This quality makes it a perfect metaphor for spiritual development. Just as the lotus rises through murky water to bloom in sunlight, the spiritual aspirant rises through the difficulties and impurities of worldly existence toward enlightenment.
In Buddhism, the lotus represents the journey from ignorance to awakening. In Hinduism, many deities are depicted seated on lotus thrones, and the chakras are often visualized as lotus flowers of different colors, each representing different levels of consciousness.
The lotus also symbolizes detachment - its leaves repel water, demonstrating how one can live in the world without being absorbed by it. This quality of being in the world but not of it represents the ideal of enlightened living across traditions.
Source
Buddhist and Hindu Iconography