Why is the lotus flower important to Buddhists?

The symbolic meaning of the Lotus was first taught by the Buddha as a teaching tool on how the mind can be transformed. He said that our minds are like a Lotus flower. It starts it's life in the mud, which a analogy for samsara, the imperfect and troubled world, but as it seeks the light it grows and transformed into a beautiful flower that floats above the muck like an enlightened mind is unfazed by the trials and tribulations of life.