There is an Eastern philosophy that teaches that peace and happiness comes from being like water where one goes with the flow. This philosophy is great so long as going with the flow does not conflict with ones innate moral compass. If going with the flow does go against ones innate moral compass then going with the flow creates an inner conflict rather than peace and happiness. This has been my experience. Thoughts?
I suspect you are misinterpreting the philosophy by over reducing it to a catch phrase, but it is hard to say for certain without you citing which specific one you are speaking of. That said, part of the "flow" is having to deal with people who believe/think/act differently than you. I used to share an office with a woman and it became our running joke about not having letting ripples in our ponds. When something that just became too much came our way, we would have a good chuckle about jet skis, boulders, etc, being in our pond.
Confucius or Lao Tzu I think, been studying a number of Eastern philosophers so I may have mixed them up. Like many ancient philosophers what is said is open to interpretation. I agree. In the absense of harm it is fine if others believe/think/act in ways not pleasing to me, but once others try to make me believe/think/act in a way that would violate my moral code, that is where the problem with going with the flow arises.
Sounds more like Lao Tzu to me. He didn't say "go with the flow" so much as "flow like water around your obstacles". I don't think he meant that we should accept things that go against our moral compass, as much as keeping our cool when we do meet things that are inconsistent with our moral compass. That doesn't mean accept it, just not to panic about them. Edit: Although I should add that this is just my own interpretation, I don't pretend to be an expert on the topic.
Sounds pretty similar to Lao Tzu, but also in some ways Greek Stoicism. My experience with "flow," and I'm talking in the sense of losing one's self-consciousness through the joy of everyday actions and activities, is that it loses something when you try to explain it. But I think everyone has experienced it at one point or another.
In many respects, going with the flow is God's will. It means to tap into that eternal consciousness that permeates all of us and to listen to the rhythm and the song that is there. As we listen to this sound, we find our own harmony. And of course, we have to sing our harmony. Doing so comes from a place of effortlessly. It's much like the wind going through the leaves of the trees. Sound comes of its own accord, but there is still energy being exerted to move the wind. Without that will, then no sound arises. Perhaps a better metaphor is that trees simply produce chlorophyll and grow leaves. It's what they do. They are exerting an energy, but it's part of the flow and part of what they naturally do. What they don't do is bark, play dead, and roll over.
