Philosopher and author Jason Gregory continues his exploration of Taoist and Vedantic insight with a meditation on the nature of the mind, likening it to the elemental flow of water. In a LinkedIn post, Gregory suggests that mental stillness and movement are not opposites, but part of a unified process of eternal becoming.

“When mind activity is stimulated by external factors it begins to move in the process of nature,” he writes. “But if our original stillness of mind has been lost in this process, our activity of mind will not be nourishing life, or more correctly, will not be divinely inspired. As water represents mutual stillness and motion, our mind does too.”

Drawing on imagery from the Himalayan source of the Ganges to the vastness of the ocean, Gregory describes consciousness as a flowing journey that can be turbulent yet life-giving—so long as it retains its connection to its original stillness. He argues that, like water, the mind’s purity remains intact even when stirred, and true resilience arises from recognizing that we are never separate from the great source we seek.

“For the mind to be divinely inspired, it must remain rooted in stillness,” Gregory writes, “even as it moves with the rhythms of life.”

This perspective bridges Taoist wu-wei and the Vedantic recognition of Brahman as the eternal, unchanging reality. Gregory emphasizes that samsara (the cycle of change) and nirvana (liberation) are not separate states, but expressions of the same essence—a unity that becomes visible when the illusion of time is dropped.

Jason Gregory is the author of Effortless Living: Wu-Wei and the Spontaneous State of Natural Harmony and the forthcoming The Tradition of Natural Taoism, available for pre-order here. His teachings synthesize Eastern wisdom and spiritual psychology, offering readers a framework for resilience that arises not from resistance, but from harmony with the natural flow of life.