The mind is water
Have you ever thought about the interesting metaphor about how the mind is water? It can be quite powerful juxtaposing two completely different things and comparing them. It just might help you see meditation and mindfulness in a new light.
Rapid waters
If the mind is rapid water, it represents so many thoughts cascading over rocks, through eddies and nooks. It’s hard to see to the bottom of the “river.” Stillness is absent, though it’s possible to find some measure of peace from the sound of the water.
In our waking lives, we have anywhere from 12,000 to 60,000 thoughts per day. That’s a lot of rapid, cascading thoughts! There might be a split second of stillness, a fleeting moment of clarity. We can find peace in different activities, such as in taking a walk or in those moments before we fall asleep for a nap…
But none of it lasts long.
There is one neat thing about water that’s rushing by: those same molecules of water will never pass by again, nor will they ever be in the same conglomeration of particular molecules. They have come, and they will go.
And so it is with meditation: we can watch our thoughts come, and watch them go, knowing that we might not see them exactly the way they passed in our minds again. This can be a helpful visualization in meditation.
Still waters
Sometimes, however, the mind gets still enough to see to the bottom of the pond or pool. This is when we experience transcendence.
Most people are not be able to still the mind for more than a moment or two. Beginning meditators cannot, either. It is only through sustained practice that thoughts start to spread farther apart, such that the rushing waters begin to settle for longer and longer periods of time.
In my own practice, the water gets still for a few moments, after thousands of hours of practice. But then the waters begin to rush again.
When the waters get still, however, the bottom of the pool or pond turns into infinity. It becomes an act of touching the fabric of the universe. It’s quite calm and you move beyond the reflection of yourself that you’d see in the water, to that which is Beyond.
Water is cleansing
Continuing with the metaphor of water, we also can see that whether the water is rapid or still, it has cleansing properties. The mind has the ability to cleanse itself, both in and out of meditation. This cleansing is through activities that help relax the mind: exercise, yawning, and otherwise uplifting the soul.
Water is persistent
Water has the ability to carve out canyons, and vast ones at that! Hundreds of thousands of years of persistence will do that.
A persistent mind will find that it, too, can carve proverbial canyons and alter the landscape. Persistence is what helps to maintain a meditation practice. Persistence is not giving up until an intention is fulfilled.
“Water does not resist. Water flows. When you plunge your hand into it, all you feel is a caress. Water is not a solid wall, it will not stop you. But water always goes where it wants to go, and nothing in the end can stand against it. Water is patient. Dripping water wears away a stone. Remember that, my child. Remember you are half water. If you can’t go through an obstacle, go around it. Water does.”
― The Penelopiad
Water can be drowning
If we’re not careful, however, it can get to be too much. Too much water drowns us out. We get overwhelmed with our thoughts and life. Events overwhelm us.
It’s up to us to balance flow the water, make it get still from time to time, and allow it to help cleanse our minds.
[bctt tweet=”Water is life. It is the essence and foundation for life. It also represents the mind. If water is rushing, so are thoughts. If water is still, the mind has reached nirvana.” username=”n2itvnspiritual”]
Water is life
The Standing Rock movement popularized the “Water is life” phrase. But, water is life. Every organism on earth depends directly, or indirectly on water. Metaphorically speaking, our minds are also life. Without them, we cannot make decisions that move us forward and allow us to survive each day.
Water is the substance that has permitted living beings to exist throughout the millennia. Its blue color symbolizes stability and calmness. In the same way, the mind allows us to find calmness and stability, if only we cultivate those qualities.
If we give our minds the same respect that we need to give water, then we will cultivate the values that help us to connect with each other, have compassion, bring peace to our lives, and so much more.
Sorry I am running on the later side this mroning. A bit of a rough start to this Monday morning in all honesty as I thought I had done the copy for my weekly recipe. But I didn’t So, I just spent the greater part of my morning righting that wrong and finally hit publish a few minutes ago. And now finally getting to check in on your amazing Monday contribution here. Definitely needed the calming talk of water and thank for that as I am finally breathing once again and able to take this all in. Many hugs and wishing you a lovely start to the upcoming week, as well now xoxo <3
Sweet Janine, you never need to apologize for getting here late. This is a place of mindfulness, and calm. It is a place where you can arrive just as you are, whenever you can. I hope you have had a good week, and that you got lots of views for your weekly recipe. Ha ha. Those technology headaches really can send you on a tailspin, can’t they? More and more, I am really trying to use those to really embrace mindfulness. I’m not quite that successful at it, but I know I’ll get there sometime. I hope you had a great Halloween, and that the start of your November has been really good. Is the season of pumpkin spice and everything nice! Sending you big hugs!
Lovely metaphors and reminders of the importance of both water and our thoughts, if we manage them carefully! 🙂
Brad, thank you, as always for your wonderful insights. I love speaking in metaphor. I have an intention to use that more in my language and speech, but I do forget. Here’s to using more descriptions and beautiful language to convey our ideas.:)
Agreed Cynthia.
Now I have the urge to go swimming in a nice, cool river. Mmmmmm…. Thank you!
@reikigemjewelry – thank you for coming by. Swimming in a nice, cool river sounds lovely, although in a much warmer climate. I am not sure where you are, but I am in the northern hemisphere where it is trending towards wintertime. As I write I have a blanket over my legs. Haha. But I do want to visit a river and sit and listen, for sure. I hope you had a wonderful week!
