Why is ‘being water’ one of the best ways to live your life?

We are all living these hyper-fast times in which changes occur every day. Few things stay the same and this apparent lack of stability or security stir up in each of us anxieties and fears. Each of us looks for her or his ways to cope with this situation: some develop addictions and attachments to food or drinks or drugs or other persons, others choose to go on regular visits to psychologists, psychiatrists and other mind therapists, other look for spiritual meanings and solutions such as meditation, yoga, qigong etc..

Getting some fire (knowledge) by reading Bruce Lee's book about how to be water... interesting right: you need fire to learn to be water...
Getting some fire (knowledge) by reading Bruce Lee’s book about how to be water… interesting right: you need fire to learn to be water…

I’ve been through my own process of finding my way to be me in this world and I chose meditation and Qigong. About my meditation learning I wrote previously here. As about my Qigong experience it’s a lot to be said, but for the moment I want to focus on the awareness that it brought to me over the theory of the 5 elements (Wu Xing).

Through Qigong I came across the theory of the five elements of which everything is composed of, at a metaphorical, metaphysical level. Now, mainstream science has shown that our bodies are about 80% water, but according to the perspective of the theory of the 5 elements, each organ in our body is dominated by a certain element, such as: the lungs are metal organs, the stomach and spleen are earth organs, the heart is a fire organ, the bladder and the kidneys are water organs. The theory of the five elements is complex and it refers not only to our bodies, but to the whole universe which it mirrors, explaininga wide array of phenomena, from cosmic cycles to the properties of food, herbs and medicine and to the succession of political regimes. Therefore it is used in numerous fields such as Feng Shui, Chinese astrology, traditional Chinese medicine (such as five elements acupuncture), military strategy and martial arts. Just as an illustration, here is the relationship between the 5 elements and the seasons, considered each as a cycle of 72 days:

  • Spring, dominated by wood, a time of growth, vitality, re-birth;
  • Summer, dominated by fire, a period of expansion, accumulation, continuous growth;
  • Late Summer, dominated by earth, an in between seasons time of maturation and blossoming, coming of age
  • Autum, dominated by metal, a period of harvesting and of reaping the benefits of the previous work
  • Winter, dominated by water, a time of stillness, reflection, contemplation and accumulation in the sense of storage
wu xing
the diagram of the five elements, showing the interaction between them

 

Now, it might seem like a daunting task to study this whole theory and to learn how to make use of it, but I believe that each of us hold the key to understanding it by just observing one self through the body and the mind and nevertheless, by observing the elements themselves in their physical shape. And if our bodies function by systems of organs that are pre-assigned to certain elements, we are free to choose how to use or minds: we can choose to be irritable and temperamental, thus letting our mind be dominated by fire, or we could be curious and enthusiastic in our initiatives of any sort, like wood, or we can be focused and mature like the earth or driven by our achievements like metal.

Being water though is what one of the best martial artists ever, Bruce Lee, recommends us to be. Why is that? Well, being water is being flexible and yet still, changing shape yet preserving one’s nature. Bruce Lee had this revelation when he was passing through an intense and frustrating time. After all his intense work and training, he felt like he wasn’t getting much, so in a much wanted moment of relaxation, being on a boat, he punched the water. The water wasn’t hurt. The water received the punch gently and yet firm. That is when Bruce Lee realized that the water is the essence of kung fu, the essence he was looking for: not being attached, stuck and emotional, but being detached, flowing, yet accepting one’s nature.

Here is how water is so beautifully described in the Tao te Ching:

Nothing is weaker than water,

But when it attacks something hard

Or resistant, the nothing withstands it,

And nothing will alter its way.

my latest "water experience" that taught me so much about the un-seen, the under-water world
my latest “water experience” that taught me so much about the un-seen, the under-water world

Water is hard to hold in one’s hand, it goes through, you can punch it or stab it but it does not suffer. It is so flexible, so adaptable, that takes the shape of any container it is put in. If it freezes, it brakes the container! If it is too hot, it evaporates into thin air until the temperature lowers again and it condensates back in drops of water that continue their way. Again, changing shape but not losing its nature! Water seems weak, but in time it erodes rock! You might build barriers to change the flow of water, but it finds crack to go through. Water is wisdom, water is not depending, water just is. Being water essentially means living life as it is. Not having any expectations, letting go of attachments: you lost your job, you find another one, you wanted a certain job but you didn’t get it, move on, get the next one. Don’t stop to suffer, don’t create a blockage, don’t waste time and energy, but find solutions by having the water mindset, the water consciousness.