<p>Nothing will happen if you fail Buddhist practise, apart from not have higher (non-sensual) free happiness &amp; not being able to be free from suffering when inevitable life changes occur, such as aging, illness, loss &amp; death occur. </p>

<p>If you don't have higher happiness, you can still chase pleasures in the world (if you enjoy them) as ordinary people do, such as watching TV, relationships, family, traveling, sports, etc. </p>

<p>If you don't know how to end suffering, you can still suffer, cry, hug &amp; celebrate at funerals or fear your own death, as ordinary people do. </p>

<p>That's about it. If you fail Buddhist practise, God or Buddha will not punish you and there is no nasty reincarnation waiting for you. </p>

<p>Please try to relax about Buddhism because Buddhism exists to free people from suffering rather than to create suffering in people. </p>

<p>If you listen to the wrong teachers, Buddhism can certainly create suffering for you.</p>

<p>Ideally, Buddhism is practised to overcome suffering a person is already aware of. There is no point consuming medicine if you are not sick or using a fire-water-hose when there is no discernible fire occurring. A fire-water-hose is heavy &amp; will just bring weariness if used for no reason. </p>

<p>The reasons why we practise meditation should come from motivation from within us (rather than from what other people &amp; teachers tell us). </p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/xXaxm.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/xXaxm.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

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2016-09-08T20:53:28.117Z
2016-09-08T21:04:45.310Z
2016-09-08T21:04:45.310Z
Dhamma Dhatu
<p>Everything comes in cycles.  There have obviously been times you feel very dedicated and enthusiastic. There are times you are completely the opposite.  Keep it in your head that these are both constructs, basically just ephemeral thoughts and feelings that pass and don't cling to them and call them me. You are most definitely attaching yourself to "be like water".  Stop it. Know that that too is a mental construct and not real - let go of it. You just go to the mat and sit and keep pulling yourself back no matter how distracted you get. Everyone goes though these periods - just sustain. Maybe instead of "be like water" you should take a practice of "let go" and give it a try - whatever mental image you get just "let go".</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-09-08T21:39:00.120Z
2016-09-08T21:39:00.120Z
Yetanotherguy
<p>When I first began my path as a Buddhist practitioner I faced a very similar problem. It can be hard at times especially when you're not feeling motivated. It can even feel like a war between the ego and the will. I hope by giving you a few practical tips which maybe useful for your practice. Remember to only take what works for you. No one is the same and what works for one person may not for another.  </p>

<ol>
<li><p>Make it a personal habit to listen to the Dharma both in the morning and at night. The Dharma will help guide you, motivate you, and support you through the help of the Sangha. For myself, I enjoy listening to <a href="http://dharmaseed.org/" rel="nofollow">Dharmaseed.org</a> and the <a href="http://sfzc.org/teachings/audio/recorded-dharma-talks" rel="nofollow">San Francisco Zen Center</a>. Both offer talks which I find very encouraging especially on my harder days. Sometimes if I'm feeling miserable I will even listen to a talk by <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/BuddhistSocietyWA/videos" rel="nofollow">Ajahn Brahm</a>. He has a true gift in making personal matters just wash away. </p></li>
<li><p>learn to build discipline through the simple things in life. Believe it or not I first began my discipline through drinking black coffee. It may sound small to most people, but through it I found a wonderful practice. Now, because I began with small steps I only eat two meals a day; and occasionally do whole day fasts.  </p></li>
<li><p>Remind yourself to live without any goals, with no aim, and with no targets. This isn't to say you're avoiding your responsibilities, quite the contrary, instead you're now focusing on your responsibilities without adding stress, impatience, and other hindrances caused by desire. You'll never become a mathematician by thinking of becoming a mathematician, but only by doing math. </p></li>
</ol>

<p>Now let's consider your quote on "Being [/ Becoming] like Water". A quote I found by Bruce Lee gives a fantastic overview by what is meant by becoming like water, </p>

<blockquote>
  <p>"Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water my friend."</p>
</blockquote>

<p>The lesson behind becoming like water is to separate the notion of doing and the doer. Suzuki Roshi, an American Zen teacher, once said </p>

<blockquote>
  <p>"There are, strictly speaking, no enlightened people, there is only enlightened activity." </p>
</blockquote>

<p>If you are looking for a more practical approach to "Being like Water" than I recommend practicing <a href="http://www.treeleaf.org/for-new-comers-and-about-treeleaf/" rel="nofollow">Shikantaza</a> also known as "just-to-sit" or "just-sitting". That is, we don't practice sitting Zazen to gain anything but to sit. There is nothing more and nothing less. There are no distinctions between the sitter and the sitting. There are no distinctions between the walker and the walking. There are no distinctions between the sleeper and the act of sleeping. It simply just is. The moment you say "I am walking" or "I am sitting" you are no longer the water. </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-09-16T13:42:10.660Z
2016-09-16T14:12:05.600Z
2016-09-16T14:12:05.600Z
Theo Christos
<p>There is a lot of confusion here. "Be like water" is a quote popularized by Bruce Lee. His philosophy is to become fluid and adaptable like water, being able to fit into any container, with special attention to the application of martial arts and fighting. This is a goal founded in Taoism, aiming to harmonize with the universe.</p>

