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.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
Maneesha, you are asking: "Osho, isn't the lotus flower a lotus flower at its conception, when it is floating in the pond and when it is plucked from the pond?"
No, Maneesha, a lotus flower is a lotus flower. Whether you see it or not, whether it is in the seed or floating in the water, it is simply the change of the form. But the essence -- and we are calling the lotus flower the essence -- is not its particular expression. You are asleep or you are awake.... Spiritually you are still asleep; perhaps one day you will become spiritually awake too. But all the time it is you -- awake or asleep, enlightened or unenlightened. The lotus flower is the lotus flower.
‘Lotus’ is a beloved symbol for mystics—for many reasons. First, it is born in mud, in dirty mud. It arises from mud where no one would have suspected the possibility. Had we not known, seeing the mud no one could have imagined, dreamed, conceived that a lotus would be born from this! Mud and lotus—there seems no connection. Where the lotus, where the mud! The lotus appears so opposite to this earth—as though it has come from beyond, not of this earth. As though a stranger, descended from the sky. So untouched, so virginal, so beautiful, so delicate—how could it be born of mud! Such virginity belongs to the sky! Thus, in the lotus there is something of the sky, and something that has come from mud. Therefore it is a most significant symbol. Man too is mud—a form of clay! Yet the lotus can bloom.
[NOTE: This is an unedited tape transcript of an unpublished darshan diary, which has been copy-typed on to the computer. It is for reference purposes only.] The lotus represents The ultimate unfolding of consciousness. The lotus is the biggest flower in the world And in the East the most respected flower For two reasons/ One: it grows in the mud, in the dirty mud. One cannot conceive that out of such dirty mud Such a beautiful flower is possible. Hence it represents something in man. Man ordinarily is nothing but dirt Just dirty mud But hidden in it is the possibility Of a lotus flower. So just don't condemn the dirt And don't condemn ordinary humanity. Secondly: the lotus grows in water. Out of dirty mud it rises and floats on the water. It has a very miraculous quality: It is so velvety that the water cannot touch it.
In that very moment one passes through a radical transformation. Then life is no more the same again. When you are with closed eyes all is dark. When you are with open eyes life is all colour, all light. God is the experience of existence with open eyes. Those who deny god are simply saying that they are blind. Not only are they blind, they are stubborn too. They are insisting that they are not blind but that there is no god. Friedrich Nietzsche says god is dead. The reality is that Nietzsche is mad, that he is blind. If one keeps one's eyes closed, the sun may be there in the sky showering light but you live in darkness. Just a small curtain over your eyes is enough to prevent you from seeing the truth. Sannyas is a deliberate effort to open your eyes.
‘As on a heap of refuse by the great road a fragrant, beautiful lotus blooms…’ First, the lotus blooms only in mud. Its deep meaning: the mud is not only mud—it is the possibility of the lotus. Look with a sharp eye and you will find the lotus hidden in the mud. The mud is not only the present—it is the future. Look closely and you will glimpse the future lotus peeping from it, hidden. Only those with keen eyes can see it. Do not worship the mud; use it. Do not make the mud your master; keep it your servant. Remain the master—only then can you draw the lotus from the mud. If your movement is upward, if you are journeying above, then the lotus of the mud can travel upward with you.