Relationship with God

A lotus flower

Our relationship with God is like a lotus flower, where the central part is our relationship with our mother, and all other relationships are petals. The size of the petals corresponds to the size of the person’s spiritual influence on us, and so the largest is our father. The colour of each part of the flower is determined by the character of the relationship. Our mother is the central part because our relationship with her is the most profoundly central and material. Since the centre of a flower is associated with reproduction, new relationships are created through our mother's love. The flower blooms throughout our life in this world.

If we say the prayer starting 'I beg Thee to forgive me, O my Lord, for every mention but the mention of Thee...' enough times, then the lotus flower disappears and we have a relationship directly with God instead.