No Mud No Lotus

Recently my spiritual teacher gave the Divine Channels a task.  The task was to create lotus flowers for returning virtue to heaven for all the blessings that have been given to us as Divine Channels to serve humanity.  It was not one or two, it was hundreds!  I thought for a minute how will this task be completed and I knew it would not be by myself.  As I spoke with my clients and students they were most happy to help.  It seemed we needed a system to be able to get the task completed!  So the clients and students set up to make the petals.  The staff here at the office and some of the students would bind the petals and then we could open them to create the lotus!  Well time went by and we were doing pretty well but I was still unsure that the task could be completed in time.  This is where the purification of the task started.  I am deeply grateful for my realizations during this process.  This process is truly a oneness process.  You see the deep connection you have with your students, clients and friends as they from their hearts help you the best that they can.  I am so grateful to them!  But we just kept going!  Then one day near the end many came in to the office with their folded petals and we easily completed the task ahead of schedule!
Well the task was completed, but I kept in the purification process.  My heart continued to open wider and wider to this task and what it meant to me on a much deeper level.  Then I saw "No Mud No Lotus" in an ad for a coffee cup on facebook.  I knew this saying, but it hit me very hard.  The tears began to flow and I could not stop crying.  I knew I need to go deeper regarding the significance of the Lotus. I found this explanation on www.buddhists.org:

• The lotus flower represents one symbol of fortune in Buddhism. It grows in muddy water, and it is this environment that gives forth the flower’s first and most literal meaning: rising and blooming above the murk to achieve enlightenment.
• The second meaning, which is related to the first is purification. It resembles the purifying of the spirit which is born into murkiness. 
• The third meaning refers to faithfulness. Those who are working to rise above the muddy waters will need to be faithful followers.

This touched my heart so deeply and it gave the deeper meaning to me for my own realization and purification for this task.  We are here in the murkiness of our karma and it is only through our  work on our spiritual journey that we can purify to become the lotus. The lotus represents purity. The lotus can serve through it purity at a much higher level. I have the deepest love and gratitude for my spiritual teacher, Dr. and Master Zhi Gang Sha.  I am grateful for all the tasks and lesson that are given to me by him and heaven.  I am so deeply grateful for the purification, the realizations and the most profound heart and soul opening.
I want to thank from the bottom of my heart all of those that helped me to complete this task: Mary Anne and Michael Melvin, Barb Jenos, Suzanne Harris and her staff at KidsPark, Christine Ki, Karen Rudnick, Crystal Vetter, Leslie Fratianni, Rose Mikula, Jennifer St. Clair, and Darlene Peterson.

I also found this beautiful YouTube video inspired by Roshi Joan Halifax and the Gayatri Mantra as performed by Deva Premal. Enjoy!