Slanger

it is an unwritten rule of life that after every prolonged period of hardship and uncertainty, there is going to be a period when you are going to achieve quantum leaps across multiple areas of your life. the only requirement is that you do not give up on yourself

I have a fun theory I like to play around with that lotuses originally taught Buddhism to humans. I once spent 2 weeks connecting to blue lotus using a concentrated extract of it combined with isolation, fasting, abstinence, and various meditations etc. I received many Buddhist teachings from the plant, including quite advanced tantric practices that were largely beyond my capacity to effectively practice. There's plenty of little clues supporting the theory in Buddhist scripture and art. In Buddhist thangka paintings, enlightened Buddhas are often depicted seated on lotuses, as if supported by their wisdom. They also often hold them in their hand, offering them to others. The name of the most prestigious lineage founder in Tibetan Buddhism is "Padmasambhava" - which means "born from a lotus". The most sacred Tibetan Buddhist mantra is "Om Mani Padme Hum," which translates as "reverence to the jewel in the lotus". In the Pali canon, the Buddha regularly likens himself to a lotus and paints them as aspirational figures. Perhaps the most compelling evidence is that the Buddha successfully enlightens his disciple Mahākāśyapa, simply by holding up a lotus flower to him. This is how Zen Buddhists say the "teaching beyond scriptures" that the tradition is founded upon was originally transmitted. Anatomically, lotuses also physically embody many Buddhist teachings. Their widely open splayed petals suggest a stance of total release and letting go, like a floral open palm. They grow in muddy water but then emerge untouched from it, transcendentally gliding on its surface. Of course, the standard explanation would be that this is all just symbol and metaphor. The above mentioned anatomical suitability of lotuses as metaphor makes them a good symbol of Buddhist wisdom and that's the end of it. However, much recent scholarship of Indian religious traditions is showing that things previously thought to be purely symbolic actually have a corresponding literal reality to them too. The fact that the Buddha held up a lotus as his true teaching to Mahākāśyapa and this set up the most enduring tradition of pure transmission supports this theory. Anyway, it's obviously somewhat of a crackpot theory and I can't prove it. But for anyone curious about investigating it, I can highly recommend a couple of weeks spent connecting deeply to lotuses. You can judge for yourself the Buddhist wisdom they hold based on what they teach you...

Can you rt this? Maybe we can make a difference

猫科全家福。果然是一家喵，一个模子刻出来的啊😂