<p>The Buddha although often using the metaphors of the elements including water in his discourses for the practice of the Dharma. For example: entering the stream of the Noble Eightfold Path, which steadily flows towards the ocean of enlightenment.</p>

<p>The problem is when you stretch the metaphor too far. Like you pointed out, water is passive. This is great if you are trying to resist the pulls of external forces of aversion and craving, you still your mind into non reactivity.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>"Develop the meditation in tune with water. For when you are
  developing the meditation in tune with water, agreeable &amp; disagreeable
  sensory impressions that have arisen will not stay in charge of your
  mind. Just as when people wash what is clean or unclean in water —
  feces, urine, saliva, pus, or blood — the water is not horrified,
  humiliated, or disgusted by it; in the same way, when you are
  developing the meditation in tune with water, agreeable &amp; disagreeable
  sensory impressions that have arisen will not stay in charge of your
  mind.</p>
</blockquote>

<p><a href="http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.062.than.html" rel="nofollow">Maha-Rahulovada Sutta: The Greater Exhortation to Rahula</a></p>

<p>However, a fundamental aspect of the Buddhadharma Noble Eightfold Path is Right Effort.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>"And what, monks, is right effort?</p>
  
  <p>[i] "There is the case where a monk generates desire, endeavors,
  activates persistence, upholds &amp; exerts his intent for the sake of the
  non-arising of evil, unskillful qualities that have not yet arisen.</p>
  
  <p>[ii] "He generates desire, endeavors, activates persistence, upholds &amp;
  exerts his intent for the sake of the abandonment of evil, unskillful
  qualities that have arisen.</p>
  
  <p>[iii] "He generates desire, endeavors, activates persistence, upholds
  &amp; exerts his intent for the sake of the arising of skillful qualities
  that have not yet arisen.</p>
  
  <p>[iv] "He generates desire, endeavors, activates persistence, upholds &amp;
  exerts his intent for the maintenance, non-confusion, increase,
  plenitude, development, &amp; culmination of skillful qualities that have
  arisen: This, monks, is called right effort."</p>
</blockquote>

<p><a href="http://www.accesstoinsight.org/ptf/dhamma/sacca/sacca4/samma-vayamo/" rel="nofollow">The definition (the four Right Exertions)</a></p>

<p>We cannot possibly be 'non reactive' like water without some serious work cultivating ourselves when faced with cravings and aversion, because we are steeped in our bad habits.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Abandoning the wrong factors of the path "One tries to abandon wrong
  view &amp; to enter into right view: This is one's right effort...</p>
  
  <p>"One tries to abandon wrong resolve &amp; to enter into right resolve:
  This is one's right effort...</p>
  
  <p>"One tries to abandon wrong speech &amp; to enter into right speech: This
  is one's right effort...</p>
  
  <p>"One tries to abandon wrong action &amp; to enter into right action: This
  is one's right effort...</p>
  
  <p>"One tries to abandon wrong livelihood &amp; to enter into right
  livelihood: This is one's right effort."</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Without doing so, we are not actually practicing the Buddhadharma and will go nowhere. And our claims of being like water will only be empty conceptualizations.</p>

<p>Further more, else where in the canon, the Buddha compares a mind that is overwhelmed by afflictions to a bowl of water that is tainted:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>"Well, Brahman, when a man dwells with his heart possessed and
  overwhelmed by sense-desires, and does not know, as it really is, the
  way of escape from sense-desires that have arisen, then he cannot know
  or see, as it really is, what is to his own profit, nor can he know
  and see what is to the profit of others, or of both himself and
  others. Then even sacred words he has long studied are not clear to
  him, not to mention those he has not studied.</p>
  
  <p>"Imagine, Brahman, a bowl of water mixed with lac, turmeric, dark
  green or crimson dye. If a man with good eyesight were to look at the
  reflection of his own face in it, he would not know or see it as it
  really was. In the same way, Brahman, when a man dwells with his heart
  possessed and overwhelmed by sense-desires... then he cannot know or
  see, as it really is, what is to his own profit, to the profit of
  others, to the profit of both. Then even sacred words he has long
  studied are not clear to him, not to mention those he has not studied.</p>
  
  <p>"Again, Brahman, when a man dwells with his heart possessed and
  overwhelmed with ill-will... then he cannot know or see...</p>
  
  <p>"Imagine a bowl of water, heated on a fire, boiling up and bubbling
  over. If a man with good eyesight were to look at the reflection of
  his own face in it, he would not know or see it as it really was...</p>
  
  <p>"Again, Brahman, when a man dwells with his heart possessed and
  overwhelmed by sloth-and-torpor... then he cannot know or see...</p>
  
  <p>"Imagine a bowl of water covered over with slimy moss and
  water-plants. If a man with good eyesight were to look at the
  reflection of his own face in it, he would not know or see it as it
  really was...</p>
  
  <p>"Again, Brahman, when a man dwells with his heart possessed and
  overwhelmed by worry-and-flurry... then he cannot know or see...</p>
  
  <p>"Imagine a bowl of water ruffled by the wind, so that the water
  trembled, eddied and rippled. If a man with good eyesight were to look
  at the reflection of his own face in it, he would not know or see it
  as it really was...</p>
  
  <p>"Again, Brahman, when a man dwells with his heart possessed and
  overwhelmed by doubt-and-wavering... he cannot know or see...</p>
  
