Water in Taoism: No. 5

In Taoism, it teaches that “the spirit of the valley never dies”.  The valley is where water is born, and where it starts to flow as a river.  That is the place where fresh water wells up, and the water at the valley is full of life energy.

The rich topographical variety produces numerous valleys in Japan.  Tao says, the valleys will never dry out, and are eternal.

I have produced my work in the water which comes from the valleys.  I am 70 years old now, and full of energy.  I am positive that it is because I have absorbed the energies at the valleys for lat 35 years.

You may need to release tension from being in the city, sort out tangled emotions, look for a leading light, or get back your tenderness.  Those can be possible simply by walking by the river, drinking tea by the river while you listen to the sound of the water, or playing with water which will balance your feeling inside of your mind.

The valley is a place where all the life force is born.  Therefore, it will never die.  Moreover, it promises for the eternal life. 

Please go out to look for the water from the valley.

Water in Taoism: No. 4

The movements of Tao is invisible, however, do exist. They never stop, and are eternal.  They keep changing, for sure. 

Somewhere on the earth, something keeps welling up.  We cannot grasp the thing.  However, my guess is that the unknown is water.

The amount of the water stays the same since 3.5 billion years ago.  Water has kept moving, and interacted with all the substances.  The interactions have made the nature transformed.  Depending on the circumstances, water changes its form from liquid, gas, to the solid.  It influences the substances from inside.  This movement is the nature of water.

For humans, living means moving and changing, as well.  By walking, our stamina will circulate throughout the body.  At the same time, it produces a vibration which turns on the energy that is essential for living.  By moving, our bodies can sweat from the core.  The water turns into vapor, and vanish into the air from whole body.  Then, bodies require to rehydrate with fresh water.

“Wow… the water taste so good, and my body is so refreshed!”  This is the movement of Tao.  So, why don’t you move water inside of your body?

Water in Taoism: No. 3

Movements of Tao are natural and bear no intention.  The natural forth which exists as it is, is the most powerful.  Human tend to move with intentions and reform what exist in nature.

Water has exists on the earth for last 35 billion years and never stopped to move.  When it flows, water knows the easiest and convenient way.  When it is steep, for example, water flows with speed.  When it crosses a field, it flows even relaxed way.

The flow of water is nature itself.  However, humans build riverbanks so that the water flows straight for their convenience.  As a result, humans have to fight with nature.  Under those circumstances, the power of water is beyond human’s imagination, and destroys artifacts. 

If a river is campshed by humans, precipitations in the mountains flow into a river and reach to the sea within 3 days.  I wonder if there is more effective way to protect a riverbank so that it flows more slowly so that the earth can absorb more water. 

When the earth is nourished with the water, it leads to nurture animals, plants, and all other living being, I believe.

The untouched nature has the best power and knows what is effective.  Therefore, if the water is let flow as it wants, it shows the best consequences.  The water has a desire to nurture all beings, while it flows slowly and be absorbed deep in the earth.

Water in Taoism: No. 2

Water nurtures all living things.  Where the water is, the place is full of water’s power to make all the things alive with its best efforts.  Whether it is an insect or a plant, water gives power to the creatures to stay alive.  That is water’s pleasure.

Moreover, water flows to the lowest with its own will.  Water keeps itself alive by moving and flowing.  Dust and garbage tend to accumulate at lower places, but water is willing to flow into there.  It stays there for a while, and starts moving again to lower and lower until the lowest.  Then it reaches to the lowest place on the earth, sea, where the water has a relax time with others. 

That is the water’s desire.  Therefore, we have to maintain the environment in a good shape so that water can flow with ease.  Water circulates between earth and sky while purifying this planet.  The earth is the place where all living things get together and water prays that this planet will exist forever.  For the purpose, water transforms itself into other forms so that it can hydrates and purify the earth.

This is the desire of water.  In this way, Tao explains that water’s power is same as its role.  When I speak for water, these are pleasure, desire, and pray of water.