Nice metaphor, Lil Sis! As we said in the 60’s, heavy, Dude! Very heavy! But you ain’t heavy, you’re my sister….sorry, I seem to be stuck in the 60s right now, but at least I’m at peace, if I ignore a backache right now, which I choose to do, and how is that for a run-on sentence?
Obviously I am in need of some still water! lol
Hugs from drenched Olympia
Big Bro, whenever you compliment my writing and the mechanics of my style, I always have to smile so big. I consider you to be such a great writer, and so reflective that compliments I like nuggets of gold to me – from a mentor. As for being stuck in the 60s, hey that’s fine. I might have to listen to some Beatles music after this. And run-on sentences are always fine here. Ha! Hugs from North Carolina on this chilly, rainy day.
Excellent metaphorizing* and as with any good (and/or skillfully presented) metaphor we’re allowed to try meaning(s) out, experiment with perspective, if only for a minute, all the different and very productive things available to us, ‘cept we’re usually to caught up in our daily routines to take the time.
As always, very useful/additional perspective on the world and life and such.
not a ‘real’ word
Clark – I always like your intentional coinage of new words. In fact, I probably do that a lot myself. I don’t always remember the words I make up, but I feel like I make up a lot of them. But experimenting with prospective, I guess. That is something else I love to do. When we do that, it opens up the possibility of new ideas and changing the world from a whole different perspective. That’s the stuff that great stories, inventions, and new ideological breakthroughs come from.
In any case, thank you as always for your wonderful insights and additions to the display of thoughts that is this blog. HA!
Yes when you think of the amount of thoughts that tumble through our brains it is indeed like white water rapids..
Oh for that still pool of calm tranquil thought.
Oh so loved this line Cynthia..
“When the waters get still, however, the bottom of the pool or pond turns into infinity. It becomes an act of touching the fabric of the universe.”
Beautifully put.
Water is a wonderful metaphor for we are made up of water. And given that the experiments of Dr Emoto shows how our thoughts and feelings which are projected into water that is crystalized alters its structure, is it any wonder that learning to calm that ‘Pool-within’ also alters our state of BE-ing…
Great piece of writing Cynthia..
Loved your responses too my other comments also..
I have had a bit of a blogging break this week.. Our granddaughter slept over, and we had some Halloween Fun sculpting her pumpkin. And we bought her, her first pet hamster with all the gear as an early Birthday gift. She named Him Pumpkin… As we got him on Halloween… I hope to share some details on my garden blog soon…
Sending Huge Hugs your way…
Love <3 Sue
Sue – oh, I always smile when I think of you and your wonderful wisdom!
So many thoughts we have, no? And yes…imagining the pool of tranquil thought…ahh…
I forget where I discovered Dr. Emoto and his experiments, but they are profound!! When I was directing the after school program, I wanted to show the kids how much their words mattered. I set up the rice experiment. We cooked the rice and had one where we talked nicely to it. Another container of rice was ignored. And another container had rice where we spoke to it negatively. After 30 days, the “kind rice” was still fine and smelled pleasant. The other two were terrible! The one that was ignored was the worst off. But the experiment showed the kids how much their words matter.
Thank you for the compliments on my writing. Hehe. I feel like I’m so much better at non-fiction than anything else, but sometimes I can speak in metaphor. Hehe.
Good for your for taking a blogging break. I think I’m going to take one this Thanksgiving…for a couple days, anyways. 🙂 I am feeling the need to step away from technology…
Sending you hugs, my wise friend. I have set an intention for tea.
Life is good when we take those much needed breaks Cynthia, and I read also about that rice experiment, So it was wonderful to know you put it into practice and you got the same results… I forget how long I have known about Dr Emoto, I blogged about it around 2012 or just after I think.. Though the photos I uploaded were done via Photobucket, and it got greedy so I closed my account there, so many photo’s I once upon a time shared on past blog posts the photos couldn’t be re-shared.
Makes you think doesn’t it that ALL water on this planet is the same water its ever been… No wonder we as humans along with the rivers and oceans are in such bad shape when we think of how our vibrational energies are affecting every molecule..
Have a great week my friend… Sending LOVE… <3
Sweet Sue, I agree on those breaks. I’ve taken a little one today, I took one on Sunday of this past week, and in the coming weeks I intend on taking a few more. I feel like if I am supposed to emulate finding “the balance” then I also need to be sure to take care of myself, as well.
I can’t quite remember, but I think you are the one who originally let me know about Dr. Emoto. I don’t know where I first learned of him, but when I did, I was all over what he was saying.
Water is such a fascinating thing. I remember you saying that sometimes you send your water “love.” I find myself doing the same, too, when I remember. I think we humans under estimate its power to a great extent.
I hope that you have had a good week. I am a little late in returning my comments. It has been an extraordinarily busy couple of weeks. I need to remedy that. Sending you big hugs and OM.🕉
Dear Cynthia,
I’m ever late in reading your thoughtful post – I know you understand and I’m grateful for the sanctuary your website provides.
This is a powerful metaphor – love it and love you too.
Hugs, Maria
Sweet Mar – thank you, sweet friend! The fact that you called this place a sanctuary means that you can come any old time, as late as early as you want, and there will always be a welcome mat here for you and your special heart. Sending you love and hugs, my strong friend. May you have a wonderful holiday week!