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When the Flower Opens
Reconnecting with nature’s petals
I first met a family of Bahá’í faith in Bahrain. They had recently travelled from Iran, and were Persians. Through them I learnt much about this embracing faith, and the Bahá’í Lotus Temple in New Delhi, India, which since 1986 has remained open for people of all faiths to pray, though no sermons may be delivered, or ritualistic practices be carried out.
That the Bahá’í chose New Delhi is fortuous: in no other country have persecuted religious groups been offered more protection than in India, and Jewish people have always enjoyed a life free from persecution in the subcontinent.
ah to walk to India
and set a lotus flower afloat
in the Ganges
It is in Taoism that we learn that the clever seek answers from within to grow, while the not so studious seek them from others. And what answers? Tibetan Buddhism stresses mental and spiritual purity through the lotus. In esoteric Buddhism, the heart of beings is like an unopened lotus: when the virtues of the Buddha develop therein, the lotus blossoms; that is why the Buddha sits on a lotus bloom. The flower…
