‘No Mud, No Lotus’, so goes the famous title of the famous book by famous Buddhist monk, Thich Nhat Hanh, explained as, ‘The secret to happiness is to acknowledge and transform suffering, not to run away from it.’

It’s Lotus Flowering Season in Taiwan and for people who like to take photos of the beautiful lotus flowers, the fact that they grow in muddy waterlogged fields is, well, let’s face it, a great inconvenience! Fortunately today I found one flower just out, and although its roots were in the mud, it was growing right by the side of the path. Ah yes!

So here’s a few photos of the lotus flowers this summer in Sanzhi area….

‘Most people are afraid of suffering. But suffering is a kind of mud to help the lotus flower of happiness grow. There can be no lotus flower without the mud.’ 

Thich Nhat Hanh, No Mud, No Lotus: The Art of Transforming Suffering