Japanese mountains are very steep, and that unique landscape creates waterfalls in the middle of almost all the rivers. Have you ever been into the waterfalls?
Depending on the height and amount of the water, it feels different. However, even a small waterfall makes my neck falls forward slightly if I am in it. Under a high waterfall, I feel the impact on my back and knees. I need to plant my feet firmly on the basin to keep my body up.
I am hit by the impacts or the power of the water which falls from the above.
After four to five minutes in the waterfall, my body feels freezing and starts to shiver. However, if I go out and take a rest for a while, I get the urge to go back there again. I find that is so interesting.
Why does it feel so refreshing and fulfilling? It even brings me back the power to renew my life from the inside.
I remember my mother used to perform cold water ablutions from December to February every year for three months. During winter, water in the well stays warm. So she would keep the water in a basin over night and used the water next morning after removing the ice on the surface. As a small child, I asked her why she did such a thing.
It is no longer clear what she said precisely. However, she mentioned about “karma” inside her which caused my elder brother’s poor health; he used to suffer from high fever almost every month when he was young. She said the cold water ablution was to remove the Karma of hers.
I was not convinced, but I understood that was the way it went in my child's heart of hearts. I grew up and realized that it was a purification ceremony. I strongly felt that the water does penetrate deep in the body and has a power to eradicate the root of evil inside.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karma