  <p>"Imagine a bowl of water, agitated, stirred up muddied, put in a dark
  place. If a man with good eyesight were to look at the reflection of
  his own face in it, he would not know or see it as it really was. In
  the same way, Brahman, when a man dwells with his heart possessed and
  overwhelmed by doubt-and-wavering... then he cannot know or see, as it
  really is, what is to his own profit, to the profit of others, to the
  profit of both. Then even sacred words he has long studied are not
  clear to him, not to mention those he has studied.</p>
</blockquote>

<p><a href="http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn46/sn46.055.wlsh.html" rel="nofollow">Sangaravo Sutta: Sangarava The Hindrances</a></p>

<p>Here the goal isn't simply to be/have water, but to have pure water.</p>

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2016-09-16T09:59:42.750Z
I didn't know that quote was popularized by Bruce Lee. I guess that Bruce Lee may have got that simile from martial arts -- apparently [Bruce Lee's teacher taught him *chi sao* (sticking hands)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Lee#Wing_Chun), and I guess that [*chi sao*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wing_Chun#Chi_Sao) is more or less the same as [*tuishou* from (taoist) Tai Chi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pushing_hands), therefore a [soft/internal style](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neijia) (although the little I remember of Bruce Lee's "fights" in movies looked like a 'hard' style).
ChrisW
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2016-09-18T03:05:25.087Z
Taoist based martial artists like to make this distinction between 'hard' and 'soft' style, often as a form of promotion, ultimately hard and soft are only relative distinctions. The soft styles still hit pretty hard, and the hard styles often have subtle techniques.

Speaking of which, when I was younger I used to practice wushu, which was a good healthy exercise, but it's only from learning Buddhism that I have found solace from the feelings of anxiety and stress.
Yinxu
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2016-09-18T12:52:19.393Z
Well "water" seems relatively soft or *yin* to me, which is why I mentioned that; but I suppose water can be/become hard, too. I learned and liked to practice a Tai Chi form (the Chen first/long form, which takes about 20 minutes). I found that to be exercise (strengthen legs, improve posture), *and* stress-relief: stress-relief, partly from [having an activity to think about](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_(psychology)#Conditions_for_flow), and as learning and practice was a social activity, but most especially when I learned to coordinate my breathing (inhale and exhale) with the form.
ChrisW
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2016-09-16T07:52:36.230Z
2016-09-16T08:39:01.613Z
2016-09-16T08:39:01.613Z
Yinxu
<p>Be <em>fluid</em> water.
Grab it stab it <em>unchanging</em>.
Resilient <em>rock.</em></p>

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2016-09-15T00:40:06.633Z
Your answer sounds like a Haiku Poem, but it does not have the 5 syllable: 7 syllable: 5 syllable format.  I wonder whether this is a "seriously bad haiku" or what?
Saptha Visuddhi
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2016-09-16T14:02:58.007Z
@SapthaVisuddhi The OP's simile was "Be like water" and I think the purpose of this answer is to add adjectives to explain that simile: be *fluid* (like water), e.g. not rigid or static or attached to obsolete mental conceptions; be *unchanging* (like water), i.e. unaffected/untroubled/unchanged when someone or something tries to grab or stab you; and resilient like *rock*, i.e. impersonal, don't take things 'personally' which would make you fragile.
ChrisW
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2016-09-16T15:51:19.033Z
Great explanation @ChrisW. I am so sorry but I never so it in this light. Now I'll have to take back the above comment that I made. At the time of my writing the above, I was thinking of Ven. Sariputta's lion'n roar, that he is by nature, like the earth, water, fire and wind. It was that quality of water that I had in mind.
Saptha Visuddhi
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2016-09-14T11:01:31.170Z
2016-09-14T11:01:31.170Z
Awilda C. Lipfird
<p>If "be like water" is Buddhist, it sounds to me like an Eastern form of it (i.e. Chan or Zen).</p>

<p>One view/aspect of Chan or Zen is that it's the result of Buddhism's mixing with Taoism.</p>

<p>If you want to know more about "be like water", one place to find that might be in the (Taoist, not Buddhist) <a href="http://acc6.its.brooklyn.cuny.edu/~phalsall/texts/taote-v3.html">Tao Te Ching</a>, for example,</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>The supreme good is like water,<br>
  which nourishes all things without trying to.<br>
  It is content with the low places that people disdain.<br>
  Thus it is like the Tao.</p>
  
  <p>In dwelling, live close to the ground.<br>
  In thinking, keep to the simple.<br>
  In conflict, be fair and generous.<br>
  In governing, don't try to control.<br>
  In work, do what you enjoy.<br>
  In family life, be completely present.</p>
  
  <p>When you are content to be simply yourself<br>
  and don't compare or compete,<br>
  everybody will respect you.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>For example, you wrote,</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>because water dont fail - they dont take a break - so when i do fail and not meditate and get lazy it breaks my whole motivation cause the "be like water" theory dosnt work cause water dont stop and get back up</p>
</blockquote>

<p>The Tao Te Ching has imagery of water occupying the low places, the valleys:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>All streams flow to the sea<br>
  because it is lower than they are.<br>
  Humility gives it its power.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>I'm not sure I understood your question, but if you find yourself in a low place, maybe that (where you are, in the low, in the place) is where you meditate: without self-striving to get back up before you do.</p>

