Photo credit: Linda W. MyOwnChineseBrocade.com
History of Lotus in China
Lotus has a significant place as a symbol in Chinese culture. We see Lotus rising out of the muddiest and murky waters to appear beautiful and pristine.
It has therefore been adopted as a symbol of purity, and transcendence. In particular it has been adopted by Buddhism as one of eight sacred objects.
Process of Transcendence
The definition of transcendence is: exceeding usual limits or extending or lying beyond the limits of ordinary experience.
Stories of transcendence are usually large and impressive like Nelson Mandela surviving 27 years of wrongful imprisonment and then being released to become the leader of the country that once accused him of being a criminal.
But the process that is relevant to the great majority of people is smaller. This process boils down to how to we tolerate a situation or circumstance that is less than ideal while preserving a good attitude and eventually creating a change in our circumstance that moves us closer towards our ultimate desires?
Claiming the Power of Your Mind
It is important to understand and claim the power of your mind over your experience. Suffering is largely a product of the mind. We known this because people can be suffering even if everything around them would suggest comfort and abundance. We can even go as far as to define suffering as the act of focusing your mind on something that you do not wish to experience.
This comes in many forms. When we focus our minds on undesirable things and speak them aloud, this is called complaining. When we focus our minds on things undesirable in the future, this is called worrying. This tendency and all of its forms is the opposite of transcendence. It is locking yourself in a box defined by your circumstances.
Therefore the process of transcendence can be simply defined as the process of focusing your mind on what you desire regardless of your current circumstances. This act creates a feeling of contentment, anticipation, and positive expectation and eventually your circumstances reshape themselves to reflect your mental focus.
Stay Tuned for a New Lotus Lesson and other related Product Features
The idea of Lotus and transcendence is so deliciously powerful that we've created a new lesson that will allow you to contemplate these ideas while painting. Stay tuned as we plan to unveil an exciting package around Lotus that features this new lesson tomorrow at 5PM PST.
Until then, Happy Painting!