Waves are water

Meditation on the depth of feeling in the world, based on a quote from Thich Nhat Hanh.

When you look at the surface of the ocean, you can see the waves rising and falling. You can describe these waves as big or small, stronger or weaker, more or less beautiful. You can describe these waves in terms of beginning and end, birth and death; this is the historical dimension. In the historical dimension, we’re preoccupied with birth and death, what’s stronger or weaker, more or less beautiful, beginning and end, and so on.

With deep insight, we can see that waves are also water. Perhaps the wave wants to discover its own nature. The wave may be suffering from fear and complexes. A wave will say: "I’m not as big as the other waves, I’m depressed, I’m not as beautiful as the other waves. I was born, and I’m going to die. The wave may suffer from these ideas. But if it bends down to touch its true nature, it will understand that it is water, and its fear and complexes will then have disappeared. Water is free from the birth and death of a wave. Water is free of the notions of big or small, or more or less beautiful.

Only waves can be described as more or less beautiful, or bigger or smaller. None of these concepts apply to water.

Waves are water.

Text extracted from the book “There’s no death or fear” by Thich Nhat Hanh (Paris, Editions de La Table Ronde, 2003).

Diffusion

• 2024 : Sequence Shot Festival