<p>Also, water has three states: vapour rises, water flows, ice is more solid. When you wrote, when I read, "I fail", I thought of that as being more like ice than being like water: because it sounds like a fixed/solid view of "I" ... instead of a natural/flowing view (I'm not sure how <em>water</em> could be said to fail).</p>

<p>Also I think that Zen meditation posture includes being solidly planted/rooted on/with the ground.</p>

<p>Also, on topic, a different example of being like water, here is one story: <a href="http://www.ashidakim.com/zenkoans/8greatwaves.html">Great Waves</a>. I'm not sure what "bashful" means in the story, I suppose it's a harmful or confused or ignorant form of being 'self-conscious'.</p>

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2016-09-08T07:34:07.897Z
im meditate for some years - always falling back and stoping the meditation - i cant get a constant regular practice - i have a teacher - he dosnt have any advice to motivate me - from theravada tradition    -   i tried meditating 1 minute each day -  meditating 2 hours full force -  tried listening to dhamma talks - avoiding meditation  

im really desperate now  - if i dont have self striving than i just wont meditate   

i liked the "be like water"  thing - though it falls apart for me because water dosnt stop for a few weeks
breath
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2016-09-08T07:36:49.050Z
also im getting a why try attitode - its not as if i didnt try i did 3-4 retreats - i practice for some years - and try several different approaches but i always stop - even when i say i wont  - cant meditate constantly (each day)  more than a month maximum - and usually its much less - 2 weeks tops    

and i retried to get a constant practice so many times - i need some motivation or some technique and i cant find it in buddhism at least now - so thought maybe i can "translate" the be like water thing to my needs
breath
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2016-09-08T07:37:23.287Z
Isn't it like breathing: i.e. you meditate when you have/feel a need to?
ChrisW
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2016-09-08T07:52:28.727Z
never - i dont enjoy meditation at all - dont feel a need for it - if i have a good meditaiton it can be bearable  /// and the way i meditate which is how youttdhammo teaches -  it brings up a lot of stuff - which you are mindful of and let go of  - but it brings up a lot of stuff - and they are not nice stuff - at least the ones i notice more lol
breath
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2016-09-16T07:31:30.587Z
This is wrong. Chan and Zen is not Taoism.

"As a master of the Buddha Dharma, Dogen naturally regarded Taoism and Confucianism to be of minor significance in contrast to Buddhism.  ... Moreover, Dogen describes the failure of distinguishing between them as slandering Taoism and Confucianism as much as slandering Buddhism. ... To recklessly discuss them as all having one and the same principle is to slander the Buddha Dharma"

http://dogenandtheshobogenzo.blogspot.com/2010/07/shobogenzo-tao-of-mythical-expression.html
Yinxu
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2016-09-16T09:38:07.510Z
@Yinxu My apologies ... I thought that, historically, Chan and Taoism are somewhat connected (see e.g. [Introduction of Buddhism in China (ca. 200-500)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chan_Buddhism#Signification_of_Buddhism_and_Taoist_influences)). I didn't recognize the OP's "Be like water" statement from the suttas, but it did remind me of the Tao Te Ching.
ChrisW
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2016-09-18T03:00:15.240Z
I would say they are connected in the sense that many of the converts were themselves formerly Taoists, but they also perhaps unsurprisingly stated the superiority of the Buddhadharma - Taoism after all does not have an explicit way to end suffering. Many masters such as Kukai of Shingon even wrote essays discussing Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism and stating that Buddhism is ultimately superior. They are not denying that there are truths within Taoism per se, but that Buddhism go much further than the other two.
Yinxu
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2016-09-08T07:05:25.657Z
2016-09-08T07:05:25.657Z
ChrisW
<p>You're clinging to your theory. Clinging causes fear of letting it go. And hence your predicament. Let it be.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-09-08T05:29:26.770Z
2016-09-08T05:29:26.770Z
esh
<p>"Be like water" - so when you fail you keep going. There is no going back. You keep going and learning will happen (almost) by itself.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-09-12T00:58:29.180Z
2016-09-12T00:58:29.180Z
Andriy Volkov
<p>Sounds like you're in some kind of meditation crisis. From what I've read it seems to me that you on the one hand think of meditation as something beneficial (because you want to practice it daily), but on the other hand are currently a bit aversed to meditation and yourself (when you find yourself unable to do it). And as a result you experience frustration because your practice is not as you want it to be.</p>

<p>You should definitely check if you push yourself too hard or if you are too serious about your practice. Because if you try too hard and are too hard with yourself, a natural response of the mind is to resist and dislike. This makes it hard to meditate and you feel guilty because you can't keep up with your expectations...</p>

<p>I've read in one comment you practice according to the <a href="http://www.sirimangalo.org/text/how-to-meditate/" rel="nofollow">technique of Ven. Yuttadhammo Bhikkhu</a>. I don't think I'm in a position where I could give you the right advise how to deal with this. But according to this technique you would try to be objective about your emotions when they arise or are present by saying to yourself "unmotivated, unmotivated ..", "disliking, disliking ...", "frustrated, frustrated ...", "overwhelmed, overwhelmed ...", "thinking, thinking ...", "bored, bored ...".</p>

