🪷 Lotus Wisdom MCP Server

An MCP server implementation that provides a tool for problem-solving using the Lotus Sutra's wisdom framework, combining analytical thinking with intuitive wisdom.

Available at: https://lotus-wisdom-mcp.linxule.workers.dev/mcp

Features

• Multi-faceted problem-solving approach inspired by the Lotus Sutra
• Step-by-step thought process with different thinking techniques
• Meditation pauses to allow insights to emerge naturally
• Interactive visualization via MCP ext-apps (Claude Desktop, Cursor, ChatGPT) — adapts to the host light/dark theme and is keyboard-accessible
• MCP Prompts (contemplate, deep-inquiry) for one-step guided contemplative sessions
• Structured tool output (structuredContent + outputSchema) alongside the text response
• Tracks both tag journey and wisdom domain movements
• Available as a local stdio package (npx) or a hosted remote Connector
• Final integration of insights into a clear response

Background

This MCP server was developed from the Lotus OS prompt, which was designed to implement a cognitive framework based on the Lotus Sutra. The MCP server format makes this framework more accessible and easier to use with Claude and other AI assistants.

Note: The original prompt framework may work less effectively with newer Claude models, but this MCP server implementation provides consistent functionality across model versions.

Implementation Details

The server implements a structured thinking process using wisdom domains inspired by the Lotus Sutra:

Wisdom Domains and Tags

The server organizes thoughts using wisdom domains (all valid values for the tag input parameter):

• Entry (🚪): begin

  • Begin your journey here - receives the full framework before contemplation starts

• Skillful Means (🔆): upaya, expedient, direct, gradual, sudden

  • Different approaches to truth - sometimes direct pointing, sometimes gradual unfolding

• Non-Dual Recognition (☯️): recognize, transform, integrate, transcend, embody

  • Aspects of awakening to what's already present - recognition IS transformation

• Meta-Cognitive (🧠): examine, reflect, verify, refine, complete

  • The mind watching its own understanding unfold

• Process Flow (🌊): open, engage, express

  • A natural arc that can contain any of the above approaches

• Meditation (🧘): meditate

  • Pausing to let insights emerge from stillness

Thought Visualization

In clients that support MCP ext-apps, each step renders inline as an interactive "Living Trace" (see Interactive Visualization below). For every client, each step also returns:

• Journey tracking showing both the tag path and the wisdom-domain movements
• Domain-specific labels and the current contemplation text
• Structured output (structuredContent + outputSchema) for programmatic consumers

Note: The local stdio server can emit per-step trace lines to its console (stderr) when run with LOTUS_DEBUG=true, helping developers follow the thinking process.

Process Flow

1. The user submits a problem to solve
2. The model begins with tag='begin' to receive the full framework
3. The model continues with contemplation tags (open, examine, integrate, etc.)
4. Each thought builds on previous ones and may revise understanding
5. The tool tracks both the tag journey and wisdom domain movements
6. Meditation pauses can be included for clarity
7. When status='WISDOM_READY' is returned, the tool's work is complete
8. The model then expresses the final wisdom naturally in its own voice

Available Tools

lotuswisdom

A tool for problem-solving using the Lotus Sutra's wisdom framework, with various approaches to understanding.

Begin your journey with tag='begin' - this returns the full framework (philosophy, domains, guidance) to ground your contemplation. Then continue with the other tags.

Inputs:

• tag (string, required): The current processing technique (must be one of the tags listed above)
• content (string, required): The content of the current processing step
• stepNumber (integer, required): Current number in sequence
• totalSteps (integer, required): Estimated total steps needed
• nextStepNeeded (boolean, required): Whether another step is needed
• isMeditation (boolean, optional): Whether this step is a meditative pause
• meditationDuration (integer, optional): Duration for meditation in seconds (1-10)
• previousJourney (string, optional): The journey string from a previous response, e.g. "begin → open → examine". Lets the AI carry journey continuity forward in stateless clients (such as the remote Worker), where the server keeps no session state.

