The Lotus Flower
Symbol of Our Mother God

Soon after we published this we received the following comment on the dance and the holy lotus flower symbol:

I have seen the video of the Lotus Dance, and it is truly an amazing presentation of the worship of Our Mother God.

I can say this is not so much an "unconscious" depiction of the Holy Feminine Trinity because I have seen that the Falun Dafa preaches values that are full of gentleness. Therefore, I guess they also agree that male-figures could never convey these ideas and, although they don't necessarily know of the Feminine nature of God, they must have knowledge that such beauty, as shown on the video, must come from a feminine "side" of God.

One thing that came to my attention was the fact that the three dancers chosen have very different ages. It clearly depicts the Holy Trinity with a hint of the "Moirae" idea. And seeing that, still, all three move graciously and equally makes this video even more fantastic.

Which brings me to the question: Their dance, specially their hand movements, are very carefully executed. So I began wondering if they had specific meanings. Could you shed some light over this question, please? I know some times they depict the lotus flower symbol with their hands, but that is all.

Thank you and Rayati

Our dance correspondent writes:

I believe that we can, to some extent, decipher the lotus flower symbol and meaning of the Holy Lotus dance.

Unfortunately, the filming is such that the dancers' bodies are not fully visible throughout the kinema. The cinematography is rather fanciful. This makes the dance difficult to decipher, as parts of it are hidden from the viewer.

One very important thing to note is the fact that the maidens are sitting, not standing. Normally, a dancer's foot positions will convey some meaning in the dance. However, there are no foot positions. We must then turn to iconic symbolism. Sai Mahalakshmi and Sai Saraswati are both often depicted seated upon lotuses, while Sai Lalita is depicted sitting upon a throne. (You'll notice that there are two younger maidens with their hair in three loops and one older maiden with her hair in four loops.) Judging by the colours of the costuming, the dance refers to the pink lotus (as opposed to another colour) which is the ultimate lotus blossom, the symbol of the most powerful deities. So, we can be sure that these maidens are taking the parts of Sai Lalita, Sai Mahalakshmi, and Sai Saraswati.

The cupped hand/open fingers gesture does not correspond specifically to anything I know of, and I suspect that it is meant to represent a blooming lotus blossom rather than an idea. The blooming of a lotus represents the achievement of enlightenment, the renunciation of samsara, et cetera.

The maidens stretch their arms in all four directions (that is, left, right, up, and down) in a gesture meaning "trinity". They sweep their arms around again, indicating all directions, then make another gesture meaning "a type of flower" (here the lotus) or the tying of strivate, the Thread-Spirit (tying in to the moirae theme previously mentioned). They flutter their hands, then press out in a gesture indicative of giving something to someone. This is the three goddesses bestowing their mercy and wisdom upon Maid.

Think of the arm-circling as a gathering-in of the whole universe. The palms pressed together gesture is, of course, prayer.

I am afraid I cannot find more detail than this. It is like trying to read a book with pages missing.

See also:

Thousand Hand Kuan Yin Dance

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