Myths and Stories
Lotus Blossoms and Leaves
A monk asked Chimon, "Before the lotus blossom has emerged from the water,
what is it?" Chimon said, "A lotus blossom." The monk pursued,
"After it has come out of the water, what is it?" Chimon replied,
"Lotus leaves."
....in Buddhist symbolism, the lotus represents purity of
body, speech, and mind, floating above the muddy waters of attachment and
desire. The Buddha is often depicted sitting on a giant lotus leaf or blossom.
According to legend, he was born with the ability to walk and everywhere he
stepped, lotus flowers bloomed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelumbo_nucifera
"The River God (Ho po)" sings:
With you I wandered down the Nine Rivers;
A whirlwind rose and the waters barred us with their waves.
We rode in a water-chariot with awning of lotus-leaf
Drawn lay two dragons, with grisns to pull at the sides.
We climb K'un-lun and look in all direction;
My heart rises all a-flutter,
I am agitated and distraught.
Dusk is coming, but
I am too sad to think of return.
Of the far shore only are my thoughts;
I lie awake and yearn.
58. ShuChu ch'iian-chuon
3 vols. (Peking, 1954; reprinted in Hong Kong,1965)
A learned philosopher, Tekkai was an imposing figure, well built, tall and graceful. His brilliance and abilities were acknowledged by the great Lao-Tse, who instructed him on earth and also summoned him to heaven for lessons. To accomplish this Tekkai was endowed with the ability to exhale his soul that it might travel, leaving his body to be watched by his disciple. Once, called to his mother’s deathbed, he traveled there in this spirit form; the student wandered away from his duties, forgetting the body. After seven days the body decomposed and when Tekkai returned it has been burned into ash. Seeing the fresh corpse of a crippled beggar by the road, Tekkai entered that body and lived out his life in it, cheerfully limping along with the aid of a staff, upon which he is often see resting his foot. In this reduced condition, Tekkai remained generous and devout, continuing his life as a wandering philosopher, seen here with a boy who carries a gourd containing mystic nectars that send forth a rising cloud of vapor. The face of Tekkai is ingratiating and highly individuated, bearing a broad and partially toothless smile. He leans on his staff holding up in his left hand a bat, a supremely auspicious animal. The boy beside him strides forward exuberantly, smiling. On his back Tekkai has strapped a rolled up mat, over which hangs a hat made of lotus leaf.
Common Features of Vietnamese Temples - In front of the pagoda there is generally
a white statue of a standing Avalokitesvara in her feminine Chinese incarnation
as The Goddess of Mercy, known in Vietnamese as Quan The Am Bo Tat, or "Kuan
Yin Bodhisattva". She is often depicted holding her adopted son in one
arm and standing on a lotus leaf - a traditional symbol of purity. Her husband
is sometimes depicted as a parakeet.
http://www.cpamedia.com/culture/vietnam_buddhist_temples/
The craving of a person addicted to careless living grows
like a creeper.
He jumps from life to life like a fruit-loving monkey in the forest.
Whomsoever in this world this base clinging thirst overcomes, his sorrows
flourish like well-watered birana grass. Whoso in the world overcomes
this base unruly craving, from him sorrows fall away like water drops from
a lotus leaf. This I say to you: Dig up the root of craving like one in
quest of the birana's sweet root. Let not Mara crush you again and again
as a flood crushes a reed.
Buddhism. Dhammapada 334-37
"One who performs his duty without attachment, surrendering
the results unto the Supreme Lord, is unaffected by sinful action, as the
lotus leaf is untouched by water."
-- Bhagavad Gita 5.10
