May you find a way to keep walking the path of these 40 Simple Steps.

May they lead you to your destination "home" and bring you to your happiness.

As you leave this year behind - and embrace all that is present before you -  the spirit in me salutes the spirit in you!

Namaste,

Gael