The coral and the coconut

“I saw you in the water today. Well done. I really like the way you go underwater. I’m just an old fisherman, but let me give you some advice. Remember that there are two ways to go underwater.”

Saying this, he took a small piece of coral and threw it into the sea; then from a half coconut poured some milk into the water:

“You see, the coral and the coconut are now both in the water. But the coral is still coral, while the coconut milk is now the sea: when you go underwater you shouldn’t do it like coral, but like coconut milk. When you free dive you mustn’t fight the sea, it mustn’t be you, your body, your skin and the sea, but every component of your being must become one with the water.”

– Umberto Pelizzari, free diver