"No mud, No Lotus"

Thich Naht Hahn has four words "No mud - No lotus" for his teaching on suffering. Thay explains:“It’s like growing lotus flowers. You cannot grow lotus flowers on marble. You have to grow them on the mud. 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 something possible."- Thich Nhat Hanh