Lotus Flower Puzzle

This is a rather devious (read hard...very hard) puzzle by master puzzle designer Wil Strijbos. The puzzle begins with a metal disk impaled with a solid spike. Just free this disk! Well... that is only the beginning. Just like the mysterious blue lotus, more perfection lies within.... No banging, wrenching, magnets, or tools are required. Just patience, careful observation, and close attention to every nuance and movement this puzzle makes. Blue, like the lotus, this is perfection itself. Manufactured of anodized aluminum... and guile.

Happy Puzzling!

Some additional information, and a note of caution:

The Lotus Puzzle is a finely crafted mechanical puzzle.  

Your first objective is to find out why this puzzle is named "The Lotus".  You will know it when you can answer this question.   Your second objective is to reset the puzzle back to its original starting configuration.

As with all mechanical puzzles at this level, the Lotus is very sophisticated and not one which will give up its secrets readily.    Do not despair if this puzzle has you stumped - that is what it is supposed to do. 

The efforts and insights acquired while solving puzzles at this level are designed to be savored and not rushed.   Each moment you spend with the Lotus increases your understanding of the mechanism itself as well as the obstacles selected to impede your progress.  An expert might solve this puzzle in a few days to a few weeks with dedicated effort; a novice could take many months of exploration to fully uncover its secrets; some will never solve it. 

No force and no external tools are required to solve sophisticated mechanical puzzles in general, and this one in particular.  As with all mechanical creations, too much force applied incorrectly will most likely damage your puzzle beyond repair.

Once you have answered the question, you have solved the Lotus.  STOP.  Do not continue to deconstruct it further.   The Lotus was built with very precise tolerances and finely machined components.  If you go too far, it will very likely damage the puzzle or render it impossible to reset.  Do not take out or remove the fixed small black pin in the front of the Lotus, it has nothing to do with the solution.

As with all mechanical puzzles, you now need to reset it back to its starting state.  Please be careful to reverse your steps slowly and exactly to reset the Lotus.  Reassemble all components you removed in the exact order you removed them, otherwise it will NOT open again.   If the proper sequence is followed, you will be able to enjoy this puzzle for years to come.