Buddha On Lotus

The Buddha is often depicted sitting on an open lotus flower in his enlightened state, and the lotus is a symbol of the highest spiritual attainment in Buddhism. In the Aṅguttara Nikāya, the Buddha compares himself to a lotus (padma in Sanskrit, in Pali, paduma), saying that the lotus flower rises from the muddy water unstained, as he rises from this world, free from the defilements taught in the specific sutta. The lotus represents the Buddha’s awakening.