A City A Story Photo Weekly Contest # 15: The Purity of Lotus

Religion is always closely related to culture and Buddhism is a religion that has many following in many parts of Asia. That includes Singapore which has a number of Buddhist temples. A common sight in Buddhist temples are Buddha sitting on the lotus flower or Guanyin, the Goddess of Mercy, sitting on the lotus flower. Here are a few shots I took outside the Guanyin Hall at Shuang Lin Monastery recently of some lotus flower.

At another Buddhist Temple at Bencoolen Street, there are many makeshift stalls selling flowers and joss sticks. The lotus flowers are also sold there by many devotees who would buy and bring in the temple as offerings. What is strange is something I noticed. One of lady from a stall was spraying red paint on a lotus flower and then putting it back into the vase for sale. It look so artificially red but I’m sure it wasn’t the first time she was doing it as she was spraying very confidently. That only means people are buying the kind of red lotus flowers. Go figure.

Anyway, I’ve seen lotus flowers at temples so often, I have to wonder the significance. So, I decided to do some research and this is what I found:
In Buddhist symbolism the lotus is symbolic of purity of the body, speech, and mind as while rooted in the mud, its flowers blossom on long stalks as if floating above the muddy waters of attachment and desire. It is also symbolic of detachment as drops of water easily slide off its petals. ... It is also to be noted that many Asian deities are depicted seated on a lotus flower. According to legend, Gautama Buddha was born with the ability to walk and everywhere he stepped, lotus flowers bloomed.

Source: https://buddhists.org/buddhist-symbols/the-meaning-of-the-lotus-flower-in-buddhism/

宗教永远离不开文化，佛教在亚洲的许多地方都有很多信仰者。这包括有许多佛教寺庙的新加坡。佛教寺庙中常见的景点是坐在莲花上的佛像或坐在莲花的观音菩萨。以下是我最近在双林寺的观音殿外拍摄的一些莲花的几张照片。
在明古连街的观音堂佛祖庙外，有许多卖花和香烛的临时摊位。其中的话有莲花卖给供奉者带入寺庙作为祭品。有一次，我注意到奇怪的时间。一位卖花都女士从摊位上将红色油漆喷洒在莲花上，然后放回花瓶中出售。它看起来很很假，但我敢肯定这不是她第一次这样做，因为她非常自信地喷漆。那只意味着是有人购买那种红莲花。真搞不清楚人怎么像。
我经常在寺庙里看到莲花，我不得不像它有何象征。所以，我决定上网搜索。这是我发现的：
莲花(学名Nelumbonucifera)表征清净无染，光明自在的意思，因为莲花出于污泥而不染，这种美德与特征，佛陀喜欢拿莲花作譬喻。 … 莲花在佛门中，为佛菩萨所常拿来作譬喻，表征著清静、无染、光明、自在、解脱之义。其它之花，佛陀就较少比喻，佛陀坐莲花显的很庄严，清净自在，安详无比；假使佛陀坐在茉莉花上，不是显得怪怪的吗？不但不庄严，而且佛陀当下就显得没有气质了，逊色多了，不是吗？（如本法师著《佛学问答》）
资料来源： http://www.dizang.org/wd/fx/051.htm