Be like water

Exploring Theravāda's connections to other paths - what can we learn from other traditions, religions and philosophies?
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purple planet
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Be like water

Post by purple planet »

to be like water philosophy - in short : to be flexible to flow around obstacles not get attached to stuff ect ...

feel free to debate about it - what are all the qualitys of water we can learn from ? how is this philosophy similar and different than buddhism ? ect ...ect...
Last edited by purple planet on Mon Apr 01, 2013 5:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Sam Vara
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Re: Be like water

Post by Sam Vara »

Image

Well, it's fine if we remember when to be like water, and when not to be like water.
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James the Giant
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Re: Be like water

Post by James the Giant »

purple planet wrote:to be like water philosophy - in short : to be flexible to flow around obstacles not get attached to stuff ect ...

feel free to debate about it - what are all the qualitys of water we can learn from ? how is this philosophy similar and different than buddhism ?
Are you working your way through a list of topics for people to debate upon?
Because this is remarkably similar to a couple of other topics you have started recently.
Not saying it's bad, just, you know, you don't have to fill the silence with words if you don't have anything to say or ask. Not typing is okay.
Then,
saturated with joy,
you will put an end to suffering and stress.
SN 9.11
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Bhikkhu Pesala
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Re: Be like water

Post by Bhikkhu Pesala »

Some similes for water from the Milindapañha:

“As water naturally remains still; so should the monk be without hypocrisy, complaining, hinting, and improper behaviour and remain undisturbed and pure by nature.

“As water always refreshes; so should the monk, full of compassion, always seek the good and benefit of all.

“As water never harms anyone; so should the monk, earnest in effort, never do any wrong that would produce quarrels or strife, or anger or discontent. For it was said by the Blessed One in the Kanha Jātaka:

“O Sakka, Lord of all the world, a choice thou bidst declare:
No creature be aught harmed for me, O Sakka, anywhere,
Neither in body nor in mind: this, Sakka, is my prayer.”
BlogPāli FontsIn This Very LifeBuddhist ChroniclesSoftware (Upasampadā: 24th June, 1979)
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Ben
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Re: Be like water

Post by Ben »

"Rahula, develop meditation that is like water; for when you develop meditation tht is like water, arisen agreeable and disagreeable contacts will not invade your mind and remain..."
-- MN 62.14
“No lists of things to be done. The day providential to itself. The hour. There is no later. This is later. All things of grace and beauty such that one holds them to one's heart have a common provenance in pain. Their birth in grief and ashes.”
- Cormac McCarthy, The Road

Learn this from the waters:
in mountain clefts and chasms,
loud gush the streamlets,
but great rivers flow silently.
- Sutta Nipata 3.725

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equilibrium
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Re: Be like water

Post by equilibrium »

purple planet wrote:to be like water philosophy.....
Bruce Lee said something very interesting on water:
Don't get set into one form, adapt it and build your own, and let it grow, be like water. Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless — like water. Now you put water in a cup, it becomes the cup; You put water into a bottle it becomes the bottle; You put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.
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purple planet
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Re: Be like water

Post by purple planet »

Are you working your way through a list of topics for people to debate upon?
Because this is remarkably similar to a couple of other topics you have started recently.
Not saying it's bad, just, you know, you don't have to fill the silence with words if you don't have anything to say or ask. Not typing is okay.
its only this and the "yes" thread
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James the Giant
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Re: Be like water

Post by James the Giant »

purple planet wrote: its only this and the "yes" thread
Sorry, I apologise for being harsh.
So what are your thoughts on being like water? :anjali:
Then,
saturated with joy,
you will put an end to suffering and stress.
SN 9.11
befriend
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Re: Be like water

Post by befriend »

water causes no liking or disliking so its the personification of ultamite reality. its a noble substance for the reason that when drunk it doesnt create any defilements to arise, unlike cranberry juice etc..
Take care of mindfulness and mindfulness will take care of you.
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Mojo
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Re: Be like water

Post by Mojo »

This is a strong theme in Herman Hess' Siddhartha. I was assigned to write an essay on this book in college which is what sparked my interest in Buddhism.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/055320884 ... mdp_mobile
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purple planet
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Re: Be like water

Post by purple planet »

Sorry, I apologise for being harsh
- cool and you probobly got some good amount of good karma right there

