"Michael's Lotus" was commissioned by a friend of Leslie Rinchen-Wongmo's named Michael.

Lotuses themselves grow in muddy, marshy, swampy places, but they arise from all of that when they are grown to be beautiful, clean, unstained, and perfect. The idea behind Michael's Lotus is that our true nature can emerge from all of the muck of our lives, coming out of the darkness to reach the light with our hearts never truly having been damaged by it while remaining pure and loving in the midst of it all.