The Lotus

"As a lotus flower is born in water, grows in water and rises out of water to stand above it unsoiled, so I, born in the world, raised in the world having overcome the world, over unsoiled by the world." Buddha

There is something just so mesmerizing and complex about the lotus. It's multi-layered levels, independent of each other with a burst of color, but joined and united together for this spectacular display.  With stem systems that seem murky an dirty, stagnant even, but look, look closely, it's magic.