The lotus, born in slime and mud, rises up through the water and lifts its head above it. It refuses to get wet although it springs from water. Be like the lotus, unattached. (GA, p. 66)

The picture before which you sit, the flowers which you place on it, the hymns you recite, the vows you impose on yourself, the vigil you go through these are all activities that cleanse, that remove the obstacles in the way of your getting aware of the God within you. (SGM, p. 342)

The Lord wants you to offer the lotus that blooms in the lake of your heart and the fruit that ripens on the tree of your earthly career and Not the lotus and fruit available from the market place. (SGM, pp. 342-343)

The Lord is like the Lotus, unaffected by the environment where He is; that is the reason why His eyes, His face, are compared to the lotus. Children should be taught to live like the lotuses in the lake of the objective world (Samsara), being in water but unaffected by it. Lotuses cannot live when out of water; yet they will not allow water to enter! Be in the world (Samsara) but see that Samsara is not in you. That is the secret of successful living, which the parents do not teach the young. We speak of the Lotus of the Heart! Why? Because, the lotus grows up in and from water blooms in the sun. The Heart too draws sustenance from Devotion (Bhakti) and blooms through Wisdom (Jnana).

God’s hands, feet, face, eyes etc., are compared to the lotus in the scriptures. What is the signifance? The lotus plant is born in slush. It stays in and on water. Without slush and water, lotus cannot survive even for a minute. Nevertheless, the lotus is ever untouched by both. Similarly, man should try to remain untouched by the mire of past tendencies (savanashas / Samskaras) in which he is born or by the water of Samsara, the world in which he lives. (NNSG Vol.7, pp. 13-14)

The sadhus (the saints and mystics) have defined the heart in another way. Treating the Omkara Mantra as a rocking cradle the Mahaavakya, ‘Tat Tvam Asi’ (That Thout art) as a bed and Chaitanyam (the Universal Consciousness) as a baby, the great souls of the seven worlds have sung lullabies to the Lord. For them the heart is the cradle of the Lord. The sadhakas (spiritual aspirants) should therefore regard the heart as the veritable dwelling of the Divine.

Many great souls have experienced the heart as a lotus. Although rooted in mire, and growing up in muddy water, the lotus shines in purity. When the lotus opens its petals and looks up it seems to be saying: O Lord, please come and dwell in me. Though born in mire it does not wallow in it. Though surrounded by polluted water it is not polluted by it. This is the great lesson the lotus has to teach men. Though you are living in a corrupt world and are born in the mire of an unrighteous society you must turn your mind towards God and make your heart a shrine for God - this is the message of the louts to man. (SSS Vol.17, pp. 95-96)

Lotus is the ornament for waters

Wave is the decoration for the ocean

Virtue is the jewel of a woman

The moon enhances the beauty of the sky

And character is everything for a teacher!

(SSSDK, 2004, p. 294)

Be thankful to the Lord that He gave you Time, as well as action to fill it with. He gave you food, as well as hunger to relish it. But, that does not entitle you to engage yourself in action indiscriminately. When you build a house, you install a door in front. What is the purpose of the door? To admit all whom you welcome and to keep out all whom you do not want. It has a double purpose; you do not keep the doors wide open, for all and sundry to come in as and when they like. So too, select the impulses, the motives, the incentives that enter your mind; keep out the demeaning, the debasing, the deleterious. Admit the highest wisdom of the scriptures, the wisdom culled out of the crucible of experience, called anubhava-jnanam.

All water is not potable; the stagnant pool is to be avoided, the flowing river is better. Select and drink. Use the mosquito curtain, but, see that the mosquitoes do not get in when you go to bed. Keep them out; do not imprison them inside the net. Sail in the boat that floats on water but, do not allow the water to enter the boat. Be in worldly life, but, do not allow it to get into you. Use the doors intelligently, to let in those whom you want, and keep out those whom you do not need. The lotus, born in slime and mud, rises up through the water and lifts its head high above the waters; it refuses to get wet though water is the element which gives it life! Be like the lotus.

By action, done with all this care, the Vision gets clarified. Man is blinded by the objective world and he believes that world to be real, meaningful and worthy of pursuit. The cataract grows in the eye and robs it of its efficiency. The cataract is the enemy of the eye. Ignorance, the cataract of the inner eye, blinds the intellect and robs it of its efficiency. So, it cannot see the Divinity that is your real nature. It misleads you into the impression that you are a man (Manava), whereas you are really God (Madhava).