In Hindu philosophy the physical universe is said to be composed of five essential elements — earth, water, air, fire, and space. This philosophy has carried over in other faiths that originated in India, like Jainism and Buddhism.

In the past, whenever I would come across this idea, I would let it pass me by without much thought or appreciation. I couldn’t wrap my mind around it.

What do you mean, five elements? I would ask myself. We know from science that there’s oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, carbon…aren’t these the elements, and aren’t there over one hundred of them? So why are we calling these 5 things the essential elements? Water isn’t even an element — it is a compound. And earth is a mixture of lots of elements and compounds.

Then I would think a bit more, and tell myself, Well, solids, liquids, gasses — those are like earth, water, air, I suppose. And then there’s the notion of vacuum, which I suppose is space. But what about fire? Why is this a separate thing?

And there my thinking would hit a dead end, and I would lose interest in these supposed five elements.

Then one day, I was meditating during a long international flight. My heart was bursting with a kind of expansive love between spirit and nature, and nature and humanity. I felt drawn to experiencing the kind of connection the creative spirit must have with every form of life on earth, especially us humans. So I brought to my awareness someone I deeply loved and then turned my attention toward these five elements, as though I was nature, manifesting as earth, water, wind, fire, and space, loving and nurturing this loved one in a quiet, unsung way.

In that state of commingling with these elements, I penned down the words below. Through this flow of feelings I finally broke through my past struggles, to fathom in a small but special way the significance of these five essential elements of nature in our lives.

YOU AND I

I am Earth.
I am the ground on which you plant your feet each morning as you awaken to new possibilities;
I am the peaks and valleys in your life’s journey;
From my nurturing tracts, you pluck the fruits that nourish your form; 
You crawled and fell on me as a child, and now you stride forth on me with such aplomb;
I hold your weary form every night when your deeds are done; 
It is I who clothes your spirit — I am the body-home of life.

I am Water.
I wash away the dust that gathers on your form so you may repossess your transcendent purity;
I course through your body’s highways and byways to nourish your every cell;
You clothe me in colorful cocktails to intoxicate yourself with pleasure;
But it is only when you take me for who I am that I quench your thirst, day upon day;
I rain upon you with heavenly tidings;
It is I in whom your ashes will one day be scattered — I am the ever-flowing river of life.

I am Air.
I caress you and wrap you in my invisible embrace;
I flutter when you speak, dance when you sing, and beat on others’ ear drums so they may listen to you;
Sometimes when I see you adrift I howl in the wind;
And in the rustling of the leaves, I whisper my secrets to you;
You will breathe me from the moment you were born, to the moment you die;
It is I who sustains you — I am the regular rhythm of life.

I am Fire.
I am the light that dispels all darkness;
And though you may think I abandon you at night, it is I who paints the darkness with stars;
The grime of past missteps that water cannot wash — I am there to burn it off of you, if you accept the heat;
I cannot hold you like Earth or bathe you like Water or caress you like Air;
But I will turn Earth into Water, and Water into Air;
It is I who can transform you — I am the silent flame of life.

I am Space.
I am the sprawling nothingness in Creation;
Vast enough to hold your boundless spirit;
I have nothing to give, though I possess everything;
You, and all you love, rest in my bosom;
Everything within me is ever-changing, and yet I am changeless;
It is I who am your passage to the Infinite — I am the eternal stillness of life.

Is there someone or something that you don’t understand, but wish to? What if you try to become them — so you can see the world from their eyes?

Warmly,
Hitendra

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