Lotus flowers do not grow alone. They grow in communities atop the water, spreading through rhizomes in the mud and seeds on the wind. Lotus flowers growing in the same pond share the same air, the same sunlight, and the same mud.
It’s common when practicing meditation to focus on our personal mud. Every autobiography is a story of joy and pain. And yet, when we become hyperfocused on the twists and turns of our own narrative, it becomes easy to overlook how much of our story is shared with other people, how much of our sorrow and suffering is intimately known by others in their own lives. Often, it is a feeling of isolation or victimization that compounds our suffering. Knowing we are not the only ones to feel the way we sometimes do can be a potent balm.
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Excerpt from On Mindful Democracy © 2026 by Jeremy David Engels with permission from Plum Village Community of Engaged Buddhism, Inc. dba Parallax Press.
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