Last week I took my daughter to the Blue Lotus Water Garden in the Yarra Valley, just down the road from where we live. We have driven past it numerous times since moving here but had never been, assuming that it was just another tourist hot spot…
So reluctantly I decided to take her. She really wanted to see the beautiful blooms, and of course I did too.
We got there super early before the crowds and were able to experience the garden with hardly anyone there, which was a real treat. I don’t think I have ever seen so many lotuses and water lilies in one spot. Absolutely magical, the blooms, the seed pods, the buds and the huge deep emerald green leaves of the lotus plant, were all just astounding.
Lotus flowers are regal, towering high above the leaves and water, the petals unfurling in all different ways, mystical and awe inspiring. I felt like I was in the presence of royalty amongst the blooms, and my daughter loved them all so much! She wants to go back.
The lotus as it is represented in Tibetan Buddhism is a symbol of spiritual purity and acts as a reminder that all beings are capable of attaining enlightenment. As the teachings state that the lotus flower rises up out of the murky muddy water and blooms so beautifully, just like our minds are capable of awakening into our true nature or buddha-nature. I think that’s all pretty cool.
Definitely a place to return to, to contemplate the nature of reality, through observing the lotus flower and all its beauty and symbolism.
I highly recommend it if you’re visiting the Yarra Valley in Victoria from December to April.
Ps This post isn’t a promotion, I just felt like writing about our experience amongst the lotus flowers.
