Properties Of Water According To The Tao

“Don’t be a single shape, adapt it and build it on yourself and let it grow: be like water. Free your mind, be shapeless, limitless like water. If you put water in a cup, it becomes a cup. If you put it in a bottle, it becomes a bottle. If you put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Water can flow, or it can destroy. Be water, my friend. ” This well-known quote from Bruce Lee about the self-actualization process summarizes one of the three properties of water according to the Tao, taken from Lao Tse’s poem. The wisdom contained in this text is a true source of inspiration.

More than 10 years ago, the famous philosopher Zygmunt Bauman introduced us to the concept of a liquid society.  It indicated a modernity with fickle values, changing social models and structures and realities marked by uncertainty. In this fluctuating landscape, where it is very difficult to stick to something, the only really solid element is our fears, which is a total paradox.

“The best are like water, they
bring refreshment to everyone without competing with anyone, they
choose what others avoid.
And so they are similar to the TAO, they dwell in the earth,
deep in thinking, generous in helping,
sincere in speaking, peaceful in governing,
skilled in operating, they move with time
and since they do not compete they do not find hostility. “

-Lao Tze-

We live in a world that leaves little room for stability; we are required readiness and flexibility to adapt to each change, whether professional changes, political changes, new social needs, variations in the way we relate. In the midst of these dynamics, it is understandable to experience a certain restlessness and a lot of insecurity. For this, the intellectual references of the oriental world such as  Raymond Tang, lecturer and professor at the University of Guangzhou, encourage us to deepen the philosophy of the Tao.

We are taught to remain calm amidst the  chaos, to gain control of ourselves, and to feel confident while immersed in this liquid uncertainty.

Properties of water according to the Tao

1. Humility

The first property of water according to the Tao is humility. Perhaps at first it is difficult for us to establish a relationship between this psychological dimension and an aquatic scenario. However, it is there and it is truly inspiring. Water flows into a river, very calmly and  calmly, while nourishing nature with harmony.

When its level is normal, it reaches the banks, feeds the animals and favors a suitable balance to ensure that everything works. When the river becomes arrogant and the extent of its flow becomes greater, everything changes. His strength causes terrible slaughters. It drags the earth, destroys what surrounds it and compromises all living beings.

We must make the tranquility and humility of the water our own. He who knows who he is and does not want to look different  will always prefer  calm to violence. And, although it sometimes results in the latter due to external causes, eventually he will return to his bed. Likewise, he will always opt for that serenity in which to promote natural balance.

2. Water is attentive to opportunities

In whatever difficulty you find yourself, there is always a minimum opening through which the light of opportunity makes its way. No matter how agitated the environment we find ourselves in, no matter the changes, the pressures or this wall that suddenly rises in front of us to block our way. We must be like water. We find a crack, a weakness in our opponent or a difficulty from which a new path opens, a new opportunity.

The Tao reminds us that in the presence of an obstacle that prevents its passage, the water will not hesitate to do two things: to employ an implacable force to recover its  freedom  and to find the weakest point of this wall to break it down and overcome.

Let’s not forget that, in a sense, water is a great opportunist. He does not think twice about changing shape, scenario or position to keep moving forward  and, whenever he sees the slightest opportunity to break through, he will take advantage of it.

3. Change without fear

Few elements are as inspiring and tending to change as water.  When the temperature is extreme, it can become ice or steam. It also changes shape depending on where it is. It will also be irrelevant whether it is kept in the meanders of a rock, because it will regain its immensity when it returns to the ocean, and will become a food if a living being is thirsty and needs it.

Water has power and character too.  He knows and understands that nothing is as important as changing if necessary, because the environment and nature are hostile on many occasions and those who do not adapt do not survive. Making these three properties of water our own according to the Tao can inspire us and will help us in many ways and in different ways.

Albert Ellis, a psychotherapist known for developing rational emotional behavioral therapy, once said that there is a monster that haunts us.  It is recurring, it prevents us from being entirely happy: our permanent idea that the world should be easy. We know that it is not, but we still continue to suffer for every difficulty, for every stone we find in the path, for every unexpected and unexpected change.

Try to be like water. Bruce Lee had already said it, but let’s not just see these properties of water according to the Tao as a mere graceful metaphor. After all, we too are nature. And nature is the very expression  of the Tao.