The Sacred Orders of the Lotus

The Sacred Order of The White Lotus

Rites & Times of Life

Baptism; Blessings for the Pre-Born Life to Come; Rebirthing Ritual; Spiritual Cleansing Ceremonies; Completing the Process of Forgiveness; Marriage; Renewal Ceremonies of all kinds; Initiations; Beginning of a Journey; The Vision Quest; All Rites of Passage; Naming Ceremony; Ordination; Acceptance of Holy Orders; New Members

The White Lotus is dedicated to the rites and practices that symbolize and are intended to manifest the conscious and subconscious experience of Birth, Emergence, Innocence, Clarity.

These words describe that which is intrinsic to NEWNESS of consciousness - the absence of ideas, likes and dislikes, perceptions, teachings, misunderstandings, errors, and really, any and all perspectives of the human world. To see with the eyes of a newborn infant - everything is new, fresh, and possible.

In the context of Renewal, or Re-Birth - it is like a spiritual shower, the cleansing away of all thoughts and identities that clutter the external human world, that we collect knowingly or not.

Rebirth washes away all the hurts, trauma's, mistakes, myths, preferences, and ideas that we aggregate in the course of living in the material, human world. Many ideas that we often take for our own, are not our own: maybe we have just forgotten, or were never even consciously aware of the source of the imprint. The same is true for identities. Who we think we are is a consequence of learning, right and wrong, first from others as we grow up, and then from our experiences.

Membership in the Order is bestowed automatically upon devotees of our denomination with the following rites: Initiation of New Devotee/Members, Baptism, Rebirthing, Renewal, Completion/Release/Forgiveness Ceremonies, Vision Quest, Initiation, Rites of Passage.

The Sacred Order of The Black Lotus

Rites & Times of Life

Confession; Mourning; Death; Divorce; Penance; Amends-Making; Living with Addiction; Overcoming Addiction; The healing of immutable karma; Expiation of, and Release from all Karmic Debt

The Black Lotus is dedicated to the rites and practices that symbolize and are intended to manifest the conscious and subconscious experience of acknowledging and treating mistakes, misdeeds, diseases of the mind, heart, and spirit, diminishing and dissolving what is harmful, confusing, misleading.
The Black Lotus also symbolizes grief and mourning, and the healing of the heart, mind, and soul from any and all types of trauma: The black lotus absorbs pain, anger, and confusion, and transforms them into comfort and peace; Practices associated with the Black Lotus may indirectly or directly produce effects of profound beauty, and promote healing and compassion to relieve suffering from those afflicted.

DEALING WITH EGO
The recognition of the mistakes, false identities we take on in life, and the acknowledgement of this.

Practices for noticing the overstep of the EGO, and then release from the tyranny of ego.

Surrendering to Our Higher Power, The Great Spirit, The Mind of Loving Kindness; Becoming the vessel of compassion: the Buddha Mind.

The Black Lotus does not practice to "get rid" of ego. This is a practice for gently reminding ourselves about our ego's authentic purpose. Gently noticing when the EGO tries to take over by making things mean things about us, or other people. When we experience thoughts of judging and assessing, the Ego MIGHT be trying to invent or reinforce an identity it has projected.

A better name for The Ego, might be Identity Machine (we will have many "identities" in a single lifetime). Our doctrinal understanding is that The EGO, as we commonly, generically call this, is made to be OF SERVICE - IN the service of the Great Spirit, Our Higher Power, Wisdom-Compassion, the Buddha Mind, etc.
These doctrines are supported by both ancient yogic/buddhist sciences and modern psychology.

It is a common mistake that leads to immeasurable suffering when things go the other way around - The mistaken unconscious belief that EGO is to be served, and gratified constantly (in the extreme: at all costs) is the cause of great human suffering through millenia. On this tragic path, one of the "false" or, more accurately said, temporary "Identities" projected by the ego machine is called the Pain Body (as distinguished by the venerable Eckhart Tolle in the Power of Now. Also, we would only call an identity false, when we human beings believe that the identity construct is actually who and what we are. In other words, we are stuck IN the box, believing that WE ARE THE BOX).

THE HIGHER SELF
Practices for recalling and reconnecting to our highest purpose, our authentic selves.

Recommitment to that purpose, and highest good.

LIFE EVENTS & RITES
To Mark The End of Something, Death, Funerals, Blessings for the Dying, Convalescence, Confession/Acknowledgement, Apology, Amends-Making, Therapy, Support Groups, Addiction Treatment, Helping others with same; To bring something to a Close. Past Life Regression Therapy.


Membership in the Order is not mandatory, and is bestowed upon devotees of our denomination by request & at the discretion of leadership, for the following reasons: They join or are in a support group, start or are in addiction treatment, they are given guidance for devoted penance for proscribed periods of time, they wish to devote themselves to penance and amends for any length of time, they wish to care for others going through the processes served by the Black Lotus; a member becomes a Confessor.

The Sacred Order of The Celestial Lotus

The Sacred Order of The Yellow Lotus

Members who have officially been given, or taken on, a spiritual/buddhist name, identity, and guru/teacher/master/mentor.

The Sacred Order of The Golden Lotus

Leaders/Members who are Ordained or have accepted Holy Orders by our Church, in Ministry to all Living Beings.

Upon New Membership Initiation: All Recognized Ministers/Clergy who are Ordained or have accepted Holy Orders by any sympathetic Spiritual Institution, in Ministry to all Living Beings.