<p>It's probably best to discuss this with a teacher. If you don't meet with one, you can start an online course with Yuttadhammo Bhikkhu at <a href="https://meditation.sirimangalo.org/schedule" rel="nofollow">https://meditation.sirimangalo.org/schedule</a> and ask him for advice. This would probably help you with your motivation as well. </p>

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2016-09-08T13:17:45.090Z
2016-09-08T13:17:45.090Z
OidaOudenEidos
<p>Be like water - but what if i fail </p>

<p>i really like the quote "be like water"  and wanted to live by it  -  but the problems was what happenes when i fail - when i cant meditate or more truly too lazy to meditate - and always take a few days break no matter what ? </p>

<p>because water don't fail - they don't take a break -  so when i do fail and not meditate and get lazy it breaks my whole motivation cause the "be like water"    theory doesn't work cause water don't stop and get back up  </p>

<p>can someone here help me find some explanation to make the "be like water" quote reasonable to failing as well </p>

<p>This is not a buddhist connected idea directly - but i ask this to help my practice - and its very very important for me if i get a good reply  - very wholsome kamma    +++  plus its more related to the practice than   other questions ive seen here before</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-09-08T10:47:37.103Z
Breath, how about, instead of focusing on having a meditation schedule, you meditate all the time? You have thoughts about having to meditate - say "thinking,  thinking" etc. Give it a try.
Anca
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-09-16T09:46:43.313Z
From where or from whom did you hear, or read, the expression, "Be like water"?
ChrisW
<personal-practice><philosophy>
Be like water - but what if i fail
# Be like water - but what if i fail

(Asked by: username_0 on 2016-09-08)

Be like water - but what if i fail

i really like the quote "be like water" and wanted to live by it - but the problems was what happenes when i fail - when i cant meditate or more truly too lazy to meditate - and always take a few days break no matter what ?

because water don't fail - they don't take a break - so when i do fail and not meditate and get lazy it breaks my whole motivation cause the "be like water" theory doesn't work cause water don't stop and get back up

can someone here help me find some explanation to make the "be like water" quote reasonable to failing as well

This is not a buddhist connected idea directly - but i ask this to help my practice - and its very very important for me if i get a good reply - very wholsome kamma +++ plus its more related to the practice than other questions ive seen here before

**Tags:** personal-practice, philosophy

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Breath, how about, instead of focusing on having a meditation schedule, you meditate all the time? You have thoughts about having to meditate - say "thinking,  thinking" etc. Give it a try.  
> **username_2**: From where or from whom did you hear, or read, the expression, "Be like water"?  

---

## 9 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2016-09-08. Score: 5

If "be like water" is Buddhist, it sounds to me like an Eastern form of it (i.e. Chan or Zen).

One view/aspect of Chan or Zen is that it's the result of Buddhism's mixing with Taoism.

If you want to know more about "be like water", one place to find that might be in the (Taoist, not Buddhist) [Tao Te Ching](http://acc6.its.brooklyn.cuny.edu/~phalsall/texts/taote-v3.html), for example,

> The supreme good is like water,  
> which nourishes all things without trying to.  
> It is content with the low places that people disdain.  
> Thus it is like the Tao.
>
> In dwelling, live close to the ground.  
> In thinking, keep to the simple.  
> In conflict, be fair and generous.  
> In governing, don't try to control.  
> In work, do what you enjoy.  
> In family life, be completely present.
>
> When you are content to be simply yourself  
> and don't compare or compete,  
> everybody will respect you.

For example, you wrote,

> because water dont fail - they dont take a break - so when i do fail and not meditate and get lazy it breaks my whole motivation cause the "be like water" theory dosnt work cause water dont stop and get back up

The Tao Te Ching has imagery of water occupying the low places, the valleys:

> All streams flow to the sea  
> because it is lower than they are.  
> Humility gives it its power.

I'm not sure I understood your question, but if you find yourself in a low place, maybe that (where you are, in the low, in the place) is where you meditate: without self-striving to get back up before you do.

Also, water has three states: vapour rises, water flows, ice is more solid. When you wrote, when I read, "I fail", I thought of that as being more like ice than being like water: because it sounds like a fixed/solid view of "I" ... instead of a natural/flowing view (I'm not sure how *water* could be said to fail).

Also I think that Zen meditation posture includes being solidly planted/rooted on/with the ground.

