Question: If water represents consciousness, what effect does living near water have on our consciousness?

Sri Chinmoy: Water represents consciousness. Now water has a most intimate friend called vastness. This vastness at times resides inside consciousness and at times consciousness resides inside vastness. So if a seeker is also a friend of consciousness, naturally consciousness will show the seeker its best friend, which is vastness, vastness within and vastness without. But if the seeker is not sincere, consciousness will not show him this vastness. A fisherman is all the time in or around water, but his consciousness is not necessarily in touch with vastness. Only if one becomes a sincere aspirant will consciousness the friend take him to another most important friend, which is vastness.