How to Read “身を捨ててこそ浮かぶ瀬もあれ”
Miwo sutete koso ukabu se mo are
Meaning of “身を捨ててこそ浮かぶ瀬もあれ”
This proverb means that when you find yourself in a difficult situation, letting go of attachments and obsessions about having things go your way can actually open up a path to resolution.
“Abandoning the body” doesn’t mean throwing away your life, but rather refers to letting go of attachments such as personal desires, calculations, and pride. While desperately struggling to make things go according to your will, the situation may actually worsen. However, once you abandon such attachments and have the courage to entrust yourself to the flow, unexpected opportunities will come into view.
This proverb is used during difficult phases of life. When stuck at work, troubled by human relationships, or feeling crushed by anxiety about the future, it’s used to express the feeling of “let’s return to the starting point once more and try abandoning unnecessary obsessions.” Even today, it’s cherished as wisdom that lightens the heart for people who tend to fall into perfectionism or have strong tendencies to want to control things.
Origin and Etymology
This proverb originated from ancient expressions related to river currents. “Se” refers to shallow parts of a river where the current flows fast, and “floating shallows” means a place where you can escape from difficult situations – in other words, an opportunity or hope.
This expression, which can also be found in Edo period literature, is thought to have originated from lessons learned when nearly drowning in rivers. While desperately struggling in deep pools only leads to sinking, if you once entrust yourself to the flow, you can eventually reach shallow waters where you can stand up – this is likely based on actual experiences in rivers.
The expression “abandoning the body” tends to be interpreted in modern times as something extreme like throwing away one’s life, but in classical language it had a gentler meaning of “letting go of attachments” or “abandoning obsessions.” In other words, it represents the wisdom that by temporarily letting go of the desire to have things go your way, you can actually achieve better results.
This teaching also connects with Buddhist concepts of “selflessness” and “non-attachment,” and is thought to have become established as a proverb deeply rooted in Japanese spirituality.
Interesting Facts
The word “se” that appears in this proverb is only used in modern times to mean shallow parts of rivers, but in classical language it was also used with abstract meanings like “opportunity” or “chance.” “Se wo miru” meant “to watch for an opportunity,” and “se ga warui” meant “inconvenient.”
Interestingly, the structure of this proverb uses the classical Japanese emphatic expression “A shite koso B.” This “koso” is the same as the “koso” in the modern expression “dakara koso,” and has the function of emphasizing paradoxical cause-and-effect relationships. In other words, it highlights the paradox that the act of “abandoning the body,” which would normally be avoided, actually leads to desirable results.
Usage Examples
- Since my job search isn’t going well, let me stop obsessing over ideal conditions – Body abandoning only then floating shallows also exist
- When I abandoned my pride and apologized sincerely, the relationship was repaired – truly Body abandoning only then floating shallows also exist
Modern Interpretation
In modern society, the meaning of this proverb has become more multi-layered. In our information society, we constantly seek optimal solutions and have strengthened tendencies to emphasize efficiency and rationality. However, such calculated actions don’t necessarily bring good results.
Particularly in the modern era where SNS has spread, more people are losing sight of their true selves due to excessive concern about others’ evaluations. These are cases where people become obsessed with the number of “likes” and followers, losing sight of their original purpose. In such times, by once abandoning the “body” of desire for approval, what’s truly important may come into view.
On the other hand, in modern times the risks of “abandoning the body” have also become higher than before. In a society where the lifetime employment system has collapsed and individual responsibility has increased, the dangers of carelessly letting go of the current situation are also pointed out. Therefore, this proverb is often interpreted as “planned letting go” or “strategic giving up.”
Also, from a mental health perspective, the importance of letting go of perfectionism and excessive desire for control is gaining attention. There are overlapping aspects with psychological concepts of “acceptance” and “letting go,” and it’s increasingly quoted in modern self-help contexts.
When AI Hears This
When you’re drowning in a river, the more desperately you struggle, the more you sink, because muscle tension increases your body density. The average density of the human body is about 1.0g/cm³, almost the same as water. This means that if you relax, you should naturally float, but when panic causes your body to stiffen, density rises to 1.1g/cm³, causing you to sink.
On the other hand, when you relax and let yourself go, the buoyancy from air in your lungs and body fat naturally brings you to the surface. This is a physical law called “the manifestation of natural restorative force through the removal of resistance.”
Remarkably, life’s difficulties are sometimes resolved through the same mechanism. According to psychology’s “law of reversed effort,” excessive willpower or attachment creates psychological resistance that actually hinders goal achievement. For example, the more you think “I absolutely must sleep,” the more unable you become to fall asleep—this too follows this law.
In other words, whether in water or in life, “desperate resistance” becomes the “cause of sinking,” while “letting go” becomes the “condition for rising.” Physics and psychology share exactly the same structure.
This proverb has been beloved for so long perhaps because the intuitive understanding humans have about water matches life experience at a profound level. It’s a rare example where natural laws function directly as life wisdom.
Lessons for Today
What this proverb teaches us modern people is “the power of letting go.” We cling to various things daily. Our ideal self-image, others’ evaluations, past successful experiences, anxiety about the future. However, such attachments sometimes narrow our possibilities.
In modern society, “abandoning the body” might mean letting go of perfectionism, stopping comparisons with others, and loosening the desire to control results. Rather than missing opportunities by being too obsessed with ideal conditions in job hunting, first try jumping into a new environment. Rather than continuing to insist you’re right in human relationships, try thinking from the other person’s perspective.
What’s important is that letting go is not giving up, but an act of opening doors to new possibilities. Like entrusting yourself to a river’s flow, sometimes try entrusting yourself to life’s flow. By doing so, paths you never thought of yourself will come into view.
Today, isn’t there something, even just one thing, that you could “let go of”? It might unexpectedly be a shortcut to the answer you’ve been seeking.
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