No Mud, No Lotus

"No Mud, No Lotus" is an 8x10 inch hand-carved linoleum block print in Cranfield process blue ink on gorgeous cream kitikata paper, fibroid purple leaf paper, or blue Lokta paper in gold ink.

Inspired by the Chinese proverb 出污泥而不染 and adopted by the great Vietnamese Buddhist Monk, Thich Nhat Hanh in his book “No Mud, No Lotus: The Art Of Transforming Suffering”

“…Without mud, you cannot have a lotus flower. Without suffering, you have no ways in order to learn how to be understanding and compassionate…. Happiness is the lotus flower, and the suffering is the mud. So the practice is how to make use of the suffering, make use of the mud, to create the flower, the happiness, and this is possible.”

When we learn to acknowledge, embrace, and understand our suffering, we suffer much less. Not only that, but we’re also able to go further and transform our suffering into understanding, compassion, and joy.

*Please note that due to the nature of hand-carved linoleum block printing, every print will have its own unique quality. Each edition is inspected to be the best quality and similar, but I cannot ensure exact replica of the print pictured on this site. Part of the magic of printmaking is all of the print-specific marks like "noise" or carving marks that add to the feel of the print. Please take note of this when ordering.