In many ancient temples across India one can see the ceilings painted with the 1000 petalled lotus, also known as Sahasrara, our 7th chakra and seat of divine consciousness.
Our spinal chord can be imagined to be a long stem through which our "kundalini", serpent power which arouses human potential, travels and directs energy towards the blossoming of this flower. Here it is said to unite the forces of our Shakti power which resides in the root chakra with our Shiva consciousness whose abode is our crown chakra.
The journey of darkness to light, material to spiritual and lower to higher planes certainly mirrors the journey of the lotus' struggle to grow out of mud and unfold into a pure and beautiful expression of nature.
It is not unlike our own efforts to move beyond the lower planes of human existence and reach the divine light that is within each one of us.
