Itwas the title, "A Lotus Grows In The Mud" that made me pick up this
autobiography from the library. The metaphor is so
eastern. I've read translations of Indan classics that use this metaphor to describe people who live lives unblemished by their sordid sorroundings. The lotus always grows in mud, but its petals are always smooth and fragrant.
At first I wondered, why would a hollywood actress describe herself thus? Being no pundit, she doesn't have the answers to the big questions in life. She writes that she is still on her own road to recovery. Like all of us she has undergone many transitions and transformations.This book is not a simple chronicle of events in her life, but of milestones in her life which changed the way she looked at the world.
In the course of her journey, she found that the spirit of the human being makes her happiest.
It is all about her
relationships. About her father, her mother, her sister, her husband, and her children. There were also all those creative people from hollywood. In their own unique way, they all influenced her. Her zest for life, her gift for spreading laughter, all had their roots in her childhood. Her father taught her how to
get a great fun mileage out of any situation. Her mother, by encouraging her to dance.
Of course there were encounters that could scar her psyche. One was encountered in her own bedroom on X'mas eve. It was her mother's perception of it that helped her slide off the mud from her lotus!
A bodhisattva called Kutenla told her a profound story which gave her the title of her book. He said,"The lotus is the most beautiful flower, whose petals open one by one. But it will only grow in mud.In order to grow and gain in wisdom, first you must have the mud- the obstacles of life and its sufferings.'
This arresting observation is the thread that runs thru her writings.
As each of her petal unfolds, there is joy and wonder, always.
What does the future hold for her? Only wonderful surprises!