We can easily sink all differences which make us uneasy, in the contemplation of the four elements within and without. How much pride and prejudice is kept going in the world by attending to differences in external appearance - differences in colour, shape and size? All these seem petty and superficial when we contemplate for a moment that, after all, we are just bundles of earth, water, fire and air. We can sink those petty differences and unite under the universal banner of `Four Elements.’

The Buddha has pointed out that the contemplation on the four elements within and without, leads to an equanimity which brings relaxation and peace of mind. In it, we are one with our fellow beings and with the inanimate world around us. Beings as well as the objects surrounding us, challenging in their wide variety and vivid colour, fade away in the serene contemplation of the oneness in their essential inseparable texture. Infact, even the idea of `surroundings’ vanish in that basic concept of oneness and the resulting feeling of equanimity.

So all we need to do to get down to this extraordinary sense of ordinariness, is to contemplate on those parts and functions of our body that represent the characteristics of the four elements - solidity, liquidity, heat, and motion. No microscope is necessary to convince us of our basic texture. Our hair, skin, flesh and bones tell us our affinity to the earth element. Bile, phlegm, blood and sweat are representative enough of the water element. Hunger, fever and heat remind us of the fire element within. Breathing in and out, we are moving with the wind element.

Once this `elementary’ training is over, one can enjoy a wonderful feeling of ease in which even the 3 - dimensional world melts into a 2 - dimensional painting of mere colour patches - a painting without a framework!