About Flowers in Buddhism

Lotus flowers are the quintessential symbol of Buddhism.

Buddhism, one of the main world religions, has a very important relationship with flowers. Flowers are an important motif in the religion, and the lotus happens to be one of the most important types. There are numerous scattered references to flowers of several kinds, and a handful of flowers said to be good omens, throughout the Buddhist texts.

Types

While the Buddhist texts have a wealth of things to say about flowers in general, a few main types come up as specifically important. The lotus is one of the most commonly associated and important floral symbols in the religion. There are also said to be beautiful, unnamed jeweled flowers in the "Pure Land" or Nirvana.

The Lotus

The lotus, sitting above the water, represents man escaping the corruption of the world.

The lotus is one of the perennial symbols of Buddhism. The lotus flower has many meanings, one of them being that it represents man--head held aloft in the sun, rooted by his feet in the Earth and sitting on or above the surface of the water. The flower is also a symbol of knowledge, emerging from slime and corruption. They also represent the beautiful. They are beautiful flowers, which makes them ideal images for meditation and religious practices.

Jeweled Flowers

In the Larger Sutra, the text discusses jeweled flowers that adorn the land that represents Nirvana. These flowers are said to be incomprehensibly beautiful, made up of jewels and precious metals, having thousands of perfect, shimmering petals that radiate infinite beams of light. Nirvana is a complete detachment from the world and all earthly things, only slightly similar to the concept of Heaven, and incredibly beautiful.

Udumbara

The Udumbara plant is a tiny, pale and fragrant flower that is often confused with egg sacs for insects. In fact, they almost look like broken eggs. They are incredibly rare. The main identifiable difference between them and insect egg sacs is the smell that they emit and the lack of insects crawling out. The Sanskrit name translates to "auspicious flower from heaven." They're considered good luck.

Significance

There is a lesson hidden in the petals of each flower by the roadside.

Generally, flowers are said to be teachers. The Zen tradition holds that each flower you see has a silent lesson to teach passersby, if only we'll listen to it. This is part of the tradition of wordless, mind-to-mind transition of information--certain things can't be conveyed through words, things like aesthetic beauty and emotion.

References

• Muryoko: Flowers of the Dharma
• Khandro: Lotus
• Pure Insight: Udumbara
• The Flower Expert: Flowers and Religion