Lotus flowers have a long, rich history spanning thousands of years. Naturally occurring in many countries in Southeast Asia and Australia, they’re also found in ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics, as well as folklore in ancient Greece.

As assistant professor of religious studies at Colorado College Steven Vose, Ph.D., tells mbg, “The lotus flower appears on some of the earliest Buddhist and Jain imagery we have in South Asia,” going as far back as the time of Emperor Ashoka around 250 BCE.

Vose adds that lotuses were also used in Buddhist stupas (spherical shrines) as early as 180 BCE, “as a source and support for a goddess who is eventually known as Lakshmi.”

Because the lotus was also popular among the Indo-Greeks (an ancient nomadic people of Eurasia), Vose says it’s “unclear geographically where the image first arose,” but by the first few centuries of the Common Era, “it is well established to see the Buddha, Jinas, and Hindu gods and goddesses emerging from lotus flowers.”

Today, the lotus is the national flower of both India and Vietnam.

The lotus has its place in a number of religions, particularly in the East. According to Dheepa Sundaram, Ph.D., assistant professor of religious studies at the University of Denver, lotus flowers in Hinduism represent the womb of the universe from which all things are born, as well as overcoming adversity.

“Lotuses only grow in really swampy areas, so that symbolizes this idea that out of ugliness and destruction and unrest, we can all come together in this perfect moment,” she previously explained to mbg.

The lotus flower also represents connection, she added, “and in that respect, it also has an indirect relation to the Buddhist idea of the universal soul.”

Emerging from murky water with clean petals, Vose adds that the lotus is thought of as a symbol of purity and transcendence, as well as spiritual purification and liberation (aka Nirvana). “Beyond this, the lotus is also a symbol of the singular source of creation,” he adds.

Feng shui expert Anjie Cho expands on this idea, noting that the lotus can also be thought of as an embodiment of a mandala, with a center point that expands outward. Within that center, we find the singular source Vose speaks of.

And in Hinduism, Cho adds, there is a popular mantra that describes the lotus as a symbol for enlightenment: Om mani padme hum, which translates from Sanskrit to (roughly), Praise the jewel in the lotus.

“All the wisdom is within us, so the ‘jewel,’ the ‘treasure,’ is in us—and we are the lotus flower,” Cho explains.