“The highest good is like water. Water gives life to the ten thousand things and does not strive. It flows in places men reject and so is like the Tao…”
I’ve read the "Tao Te Ching" numerous times over the years, and with every subsequent reading, I receive new insight. It seems even more relevant to me today after years of training and business experience than when I first read it back in college. What can this chapter on the nature of water teach us about self-mastery? Let’s consider the inherent qualities of water that Lao Tsu so revered.
Fluid
By its very nature, water is a fluid. Its flows and adapts to its surroundings. Observe a body of water such as a stream, river, or even the trickle from a faucet, and see how water never contends with its surroundings. It adapts to whatever it comes into contact with by changing itself. It flows around the rocks in the stream, never asking for the rock to move out of its way. Water never resists what it encounters. It adapts and finds the empty space in which to move.
Formless
Because of its formless nature, water can take the shape of any form that contains it. When we observe a moving body of water we can see how formlessness can be an adaptive advantage in a changing environment. Water has no prejudice or preference to the form it takes. It takes whatever form is required in any given moment. From the smallest dewdrop on a flower petal to a torrential waterfall, water allows its environment to dictate its form.
Flows To Its Lowest Point
To me, this is the “humble” nature of water. Water is subject to gravity and always flows to the lowest point till it reaches a place of stillness and equilibrium. At its lowest point, water can be a great, still lake on which a boat may rest or muddy pond in which a lotus flower blooms. At its lowest and most still place, water can support whatever rests within or upon it.
Indiscriminate
Regardless of what form it takes or where it travels and ultimately rests, water discriminates neither its path nor the objects it encounters along it. It gives of itself completely at every moment. Its essential nature does not change and all things that encounter it recognize it to be itself.
Self-Mastery Is Like Water
Fluid Thought And Action
To me, water’s inherent quality of fluidity is synonymous to the principle of Non-Resistance in Self-Mastery. When our thoughts and actions are fluid, we can adapt to our changing environment. When we encounter challenges, a fluid mind that is not restrained by dogma can adapt and see opportunities while the rigid and unyielding mind sees only resistance and obstacles. Like water, fluid thought and action that originates from a relaxed, centered place allows your life energy (chi, ki, or prana) to flow freely within your body; creating efficient and powerful movement and creative, spontaneous solutions. See my previous post, “Relaxation = Power”, for more details.
Be fluid in your thoughts and actions, find the space among the obstacles and don’t resist them. You’ll find that the obstacles serve to guide you in directions you may otherwise have not considered. Subsequently, you discover opportunities and solutions that otherwise may never have revealed themselves had you insisted on following just one direction or viewed the obstacle as a hindrance versus an instrument for change.
Formless Adaptation
When our thoughts and actions are fluid and spontaneous, we can adapt to our environment and assume whatever form or position is most appropriate at any given moment. Visualizing a desired outcome also requires the ability to adapt that vision and its execution as circumstances change. Like water, let go of rigid and predetermined paths. The path you thought that was supposed to be a straight and clear one may not be the best choice. Formlessness gives you freedom of choice. Choose what is most appropriate in the moment, rather what you think it should be.
Humility In Service
As you advance your skills, other will begin to see you as an authority or leader in your chosen field. New titles, awards, and other trappings of success may accompany this. Don’t allow them to go to your head (see my previous post, “Abandon Your Accomplishments”)! Instead, wield your skill and authority like a delicate tool rather than a destructive weapon. Serve with humility. Your authority gives you a responsibility to serve rather than a right to dictate. Like a rising tide, become the foundation upon which others can rise to their potential. Serve those who seek your guidance. In serving others you demonstrate your own authority. When working with my team, I always ask, “How can I help you? What do you need from me?” I ask this with the understanding that making their job easier makes my job as a leader easier as well.
As Lao Tsu notes, water “flows in places men reject.” When you are willing to do what others won’t, you cultivate respect and solidarity. Lead by example. Be willing to roll up your sleeves and get in the trenches. When you sink your ego, you allow yourself to rise above petty disagreements and artificial titles.
"Praying Hands" by Albrecht Durer
Non-Judgment
The practice of non-judgmental awareness or mindfulness helps us to respond to situations with clarity. Like water, which does not discriminate the shape or path it takes, we can choose to see situations as they are rather than labeling them as good or bad. We become attached to something we consider “good”. We resist those things we consider “bad”. Both classifications bind us, robbing us of our ability to flow, and adapt. However, a sense of equanimity or an acceptance of things as they are keeps us fluid, unbounded and unshakable. In class, I don’t care how hard or soft my partner grabs, punches or kicks me. My goal is to accept and adapt to whatever shows up. A soft punch isn’t better than a hard one. A difficult challenge isn’t worse than an easy one. They both require different forms of adaptation that arise from a place of non-judgment. When judgment overrides mindfulness, I’ve inhibited my ability to adapt and flow.
According to science, the human body is 50-75% water. Perhaps Lao Tsu was on to something. He observed that water’s essential nature was like that of the Tao-the way of the universe, the natural order of things. Yet our normal thoughts and actions are not- rigid, unyielding, egotistical, and judgmental. How far along the path of self-mastery can we hope to progress operating in such a manner? Eventually even the unyielding rocks along water’s path become worn away by its softness. Since we are comprised mostly of water, can’t we also express its inherent qualities and learn to be more fluid, adaptive and soft? There is strength in softness, resilience in adaptation, and stability in fluidity.
“Be water my friend.”
