What is the Golden Lotus World?

Introduction

What is the Golden Lotus World? It's a term used by the Zen scholar Dr. Daisetz Suzuki. I only know about this term because Joseph Campbell shared his experience of being in the audience while Dr. Suzuki taught on the subject.

Here is Campbell's quote from his book titled "Myths of Light Eastern Metaphors of the Eternal":

"The world with all its faults, all its crime, all its horror, all its banality, all its stupidity - is the Golden Lotus World."

Then Campbell adds, "But you have to learn to see it in that dimension.

Campbell was sure right about that. Nothing is harder to drop than a dualistic worldview where we see everything as either good or bad.

Most of us were brought up to see every person, every situation, and every action as good or bad, right or wrong, or better or worse.

We are trained from birth to see people and situations as if there is no room to choose a different conclusion from the commonly accepted perspective; these judgments are unalterable and immutable, good or bad; this is how it is; there are no other options.

However, Suzuki and Campbell say there is another perspective to live from. It's a completely different way to view the world. A perspective that acknowledges reality and fully embraces it.