International Day of Peace

"The lotus was of great significance to many ancient cultures, and in particular to the Eastern religions. From ancestral times, the lotus regularly appears as a symbol of purity, peace, transcendence, enlightenment, rebirth, beauty, and fertility. In India, the lotus flower is considered to be of divine origin and is viewed as sacred by both Hindus and Buddhists. Buddha was said to sleep on a lotus six months of the year, and Shambala (Buddhist heaven) is sometimes represented as a field of flowering sacred lotuses." Taken from the first link below.

www.holisticaroma.co.uk/shp/TheSacredLotus.htm

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelumbo_nucifera

For this special International Day of Peace, I'm using this image of a recent Sacred Lotus (Nelumbo nucifera) that bloomed at the Calgary Zoo, to symbolize PEACE - that is so desperately needed in so many parts of the world. Of course, in an ideal world, every day should be an International Day of Peace : ) I couldn't add the title to the black frame as I have somehow messed up PhotoShop Elements and can't add text into the textbox : )