My first introduction to mindfulness was through books by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, such as “Peace is every step” and “Peace is every breath”, they offer wonderful examples of daily mindfulness practices, such as walking meditation and washing the dishes, as well as deeper methods of loving speech and deep compassionate listening.
In Peace is every step, he contemplates flowers and garbage and how one turns into another. “If you are a good organic gardener, looking at a rose you can see the garbage, and looking at the garbage you can see a rose.” The garbage is just as important as the rose as it helps the rose to grow and when the rose wilts, it turns back into garbage. Everything transforms.
Thich Nhat Hanh also uses the term “No Mud, No Lotus” to remind us that we can transform suffering into joy. “If we don’t have the mud, the lotus won’t manifest.” This helps us see that in the difficulties of every day life we can grow our own lotus of happiness.
I have created these lotus tops to remind us to bring mindfulness into our every day life, to transform our difficulties and find our joy. You can wear them in a yoga or meditation class or just as a gentle reminder to find your inner happiness.
As Thich Nhat Hanh says “A lotus for you, a Buddha to be.”
See the store here: https://createharmony.teemill.com/
