if a person wants to be at their best
then they should pattern themselves after water

water serves the land and the life on the land

it gives this life by moving through the land
seeking its own balance and equilibrium

this is in contrast to human beings who always look up
and think of rising to some lofty achievement

water will always flow around obstacles
and seek out the lowest earthbound opened space that it can find

in this way
it is always closer to the miracle than we are

the miracle talks to us through water

and it says

wherever you choose to live remember
the earth beneath your feet
consider how to feel it with all that you do

whenever you want peace remember
to flow into your heartmind
plunging into the profound love that resides deep within you

however difficult remember
that you should speak frankly
but never drown others with your words

whichever instances call for leadership remember
that a constant stream helps order
the lifeforms around it

whatever business you transact remember
to go steadily to the source
and dutifully perform without washing up on unprepared land

if you listen to me
when there is a call to action
the miracle will tell you when it is time to act

contending causes contention

have no part in it
and you will be a cool stream
nourishing to all

—Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching; An authentic Taoist translation. translated by John Bright-Fey

“Be like the water,” is a famous quotation attributed to the renowned martial artist Bruce Lee. Lao Tzu echoes this simile—or rather, the philosophy of the ancient Taoists are echoed by Lee as well as many others: he who comes to mind in regard to “Chapter Eight” is psychoanalyst Carl Jung for his description of water as an archetypal symbol. In Jung’s view, water, especially a vast and deep body of water, is a symbol of the unconscious—in other words, the unknown. It is where dark things hide within the shadow of the abyss; it is that from which terrors emerge, that from which rises emergency. But likewise, water is where lost treasure lies at the bottom of the sea, often guarded by personal and primordial leviathans—aspects of oneself that he rejects or that he’s kept himself from noticing because it would be too painful to do so. That guarded treasure Jung describes as the Philosopher Stone, as a transmutative light shining in the lowest depths of the deepest darkness of the unconscious mind.

This is why to become the best version of oneself—to reach one’s potential—he should imitate the water. Water flows toward the lowest point. It is not afraid to take a position at the bottom if it means that it will find balance, and it is the process of water finding its equilibrium which enables life to flourish in relative peace. The river is the Tao—the narrow path straddling the border between order and chaos (i.e. the unconscious; the unknown)—and it is there on that path a human being finds his own balance. Just like the water, if he is willing to acknowledge the lowest parts of himself, and to accept them, then he can begin his journey with one foot balanced on solid ground while the other ventures out its first step into the wild ocean. Instead of clouding his vision with illusions and fantasies, aiming at something which is currently too far out of his reach, the man who imitates water aims at the bottom-most position. He does this because he recognizes his own insufficiencies. He has allowed himself to know who he truly is, as painful and terrifying as his submerged monsters might be. He has faced them voluntarily and gained the wisdom of the limits of his own ability. Knowing this, he knows what small steps he can take, and what steps he’s likely to succeed if he takes them—as opposed to those steps which would set him up for failure.

He who imitates water learns to overcome obstacles with humility, to defeat petrification and hardness with flexibility and softness. I repeat: the river is the Tao. Water, in many of its connotations, is a metaphor for acting in accordance with reality.

A man ought to remind himself each day: keep your expectations and desires grounded in reality no matter how grand or menial your task or activity; voluntarily face your inner darkness and learn to love yourself despite your numerous faults, deficiencies, and inadequacies; speak honestly, but do not allow your words to become projections of your own abyss onto others—do this while tending to your own path, your own personal enlightenment, and benevolent order will form around you. This is what constitutes a good leader, he whom Dr. Jordan B. Peterson calls The Peacemaker. No matter his business, his focus is on accepting the conditions of existence and acting with them—in accordance with Nature as does the Stoic philosopher—rather than against them, shaking his fist at God.

In truth, these are man’s two options. Emulate Cain or imitate the water.

Lao-tzu. “Chapter Eight”. Tao Te Ching; An Authentic Taoist Translation, translated by John Bright-Fey, Sweetwater Press, 2014. pp.16–17