Well i saw the simile that goes : dont be like a tree be like reed which bends when there is a strong wind unlike the tree which dosnt and because his not flexible enough he brakes

than i thought its a nice simile but a reed dosnt have a goal he does nothing and i would like to find a simile who can help me face problems - and than thought about water - but i didnt find a good water simile yet

a good simile for instance is : mindfulness is like a river and rocks on his path are thoughts and feelings and the river dosnt stop every time he "meets" a rock but he flows around it - he dosnt move it just flows around

i would like to hear as much similes as possible - it would be nice to have a simple simile that fits lots of situations in life which can help in my motivation - including motivation to meditate and be more mindful ( i dont want this debate to be if its good for me to use similes or not im pretty sure it will help me having a good simile )

if someone has a good simile that isnt water that can fit lots of situation than i would like to hear also - be like grass\sand ect

The main question i think is : i would like to find explanations to places where water arent acting the best way possible and would like to find a good explanation to that
( i dont really want to be water and i know water does bad stuff - but as a simile just as aid it can be a nice way to remember how to act)

i would like to find some simile for example on how water never stops and always flows until it reaches its goal - but water stops at dams right ?

another example - for instances i wanted to think that water always flows to the lowest place no matter the obstacles - but thats not true - because water can stop for instance at a small lake on a mountain side which is surrounded by dirt piles even if there would be a lower lake on the bottom of the mountain

one nice solution can be that you can be assimilated to a fountain and water that comes out to effort when you put enough effort you can overcome anything with enough water you can overflow dams and piles of dirt and overcome a hot sun which vaporizes the water

any other stuff someone wants to say on the subject is more than welcomed
Last edited by purple planet on Tue Apr 02, 2013 7:32 am, edited 1 time in total.
Coyote
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Re: Be like water

Post by Coyote »


As a water bead on a lotus leaf,
as water on a red lily,
does not adhere,

so the sage
does not adhere
to the seen, the heard, or the sensed;

-Sutta Nipata (Thanissaro)


As a lotus flower is born in water, grows in water and rises out of water to stand above it unsoiled, so I, born in the world, raised in the world having overcome the world, live unsoiled by the world
(Not sure if this one is authentic, can't find a source)
"If beings knew, as I know, the results of giving & sharing, they would not eat without having given, nor would the stain of miserliness overcome their minds. Even if it were their last bite, their last mouthful, they would not eat without having shared."
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Samma
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Re: Be like water

Post by Samma »

From what I understand, for Bruce Lee, this like water stuff was manly referring to traditional martial arts vs his jeet kune do. Traditional martial arts of a particular school may have had a particular stance, and ways of attacking, defending. While Jeet Kune Do is do what is best for the situation kind of thing.

This seems to be related to Taoist concept of wu-wei or “effortless action”. But like I said in the tiger woods thread, I'm not sure how much Buddhism might have something like this.
http://dhammawheel.com/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=16371

In the original Taoist texts, wu wei is often associated with water and its yielding nature. Although water is soft and weak, it has the capacity to erode even solid stone (for example, the Grand Canyon) and move mountains (for example, landslides). Water is without will (that is, the will for a shape), though it may be understood to be opposing wood, stone, or any solid aggregated material that can be broken into pieces. Due to its nature and propensity, water may potentially fill any container, assume any shape; given the Water cycle water may potentially go "anywhere", even into the minutest holes, both metaphorical and actual. Droplets of water, when falling as rain, gather in watersheds, flowing into and forming rivers of water, joining the proverbial sea: this is the nature of water. (wikipedia)
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Kim OHara
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Re: Be like water

Post by Kim OHara »

Samma wrote:...
This seems to be related to Taoist concept of wu-wei or “effortless action”. ...
In the original Taoist texts, wu wei is often associated with water and its yielding nature. Although water is soft and weak, it has the capacity to erode even solid stone (for example, the Grand Canyon) and move mountains (for example, landslides). Water is without will (that is, the will for a shape), though it may be understood to be opposing wood, stone, or any solid aggregated material that can be broken into pieces. Due to its nature and propensity, water may potentially fill any container, assume any shape; given the Water cycle water may potentially go "anywhere", even into the minutest holes, both metaphorical and actual. Droplets of water, when falling as rain, gather in watersheds, flowing into and forming rivers of water, joining the proverbial sea: this is the nature of water. (wikipedia)
Yes, I was going to mention the Taoist use of the metaphor. Letting yourself accept circumstances and adapt to them rather than fighting (uselessly) against them is often likened to flowing like water around obstacles.

:namaste:
Kim
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retrofuturist
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Re: Be like water

Post by retrofuturist »

Greetings,



Metta,
Retro. :)
"Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."
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