Also, on topic, a different example of being like water, here is one story: [Great Waves](http://www.ashidakim.com/zenkoans/8greatwaves.html). I'm not sure what "bashful" means in the story, I suppose it's a harmful or confused or ignorant form of being 'self-conscious'.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: im meditate for some years - always falling back and stoping the meditation - i cant get a constant regular practice - i have a teacher - he dosnt have any advice to motivate me - from theravada tradition    -   i tried meditating 1 minute each day -  meditating 2 hours full force -  tried listening to dhamma talks - avoiding meditation    im really desperate now  - if i dont have self striving than i just wont meditate     i liked the "be like water"  thing - though it falls apart for me because water dosnt stop for a few weeks  
> **username_0**: also im getting a why try attitode - its not as if i didnt try i did 3-4 retreats - i practice for some years - and try several different approaches but i always stop - even when i say i wont  - cant meditate constantly (each day)  more than a month maximum - and usually its much less - 2 weeks tops      and i retried to get a constant practice so many times - i need some motivation or some technique and i cant find it in buddhism at least now - so thought maybe i can "translate" the be like water thing to my needs  
> **username_2**: Isn't it like username_0ing: i.e. you meditate when you have/feel a need to?  
> **username_0**: never - i dont enjoy meditation at all - dont feel a need for it - if i have a good meditaiton it can be bearable  /// and the way i meditate which is how youttdhammo teaches -  it brings up a lot of stuff - which you are mindful of and let go of  - but it brings up a lot of stuff - and they are not nice stuff - at least the ones i notice more lol  
> **username_6**: This is wrong. Chan and Zen is not Taoism.  "As a master of the Buddha Dharma, Dogen naturally regarded Taoism and Confucianism to be of minor significance in contrast to Buddhism.  ... Moreover, Dogen describes the failure of distinguishing between them as slandering Taoism and Confucianism as much as slandering Buddhism. ... To recklessly discuss them as all having one and the same principle is to slander the Buddha Dharma"  http://dogenandthusername_9obogenzo.blogspot.com/2010/07/shobogenzo-tao-of-mythical-expression.html  
> **username_2**: @username_6 My apologies ... I thought that, historically, Chan and Taoism are somewhat connected (see e.g. [Introduction of Buddhism in China (ca. 200-500)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chan_Buddhism#Signification_of_Buddhism_and_Taoist_influences)). I didn't recognize the OP's "Be like water" statement from the suttas, but it did remind me of the Tao Te Ching.  
> **username_6**: I would say they are connected in the sense that many of the converts were themselves formerly Taoists, but they also perhaps unsurprisingly stated the superiority of the Buddhadharma - Taoism after all does not have an explicit way to end suffering. Many masters such as Kukai of Shingon even wrote essays discussing Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism and stating that Buddhism is ultimately superior. They are not denying that there are truths within Taoism per se, but that Buddhism go much further than the other two.  

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### Answer by username_9 on 2016-09-08. Score: 4

You're clinging to your theory. Clinging causes fear of letting it go. And hence your predicament. Let it be.


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### Answer by username_10 on 2016-09-12. Score: 4

"Be like water" - so when you fail you keep going. There is no going back. You keep going and learning will happen (almost) by itself.


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### Answer by username_11 on 2016-09-08. Score: 4

Sounds like you're in some kind of meditation crisis. From what I've read it seems to me that you on the one hand think of meditation as something beneficial (because you want to practice it daily), but on the other hand are currently a bit aversed to meditation and yourself (when you find yourself unable to do it). And as a result you experience frustration because your practice is not as you want it to be.

You should definitely check if you push yourself too hard or if you are too serious about your practice. Because if you try too hard and are too hard with yourself, a natural response of the mind is to resist and dislike. This makes it hard to meditate and you feel guilty because you can't keep up with your expectations...

I've read in one comment you practice according to the [technique of Ven. Yuttadhammo Bhikkhu](http://www.sirimangalo.org/text/how-to-meditate/). I don't think I'm in a position where I could give you the right advise how to deal with this. But according to this technique you would try to be objective about your emotions when they arise or are present by saying to yourself "unmotivated, unmotivated ..", "disliking, disliking ...", "frustrated, frustrated ...", "overwhelmed, overwhelmed ...", "thinking, thinking ...", "bored, bored ...".

It's probably best to discuss this with a teacher. If you don't meet with one, you can start an online course with Yuttadhammo Bhikkhu at <https://meditation.sirimangalo.org/schedule> and ask him for advice. This would probably help you with your motivation as well.


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### Answer by username_3 on 2016-09-08. Score: 3

Nothing will happen if you fail Buddhist practise, apart from not have higher (non-sensual) free happiness & not being able to be free from suffering when inevitable life changes occur, such as aging, illness, loss & death occur.

If you don't have higher happiness, you can still chase pleasures in the world (if you enjoy them) as ordinary people do, such as watching TV, relationships, family, traveling, sports, etc.

If you don't know how to end suffering, you can still suffer, cry, hug & celebrate at funerals or fear your own death, as ordinary people do.

That's about it. If you fail Buddhist practise, God or Buddha will not punish you and there is no nasty reincarnation waiting for you.

Please try to relax about Buddhism because Buddhism exists to free people from suffering rather than to create suffering in people.

If you listen to the wrong teachers, Buddhism can certainly create suffering for you.

Ideally, Buddhism is practised to overcome suffering a person is already aware of. There is no point consuming medicine if you are not sick or using a fire-water-hose when there is no discernible fire occurring. A fire-water-hose is heavy & will just bring weariness if used for no reason.

The reasons why we practise meditation should come from motivation from within us (rather than from what other people & teachers tell us).

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/xXaxm.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/xXaxm.jpg)


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### Answer by username_4 on 2016-09-08. Score: 2

Everything comes in cycles. There have obviously been times you feel very dedicated and enthusiastic. There are times you are completely the opposite. Keep it in your head that these are both constructs, basically just ephemeral thoughts and feelings that pass and don't cling to them and call them me. You are most definitely attaching yourself to "be like water". Stop it. Know that that too is a mental construct and not real - let go of it. You just go to the mat and sit and keep pulling yourself back no matter how distracted you get. Everyone goes though these periods - just sustain. Maybe instead of "be like water" you should take a practice of "let go" and give it a try - whatever mental image you get just "let go".


