Religious Section 宗教篇

Part Seventeen 第十七部分

🌹 Buddhism and Lotus Flower
佛教和蓮花

Lotus---A Symbol of Tranquility
荷花---安靜的象征

A Collection of Choice Specimens from Chinese Culture 《中国文化集锦》

Seventy Years of Deep Affection of Knowledge about the English Language 英语七十载厚重岁月情缘

There is no shortage of hard-working people in the world, but of those who work hard to the end. 世上从不缺少努力的人，缺的是努力到底的人！

With utter devotion to the country and without any thought of oneself. 心有大我，至诚报国

The true meaning of life lies in the fact that: “To be an upright person dependably, to handle affairs seriously.” 人生的真谛是：“老老实实做人，踏踏实实做事。”

Buddhism and Lotus Flower
佛教和蓮花

In Buddhist temples in China, Buddha statues are found almost seated everywhere on lotus flower-daisies. The reason can be traced to a story in Buddhist scriptures. In the Western Paradise, there is a seven-treasure pool. As long as a person in this mortal world prays to Buddha, a lotus flower will grow to appear in the pool. The more people pray, the more flowers, and the better people pray, the more luxuriant the flowers become.
According to Buddhism when a Buddhist is falling into nirvana, the Buddhist spirits Amitabha (⑴ who presides over the Western Paradise
西方極樂世界教主and whose name is told as an incantation 咒語 repeated by the faithful ⑵ 「used as an exclamation」may Buddha preserve us; Buddha be praised) 阿彌陀佛又簡稱彌陀（意譯無量光佛、無量壽佛） and Avalokitesvara 觀音（即觀世音） will come to his/her rescue, bringing with her lotus flowers from the pool. The soul of the person will enter the flower and be taken to the Western Paradise. When the lotus blooms in the pool, the person will be able to see Amitabha and s/he her/him-self will become an enlightened one. But the time needed for a flower to bloom varies. The more benevolent a person, the faster the flower blooms. Therefore, lotus flowers are seen as symbols of the deity, auspiciousness, happiness and virtue in Buddhism.
However, another reason is symbol. The beautiful, dedicated lotus flower is rooted in mud, corresponding to a fundamental religious principle. Buddhism teaches that all mortal beings are subjected to ten types of pollution, and are often in a distressed sate of mind. To rid them of their vexation and enable them to reach the Western Paradise when they are dying, they must follow the Buddhist discipline and discard totally away their earthly desires and perceptions. To symbolize this principle, Buddhism uses the mud to stand for the earth and the lotus flower blooming upward out of the mud a devout and virtuous Buddhist.

Lotus---A Symbol of Tranquility
荷花---安靜的象征

The lotus, the fragrance of （whose）flowers and large leaves giving grace so many ponds, is connected with religion, art and poetry in China. Its white or pink blossom has been used in Buddhism from ancient times as the symbol of peace and tranquility. Most of the Buddha statues in the Chinese temples are seated on lotus thrones. Lotus blossom patterns decorate ancient Chinese architecture and the lotus is a common theme of traditional Chinese painting.
The lotus has been extolled by poets and other admirers of its beauty. Zhou Dunyi周敦頤（1017-1073）, a philosopher of the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127), wrote that the lotus grew out of ooze but remained spotlessly pure. The flowers were beautiful but never coquettish. The fragrance of its blossom spread far and wide though it always stood still and erect. In Beijing, the Summer Palace, Purple Bamboo Park and Beihai Park are the best places to enjoy the lotus. Sometimes, people can find twin-bud flowers, which are considered a propitious sign by many people on one stalk.
Apart from its value as an ornamental plant, the lotus is a delicious food. Its seeds and root can be cooked into tasty dishes or used as ingredients in other traditional Chinese recipes. Even the leaves can be used too: To cover boiling rice porridge with a clean lotus leaf for a few minutes, when the porridge turns green, it is done---a kind of delicious lotus porridge.
Every part of the lotus, from roots to leaves and even flowers, is used in traditional Chinese medicine. In the Compendium of Materia Medica本草綱目, Li Shizhen 李時珍 (1518-1593), the famous doctor of herbal-medicine, a biologist of the Ming Dynasty prescribed the stamens of lotus blossoms as a tonic to nourish the skin and hair, and the plumes---rudimentary buds of the lotus seeds to reduce high blood pressure.
Lotus seeds have exceptional vitality. A Song-dynasty herbal medicine book says that lotus seeds eaten and then excreted by wild geese could sprout even several years later and those brought into mountain caves by birds could remain alive in a time as long as of some three hundred years.
Early in the 20th century, scientists unearthed some lotus seeds from a peat layer at Liaoning Province’s Pulandian County. Analysis showed that the seeds were more than 150 years old.
The Beijing Botanical Garden planted some of these seeds in 1953 and they blossomed in 1955. The leaves and flowers are quite similar to those of the local lotus.