The Interdependence Project Link

The water of the valley stream
Never shouts at the tainted world:
“Purify yourself!”
But naturally, as it is,
Shows how it is done.
-Ryokan

Our body is like a barrel — a barrel filled with pure water.
What we eat and drink affects the purity of the
water in the barrel. If what we take in is of The Way
(fresh, pure, greens, filled with life-force and ultra-
richnutrients), what we ‘add to the barrel’ supports
the purity of the water. This is called Life.
This is called Harmony. This is called Health.
It is the Dharma of Eating. If what we take in is not
of The Way (empty lifeless calories, grease, sugar,
bad fats, white flour, toxic chemicals, neurotoxins,
pesticides and carcinogens from char-grilled food),
namely all that is not in harmony with what the body
needs, it offsets the pure water of the barrel. If
this continues over time unabated, and it most certainly
is cumulative, toxicity will become the majority and
the pure water that sustains our health will be in
the minority. The last pour that offsets the last
drop of pure water from the barrel is called the tipping
point. This is when the purity of our immune system
comes crashing down. A cascade effect takes place,
and the once-strong spirit of life within us fades.
What we put into the barrel is up to us.
– Kuma-sensei from “The Dharma of Eating”

Water connects us. It changes our brains in the best
possible way. It gives us a blue mind….Thinkers
throughout history have spent time in nature and
by water to think better, more profoundly, more creatively.
– Wallace J Nichols

“Water is the only drink for a wise man.”
– Henry David Thoreau

“The poet’s habit of living should be set on a key
so low and plain, that the common influences should
delight him. His cheerfulness should be the gift of
the sunlight; the air should suffice for his inspiration,
and he should be tipsy with water.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson

The greatest beauty is organic wholeness, the wholeness of life and things, the divine beauty of the universe.
– Robinson Jeffers

Our mouth is the gateway to so many kinds of karma. What goes in (food, drink, etc.) becomes inextricably linked with who we are and who we are becoming. What goes out (speech mostly) has a lot to do with how our relationships with others and with our world take shape.
– David Nichtern

The roots of all things are tied together. Deep in the ground of being, they tangle and embrace. This understanding is expressed in the term nonduality. If we look deeply, we find that we do not have a separate self-identity, a self that does not include sun and wind, earth and water, creatures and plants, and one another.
– Joan Halifax