The 5 elements

Working last month at the school on the 5 elements, one of the thoughts we explored was this: Ever since we were kids and went to school, there was a strong emphasis on cultivating the fire element: competition, discipline, assessments, scheduling, non-stop action...

The pattern is registered and so one day we wake up as adults, exhausted, full of lists of 'important' unfinished business towards life, always assuming that happiness will come at the end of them. But lists never end. Beyond the resulting annihilation, a very uncomfortable subliminal message is recorded from an early age: "If I don't try, I won't be happy" or "I'm too young/old/not worthy as I am, I have to struggle, produce, succeed".

And what an incredible cycle of pain and underestimation begins...The documented need for action makes me keep trying, it subconsciously makes me feel small, and (though exhausted now) pushes me to try harder...

Consequently, the quality of the wonderful element of the earth is lost, the trust that happiness might come even if I sit, quiet, surrender... We forget that beauty is all around us, in a hug, in the sight of a flower, in the song of a bird. The fire has burned us all, and at the same time, we have lost gratitude, sensitivity, the softness of water and the lightness of air. We run frantically to get somewhere, and forget that we may already be there.

Let's say "I don't have time to rush"! Let's go to the sea, let's lie for hours looking at the sky. Let's welcome ourselves there. Time will look at us like we're crazy, but the heart and body will be forever grateful.

In fact, if we think about the moments that have been precious to us, they are always the ones we feel strongly about ourselves. Our bodies know how to dance, sing, make love, mourn, celebrate... These know they belong to spirit and life, it is our minds that make life seem so difficult and lonely.

The moment is the only true refuge. The basis of everything we value (happiness, wisdom, love...) is found in our capacity for presence, not at the bottom of our list. As Nisargadatta says:

Have a present heart! The mind creates the abyss, but it is the heart that crosses it.