Buddhism is often seen as an esoteric philosophical or psychological system; but at a profound and important level, the Buddha’s teachings are very much grounded in nature • many Buddhist insights took birth out of direct observation of the world of nature, the world of rocks and trees and clouds and rain and sunshine • everything outside is mirrored within, and everything inside is mirrored in the outside world • relating to the five elements — earth, water, fire, wind, and space — requires getting out of our heads; we have to pay attention, to listen, to be simple • the EARTH element is about steadiness, simplicity, and reliability; relying on the support of the earth is the foundation for meditation practice • WATER reflects a different kind of stability: water is purifying, clarifying, and flowing • water evens out the rough edges of things; it relaxes and cools the harsh, edgy quality of life • the warmth and heat of FIRE softens and melts through our rigidity, our supposed solidity • fire is a counterbalance to the element of water, which is cooling and refreshing, but a bit cold • WIND is the breath and the energy of movement; even though it is not immediately visible, wind represents the power to transform things • SPACE is not really graspable, but without space nothing could exist • space is a sense of vastness and that which cannot be conceptualized, but which embraces all of life and all being; it is openness and a sense of possibility.