The Lotus Flower Fragrance
The lotus flower fragrance is regarded as the pure quintessence of heaven and earth. Lotus scented tea was once a special product reserved only for members of the royal family, mandarins and the wealthy. In one of his writings, Hai Thuong Lan Ong Le Huu Trac, a well-known Vietnamese scholar and physician in the 18th century, described the lotus plant as follows:
Though it grows in mud, the lotus plant is never affected by the bad smell arising from the mud. Instead, it absorbs the fresh and pure air from nature that makes its stem, flowers and leaves valuable herbal medicines.
The Lotus Seeds
Recent research using carbon-dating techniques have shown that lotus seeds are "the oldest demonstrably viable and directly dated seed ever reported". Scientists are now using evidence from lotus seeds to try to understand the ageing process of other species.
In the 1920s, some lotus seeds were recovered from lake sediments in northeast China. No one knew how old the seeds were at the time, but they were planted and they successfully germinated into plants. But it was only in the 1990s that the age of the germinated seeds were revealed. Astonishingly, they were found to be around 1300 years old. Scientists believe that this extraordinary ability to remain viable after so long is due to a special enzyme in the seeds.
Gitanjali
On the day when the lotus bloomed, alas, my mind was straying, and I knew it not. My basket was empty and the flower remained unheeded. Only now and again a sadness fell upon me, and I started up from my dream and felt a sweet trace of a strange fragrance in the south wind. That vague sweetness made my heart ache with longing and it seemed to me that is was the eager breath of the summer seeking for its completion. I knew not then that it was so near, that it was mine, and that this perfect sweetness had blossomed in the depth of my own heart.
Lotus-Scented Tea
King Tu Duc, during the Nguyen dynasty in the ancient capital of Hue on the central coast (1848-1883) was renowned for drinking lotus-scented tea in a very special way. In the afternoon of the day prior to his morning tea, he had his helpers row to a lotus growing lake in the royal garden and put a small handful of tea into each lotus flower in the blossom before binding the petals up. In so doing the tea would dry over night and at the same time absorb the scent of the petals. On the next morning the tea would be picked from the lotus lake and offered to the king for his morning refreshment.
Lotus - Spiritual
The lotus is one of the world's most celebrated flowers. From ancient times to the present day, it has featured in folklore, religion and the arts in one form or another. It is a symbol of eternity, plenty and good fortune. The flowers are widely used for ornament and as offerings particularly in Buddhism and Hinduism.
The lotus has great significance in the spiritual life of South Asia. It is a symbol of purity and untarnished enlightenment amid ignorance. Particularly sacred in Hinduism and Buddhism, it represents the concept of primordial birth from the cosmic waters of creation. It is frequently mentioned in the ancient Sanskrit scriptures, where it has many names including padma (pink lotus), kamala (red lotus), pundarika (white lotus) and utpala (blue lotus).
Lotus flowers are also associated with the sun, since they open at dawn and close at dusk. The Rig Veda in around 1500 BC mentions white and blue lotuses and the Atharva Veda compares the human heart with the flower. Twin youths who are gods of dawn, known as the Ashvins, wear blue lotus garlands.
Vishnu is represented with a lotus in his navel because mythology states that a golden lotus emerged from his navel as he lay upon the primordial waters and Brahma sat upon it. A lotus also emerged from Vishnu's forehead and the lotus-hued goddess Lakshmi sprang from it. She is therefore also called Padma and iconography depicts her seated on a fully blooming pink lotus, holding a lotus and being purified by elephants. Vishnu also always carries a lotus in his hand and almost all the gods of the Hindu pantheon are seated on lotuses or carry the flower.
These lotus seats, also known as a kamalasana, and lotus pedestals symolise purity in both Buddhism and Hinduism. In Buddhist mythology lotus flowers are thought to have sprang up with each step the Buddha took. The Buddhas, Bodhisattvas and Taras are often depicted holding a lotus flower or seated upon one.
