The lotus blossom is one of Buddhism’s Eight Auspicious Symbols, and it represents three key characteristics related to its capacity to rise from muddy water:
Enlightenment: achieving a level of beauty, grace, and perfection after emerging from a state of murky darkness.
Purification is the process of cleansing a human spirit that was born into darkness and ignorance.
Faithfulness: Those who seek to rise beyond the abyss must be devout followers of a wise instructor.
In Buddhist philosophy, the various hues of the lotus flower each have their unique meaning. White flowers indicate love and compassion, blue is associated with wisdom and logic, purple is the color of deeper spirituality, pink is the ‘real lotus’ of Buddha, and gold, the color spectrum’s apex, represents the attainment of absolute enlightenment.