According to Osho, the lotus flower signifies the unchanging essence of being: whether as seed, unseen, or blooming on water, only the form shifts; the lotus-ness remains. Likewise, whether you are spiritually asleep or awake, enlightened or not, your essential nature is the same. Enlightenment is recognition of what already is, not an acquisition.
Like a lotus is still a lotus as a seed or a flower, you are still you whether asleep or awake—growth just reveals what was already there.