The lotus embodies divine birth and is also likened to a divine womb. It is part of sexual symbolism in Vajrayana Buddhism where the union of the vajra (thunderbolt) which is hard and penetrative and the soft and open lotus are conceived as the divine embrace of compassion and wisdom.
In yoga, one of the main postures for meditation is known as the padmasana or lotus position. The head is held high and the body adopts a cross-legged seated position. This symbolises reaching above towards pure knowledge while being rooted in the material world of experience.
The Blue Lotus
The "lotus" depicted in the tomb paintings of ancient Egypt and found scattered upon the corpse of Tutankhamen when the tomb was opened in 1922 is also known as the 'lily of the Nile', and it is not a true lotus, but a blue water lily Nymphaea caerulea.
It is rumoured to contain apomorphine a drug that is said to have psychoactive properties. It is this flower which lent its name to Alfred, Lord Tennyson's (fl. 1850) poem, Song of the Lotos-eaters in which it symbolizes that which urges us to seek new experiences. The poem refers to an episode in The Odyssey of Homer.
Different Lotus Varieties
Lotus comes in different colors - namely white, red, blue, pink and purple. The Egyptian lotus is a white water lily (q.v.), Nymphaea lotus (family Nymphaeaceae).
The blue lotus (N. caerulea) was the dominant lotus in Egyptian art.
The sacred lotus of the Hindus is an aquatic plant (Nelumbo nucifera) with white or delicate pink flowers.
The lotus of eastern North America is Nelumbo pentapetala, a similar plant with yellow blossoms.
The flower rising above the leaves, appear one at a time. Each flower lasts for just 2 to 5 days only and darkens soon after.
Lotus - Food
Lotus is a wholly edible species and is cultivated as a food plant in China, Japan, Hawaii, India and Korea. It is prized mainly for its crisp rhizomes and seeds, though the flowers and leaves are also eaten in some areas.
In South Asia, lotus leaves are eaten like vegetables.
In India, the rhizomes, seeds, leaves and flowers are eaten to some extent. The rhizomes are roasted or dried and sliced. They are used in curry, soups or fried as chips. They are also pickled or can be frozen and used as an ingredient in pre-cooked foods, and a kind of thickening powder may be prepared from the fleshy rhizomes.
The fruits are sold in Indian markets for the edible seeds embedded in it. The seeds are removed of their outer covering and embryo, which is intensely bitter. They are sweet and tasty and may be eaten raw, roasted, boiled, candied or ground into flour.
Young leaves, leaf stalks and flowers of lotus are eaten as vegetables in India. Its seeds are roasted to make puffs called 'makhanas'.
Lotus - The Union of The Four Elements
The lotus in both Egypt and India symbolizes the union of the four elements; earth, air, fire, and water. The roots are in the earth, it grows in and by means of water, its leaves are nourished by air, and it blooms through the power of the sun's fire. The lotus is therefore the perfection of the fourfold order of the natural world. The growth of a new flower directly from the earth-bound original (infloresent proliferation) may be interpreted as a symbol of transcendence as found in Indian philosphophy: a spiritual emergence of a higher world directly from our physical manifestation. It may also be interpreted, as in Egypt, as the exaltation of the essence quality of the lotus.
Autumn Coolness Po Chu-I (772-864)
Heat lingers As days are still long; Early mornings are cool While autumn is still young. Dew on the lotus Scatters pure perfume; Wind on the bamboos Gives off a gentle tinkling. I am idle and lonely, Lying down all day, Sick and decayed; No one asks for me; Thin dusk before my gates, Cassia blossoms inch deep.
Lotus Dreams
Jian Nan Shi Gao, a Song dynasty poet, was 78 years old when he had the following dream: He met an ancient man who told him: "I am the lotus scholar and responsible for the mirror lake. But now I am leaving, and I was wondering if you could take my place minding the moonlight, wind and dew and protecting the lotuses? Every month you will receive 1000 jugs of wine in payment."