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### Answer by username_5 on 2016-09-16. Score: 2

When I first began my path as a Buddhist practitioner I faced a very similar problem. It can be hard at times especially when you're not feeling motivated. It can even feel like a war between the ego and the will. I hope by giving you a few practical tips which maybe useful for your practice. Remember to only take what works for you. No one is the same and what works for one person may not for another.

1. Make it a personal habit to listen to the Dharma both in the morning and at night. The Dharma will help guide you, motivate you, and support you through the help of the Sangha. For myself, I enjoy listening to [Dharmaseed.org](http://dharmaseed.org/) and the [San Francisco Zen Center](http://sfzc.org/teachings/audio/recorded-dharma-talks). Both offer talks which I find very encouraging especially on my harder days. Sometimes if I'm feeling miserable I will even listen to a talk by [Ajahn Brahm](https://www.youtube.com/user/BuddhistSocietyWA/videos). He has a true gift in making personal matters just wash away.
2. learn to build discipline through the simple things in life. Believe it or not I first began my discipline through drinking black coffee. It may sound small to most people, but through it I found a wonderful practice. Now, because I began with small steps I only eat two meals a day; and occasionally do whole day fasts.
3. Remind yourself to live without any goals, with no aim, and with no targets. This isn't to say you're avoiding your responsibilities, quite the contrary, instead you're now focusing on your responsibilities without adding stress, impatience, and other hindrances caused by desire. You'll never become a mathematician by thinking of becoming a mathematician, but only by doing math.

Now let's consider your quote on "Being [/ Becoming] like Water". A quote I found by Bruce Lee gives a fantastic overview by what is meant by becoming like water,

> "Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water my friend."

The lesson behind becoming like water is to separate the notion of doing and the doer. Suzuki Roshi, an American Zen teacher, once said

> "There are, strictly speaking, no enlightened people, there is only enlightened activity."

If you are looking for a more practical approach to "Being like Water" than I recommend practicing [Shikantaza](http://www.treeleaf.org/for-new-comers-and-about-treeleaf/) also known as "just-to-sit" or "just-sitting". That is, we don't practice sitting Zazen to gain anything but to sit. There is nothing more and nothing less. There are no distinctions between the sitter and the sitting. There are no distinctions between the walker and the walking. There are no distinctions between the sleeper and the act of sleeping. It simply just is. The moment you say "I am walking" or "I am sitting" you are no longer the water.


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### Answer by username_6 on 2016-09-16. Score: 2

There is a lot of confusion here. "Be like water" is a quote popularized by Bruce Lee. His philosophy is to become fluid and adaptable like water, being able to fit into any container, with special attention to the application of martial arts and fighting. This is a goal founded in Taoism, aiming to harmonize with the universe.

The Buddha although often using the metaphors of the elements including water in his discourses for the practice of the Dharma. For example: entering the stream of the Noble Eightfold Path, which steadily flows towards the ocean of enlightenment.

The problem is when you stretch the metaphor too far. Like you pointed out, water is passive. This is great if you are trying to resist the pulls of external forces of aversion and craving, you still your mind into non reactivity.

> "Develop the meditation in tune with water. For when you are
> developing the meditation in tune with water, agreeable & disagreeable
> sensory impressions that have arisen will not stay in charge of your
> mind. Just as when people wash what is clean or unclean in water —
> feces, urine, saliva, pus, or blood — the water is not horrified,
> humiliated, or disgusted by it; in the same way, when you are
> developing the meditation in tune with water, agreeable & disagreeable
> sensory impressions that have arisen will not stay in charge of your
> mind.

[Maha-Rahulovada Sutta: The Greater Exhortation to Rahula](http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.062.than.html)

However, a fundamental aspect of the Buddhadharma Noble Eightfold Path is Right Effort.

> "And what, monks, is right effort?
>
> [i] "There is the case where a monk generates desire, endeavors,
> activates persistence, upholds & exerts his intent for the sake of the
> non-arising of evil, unskillful qualities that have not yet arisen.
>
> [ii] "He generates desire, endeavors, activates persistence, upholds &
> exerts his intent for the sake of the abandonment of evil, unskillful
> qualities that have arisen.
>
> [iii] "He generates desire, endeavors, activates persistence, upholds
> & exerts his intent for the sake of the arising of skillful qualities
> that have not yet arisen.
>
> [iv] "He generates desire, endeavors, activates persistence, upholds &
> exerts his intent for the maintenance, non-confusion, increase,
> plenitude, development, & culmination of skillful qualities that have
> arisen: This, monks, is called right effort."

[The definition (the four Right Exertions)](http://www.accesstoinsight.org/ptf/dhamma/sacca/sacca4/samma-vayamo/)

We cannot possibly be 'non reactive' like water without some serious work cultivating ourselves when faced with cravings and aversion, because we are steeped in our bad habits.

> Abandoning the wrong factors of the path "One tries to abandon wrong
> view & to enter into right view: This is one's right effort...
>
> "One tries to abandon wrong resolve & to enter into right resolve:
> This is one's right effort...
>
> "One tries to abandon wrong speech & to enter into right speech: This
> is one's right effort...
>
> "One tries to abandon wrong action & to enter into right action: This
> is one's right effort...
>
> "One tries to abandon wrong livelihood & to enter into right
> livelihood: This is one's right effort."

Without doing so, we are not actually practicing the Buddhadharma and will go nowhere. And our claims of being like water will only be empty conceptualizations.