Returns: both a JSON text block and matching structuredContent (validated against the tool's outputSchema):

• Processing status with current step information, wisdom domain, and journey tracking
• FRAMEWORK_RECEIVED status (with the full framework) on the first begin step
• MEDITATION_COMPLETE status for meditation steps
• WISDOM_READY status when the contemplative process is complete

The tool also declares behavioral annotations — readOnlyHint, idempotentHint, destructiveHint: false, openWorldHint: false — so hosts can treat it as a safe, side-effect-free call.

lotuswisdom_summary

Get a summary of the current contemplative journey.

Inputs:

• previousJourney (string, optional): The journey string from a previous response, used to reconstruct the summary in stateless clients.

Returns:

• Journey length
• Domain journey showing movement between wisdom domains
• Summary of all steps with their tags, domains, and brief content

MCP Prompts

The server registers two prompts that scaffold a guided contemplative session (surfaced as slash commands or prompt pickers in clients that support MCP Prompts):

• contemplate — argument question: opens a single-question contemplation, instructing the model to start with tag='begin', iterate, and speak the wisdom only once status='WISDOM_READY'.
• deep-inquiry — argument topic: begins a longer inquiry that moves deliberately across the wisdom domains (process → meta-cognitive → non-dual → meditation).

Usage

The Lotus Wisdom tool is designed for:

• Breaking down complex problems requiring multi-faceted understanding
• Questions that benefit from both direct and gradual approaches
• Problems where apparent contradictions need integration
• Situations requiring both analytical and intuitive understanding
• Tasks that benefit from meditative pauses to allow insight
• Questions containing their own inherent wisdom

Example Usage

Here's how a conversation with Claude might flow when using the Lotus Wisdom MCP server:

User: "Help me understand the relationship between freedom and responsibility."

Claude would begin the journey with tag='begin' to receive the framework, then continue:

1. First, enter the contemplative space:

{
  "tag": "begin",
  "content": "Entering contemplation on freedom and responsibility.",
  "stepNumber": 1,
  "totalSteps": 6,
  "nextStepNeeded": true
}

→ Returns FRAMEWORK_RECEIVED with full framework

2. Then, establish an opening thought:

{
  "tag": "open",
  "content": "The question explores the relationship between freedom and responsibility, which contain an apparent tension but also deep connection.",
  "stepNumber": 2,
  "totalSteps": 6,
  "nextStepNeeded": true
}

3. Engage with different perspectives:

{
  "tag": "direct",
  "content": "Freedom and responsibility are two sides of the same coin. True freedom isn't absence of constraints but the capacity to choose our response within constraints.",
  "stepNumber": 3,
  "totalSteps": 6,
  "nextStepNeeded": true
}

4. Perhaps take a meditation pause:

{
  "tag": "meditate",
  "content": "Contemplating how freedom without responsibility becomes chaos, and responsibility without freedom becomes oppression.",
  "stepNumber": 4,
  "totalSteps": 6,
  "nextStepNeeded": true,
  "isMeditation": true
}

5. Integrate the understanding:

{
  "tag": "integrate",
  "content": "Freedom and responsibility mutually enable each other. Our freedom to choose gives rise to our responsibility for what we choose, and our willingness to take responsibility expands our freedom.",
  "stepNumber": 5,
  "totalSteps": 6,
  "nextStepNeeded": true
}

6. Express the final understanding:

{
  "tag": "express",
  "content": "The paradox resolves when we see that authentic freedom includes responsibility as its natural expression.",
  "stepNumber": 6,
  "totalSteps": 6,
  "nextStepNeeded": false
}

When the tool returns status: 'WISDOM_READY', Claude then speaks the final wisdom naturally, integrating all the insights from the contemplative journey.

Installation

Install via Smithery for one-click setup, or follow the manual instructions below.

Requires Node.js 18+. The server runs locally via npx.

CLI Install (one-liner)

# Claude Code
claude mcp add lotus-wisdom -- npx -y lotus-wisdom-mcp

# Codex CLI (OpenAI)
codex mcp add lotus-wisdom -- npx -y lotus-wisdom-mcp

# Gemini CLI (Google)
gemini mcp add lotus-wisdom npx -y lotus-wisdom-mcp

Claude Desktop

Add to your claude_desktop_config.json: