What is Water?

by Christine Swint

After meditating at a Zen dojo in Boston, I stood in the kitchen with a Korean Zen master. “What exactly is a mantra?” I said.

The Zen master paused, and then said, “What is water?”

"Water is life,” I said. He shook his head, walked over to the stainless  steel sink, and turned on the faucet. A stream of water poured out, sending silver drops into the afternoon light. I learned that a mantra, like water, doesn’t need an explanation, it just is.

But we do feel the influence of water in our lives, and it can be traced to the source. The goddess Aphrodite rose from the sea, a new and wondrous beauty created from the mutilation of her father.  Christ turned water into wine, another reflection of the transformation in store for his followers. A baptism by water represents the beginning of a believer’s life, washing away the sins of the fathers.

The Earth began as one giant ocean, populated with mysterious creatures. No wonder our dreams teem with images of lakes, rivers, giant waves, and currents. Like the Greeks and Romans before them, medieval philosophers included water among the four elements. An excess of liquid in the body produced a phlegmatic humor, marked by a lack of emotion in the afflicted

soul.

In the Tao Te Ching, Laozi said the Tao, or the Way, is like water. It is the softest, most malleable substance on Earth, yet over time it can cut through mountains. Perhaps a mantra is like water, softly flowing through the mind, yet wearing away the rough spots. I am renewed when I let its subtle influence flow throughout my spirit. Maybe that’s what the Korean Zen master wanted to teach me. He threw a pebble in a pond, and I’m still diving into the ripples.

Christine Swint:  I am a writer, a mother, of two teenage boys, and a Spanish instructor from Marietta, GA.  I share a home with my husband, the boys, and two scruffy dogs.  Contact Christine.