Does water really have consciousness, or does it just represent consciousness?

Sri Chinmoy: Water represents consciousness and water also embodies consciousness. If one is a very advanced, highly developed seeker, not to speak of a great Master, then one is bound to see and feel that water embodies consciousness. When life-energy is taken as inseparable from water, at that time water embodies consciousness. Consciousness is the connecting link between Heaven and earth, between the finite and the Infinite. And it can take different forms. Water represents consciousness for those who have not yet discovered the oneness between the finite life and the infinite Life. They feel that there is a great gap between the finite and the Infinite. But I always say that the finite and the Infinite are one, in the same way that the drop and the ocean are one. Boundless drops make up the ocean. If one knows that the drop represents the ocean, then one will also feel that one or two drops embody the ocean itself.