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.