Water in Taoism: No. 1

In Tao* scriptures, it reads “closest being to Tao is heaven and earth, and closest movement to Tao is water.

How Tao treats water?  First, it is explained as noncompetitive.  In other words, it does not compete with anything.  It accepts everything, and emerges into objects.  Yet, it does not lose its identity.

If a person applies this way of life to this real world, one is regarded as a looser, and people would blame one’s naïveness.  However, is it really so?

Since individual statements are so prevailed in the society, a person can stand alone and does not loose one’s identity even one is mingling with others; even then, the one is still sure which way one should go.  If the person can recognize it as a noble way of thinking, one is a person of Tao.

A person of Tao is flexible and soft.  Therefore one cannot easily be toned apart, never gives up and makes steady efforts to achieve the will.  Water is guardian for the freedom, tolerance, and purification.

*Tao: One of the Chinese philosophical traditions. Please refer to Tao (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taoism)

Water in Paris and Switzerland.

From September 16^th to 25^th, I visited Paris and Switzerland.  The purpose of the trip was a meeting and some preparation for my exhibition at the Louvre Museum in December.

It’s been a year since I visited Paris last time.  I was overwhelmed with the water at a hotel I stayed; the quality of water was very hard.  After I took a bath, for example, skin throughout the body got so dry, and my face was stiff and cased skin to peel and fall off.

That made me convinced why people apply oil to their body a lot.

In Switzerland, Ms Setsuko* invited us to her home, the Grand Chalet at Rossinière.  It was very kind of her that she let us stay there for 2 nights.

We had wide-ranging conversations and enjoyed talking till the late hours of the night.  She may have experienced many hardships through her life in high society being away from home country.  That is why her stories hit me in my mind.

The great thing about her is that she has never forgotten her home country, and valued rich Japanese mentality throughout her 50 years of life in a foreign country.  She wears Kimono in her everyday life, and goes for a walk with her dog with Kimono as well.

She says “Japanese Kimono nowadays is for formal occasions, but my Kimono is for a daily use”.  It is true that Kimono was worn as everyday attire by both Japanese men and women in the past.  People wore Kimono all the time; even in a kitchen, while cleaning, and doing yard work, for example.

Three days of stay at the Grand Chalet was full of hospitality.  The village which she lived in was on a half-way up a mountain side.  The life there was so beautiful and was surrounded by clear air and colorful flowers and plants.  The street was so clean that I did not see even a single leaf.  Each house was full of flowers.  It seemed to me that it was like a flower show and they competed against each other for its beauty and their green-thumbs. 

I asked her why people take care of their gardens so beautifully, and she explained that the reason was something to do with water. 

Because of its high altitude, it rains a lot without any contamination.  Therefore, the air stays clean, which makes flowers more colorful.  The environment makes people’s mind clean, and they try to spend their life beautifully as well.  Everything contributes to create a virtuous cycle.

Where water is crystal clear, so is people’s mind.  I was made to see the example of the case.

* Ms. Setsuko: Please look on “Setsuko Klossowska de Rola” for details.

Messages from water : No.6

Your being is supported by something else.

So is water.

If water stays at one place, it starts to stagnate soon.

Thanks to the supports you may or may not see,

You are alive.

Thanks to the supports you may or may not see,

You can enjoy your meals.

Thanks to the supports you may or may not see,

You can be grateful.

Thanks to the supports you may or may not see,

You are giving a life on the earth.

Messages from water : No.5

Water does not fight each other (sometimes…)

Water accept everything, so it does not fight. 

From time to time…

Why don’t you try walk backward.

From time to time…

You can cry out loud.

From time to time…

Throw out things with no hesitation.

From time to time…

Say you are sorry.

Messages from water : No.4

Water thinks and acts freely without being interfered with anything.

Water adapts to the time and situation.

It is all right,

Try to do thing whatever you can start with.

It is all right,

There are people who love you just the way you are.

It is all right,

Everything goes well if you believe so.

It is all right,

Now may not be the right time for it.