Lotus Flower

This is a Buddhist inspired original Acrylic Painting of a mandala Lotus Flower. It's dimensions are 2 ft by 2.5 ft with 1.75 inch sides. I really like the Dalai Lama and have read quite a few of his books and also 'The Tibetan Book of the Dead'. I followed the design techniques that Buddhist monks use in their artwork, especially the sand drawings they do. In Buddhism, the sand represents impermanence, and they destroy their work after a while. It is considered a meditation. In the center, is the triple Ying Yang that has shown up in more than just Buddhist drawings historically. I also used the 4 points or numbers basically divisible by 4 in the petals and stamen. This is supposed to represent the 4 Noble Truths in Buddhism which deals with the reality of suffering and trying to escape unnecessary suffering to ultimately find happiness.
What I get out of it is, you really can't help other people or even yourself if you are negative all the time. Of course, all of that is easier said than done. There is also symbolism in the background. A Lotus Flower is something that grows out of mud basically so I wanted to represent that in the background with organic random squiggles that this beautiful form can grew out of. Buddhism is very accepting of other cultures, so I decided to be inspired and go for it when I did this painting. In general, I really like Buddhist philosophy and wanted to do something so I can talk about it. The Dalai Lama often has a great smile and vibe about him. He is trying to share those feelings with people so we can enjoy our lives too and not waste our lives being depressed, upset or super selfish. Basically, that would be sad and a waste of time to not enjoy life to some extent. I think my parents, who are both passed on would want me and my siblings to be happy and not sad as well. Since I lost them not long ago, it is a struggle to be happy for me, but that does not mean I can't recognize or acknowledge that state of mind and try to improve it. Life is an awesome blessing and obviously I owe that to my parents (and the natural world for that matter) for giving me the ultimate gift of life, as we all do. Domestic Priority Shipping Included in Price. Feel kind of bad writing that sentence about shipping after writing about my parents and the Dalai Lama but I do have bills and such to pay and if I want to paint, I do need some money for it.