Further more, else where in the canon, the Buddha compares a mind that is overwhelmed by afflictions to a bowl of water that is tainted:

> "Well, Brahman, when a man dwells with his heart possessed and
> overwhelmed by sense-desires, and does not know, as it really is, the
> way of escape from sense-desires that have arisen, then he cannot know
> or see, as it really is, what is to his own profit, nor can he know
> and see what is to the profit of others, or of both himself and
> others. Then even sacred words he has long studied are not clear to
> him, not to mention those he has not studied.
>
> "Imagine, Brahman, a bowl of water mixed with lac, turmeric, dark
> green or crimson dye. If a man with good eyesight were to look at the
> reflection of his own face in it, he would not know or see it as it
> really was. In the same way, Brahman, when a man dwells with his heart
> possessed and overwhelmed by sense-desires... then he cannot know or
> see, as it really is, what is to his own profit, to the profit of
> others, to the profit of both. Then even sacred words he has long
> studied are not clear to him, not to mention those he has not studied.
>
> "Again, Brahman, when a man dwells with his heart possessed and
> overwhelmed with ill-will... then he cannot know or see...
>
> "Imagine a bowl of water, heated on a fire, boiling up and bubbling
> over. If a man with good eyesight were to look at the reflection of
> his own face in it, he would not know or see it as it really was...
>
> "Again, Brahman, when a man dwells with his heart possessed and
> overwhelmed by sloth-and-torpor... then he cannot know or see...
>
> "Imagine a bowl of water covered over with slimy moss and
> water-plants. If a man with good eyesight were to look at the
> reflection of his own face in it, he would not know or see it as it
> really was...
>
> "Again, Brahman, when a man dwells with his heart possessed and
> overwhelmed by worry-and-flurry... then he cannot know or see...
>
> "Imagine a bowl of water ruffled by the wind, so that the water
> trembled, eddied and rippled. If a man with good eyesight were to look
> at the reflection of his own face in it, he would not know or see it
> as it really was...
>
> "Again, Brahman, when a man dwells with his heart possessed and
> overwhelmed by doubt-and-wavering... he cannot know or see...
>
> "Imagine a bowl of water, agitated, stirred up muddied, put in a dark
> place. If a man with good eyesight were to look at the reflection of
> his own face in it, he would not know or see it as it really was. In
> the same way, Brahman, when a man dwells with his heart possessed and
> overwhelmed by doubt-and-wavering... then he cannot know or see, as it
> really is, what is to his own profit, to the profit of others, to the
> profit of both. Then even sacred words he has long studied are not
> clear to him, not to mention those he has studied.

[Sangaravo Sutta: Sangarava The Hindrances](http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn46/sn46.055.wlsh.html)

Here the goal isn't simply to be/have water, but to have pure water.

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: I didn't know that quote was popularized by Bruce Lee. I guess that Bruce Lee may have got that simile from martial arts -- apparently [Bruce Lee's teacher taught him *chi sao* (sticking hands)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Lee#Wing_Chun), and I guess that [*chi sao*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wing_Chun#Chi_Sao) is more or less the same as [*tuishou* from (taoist) Tai Chi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pushing_hands), therefore a [soft/internal style](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neijia) (although the little I remember of Bruce Lee's "fights" in movies looked like a 'hard' style).  
> **username_6**: Taoist based martial artists like to make this distinction between 'hard' and 'soft' style, often as a form of promotion, ultimately hard and soft are only relative distinctions. The soft styles still hit pretty hard, and the hard styles often have subtle techniques.  Speaking of which, when I was younger I used to practice wushu, which was a good healthy exercise, but it's only from learning Buddhism that I have found solace from the feelings of anxiety and stress.  
> **username_2**: Well "water" seems relatively soft or *yin* to me, which is why I mentioned that; but I suppose water can be/become hard, too. I learned and liked to practice a Tai Chi form (the Chen first/long form, which takes about 20 minutes). I found that to be exercise (strengthen legs, improve posture), *and* stress-relief: stress-relief, partly from [having an activity to think about](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_(psychology)#Conditions_for_flow), and as learning and practice was a social activity, but most especially when I learned to coordinate my username_0ing (inhale and exhale) with the form.  

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### Answer by username_7 on 2016-09-14. Score: -1

Be *fluid* water.
Grab it stab it *unchanging*.
Resilient *rock.*

> **Comments:**
> **username_8**: Your answer sounds like a Haiku Poem, but it does not have the 5 syllable: 7 syllable: 5 syllable format.  I wonder whether this is a "seriously bad haiku" or what?  
> **username_2**: @SapthaVisuddhi The OP's simile was "Be like water" and I think the purpose of this answer is to add adjectives to explain that simile: be *fluid* (like water), e.g. not rigid or static or attached to obsolete mental conceptions; be *unchanging* (like water), i.e. unaffected/untroubled/unchanged when someone or something tries to grab or stab you; and resilient like *rock*, i.e. impersonal, don't take things 'personally' which would make you fragile.  
> **username_8**: Great explanation @username_2. I am so sorry but I never so it in this light. Now I'll have to take back the above comment that I made. At the time of my writing the above, I was thinking of Ven. Sariputta's lion'n roar, that he is by nature, like the earth, water, fire and wind. It was that quality of water that I had in mind.  

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