The River and its Lessons…

‘A river sings a holy song conveying the mysterious truth that we’re a river, and if we’re ignorant of this natural law, we’re lost.’ Thomas Moore.

‘For life and death are one, even as the river and the sea are one’, the river reflects with an utmost precision and discernment an exact mirror image of our life. ‘The day you’re born, you start dying,’ from the glaciers in the mountains, we begin our journey; seeping through the soil, percolating through the stones and the rocks, cascading over the boulders, rushing through the narrow valleys and meandering through the plains; and ultimately our life draws ever closer to the sea, the eternal silence of death.

There’re two ways to seeing a river; a mundane aspect and a higher spiritual context. What we see and perceive with our senses are the peripheral and the exterior attributes of the river; however at a much higher spiritual and self introspection, the wisdom drawn from a river is an ancient metaphor for life and its flow.

One of the most profound lessons that the river bestows upon us is the essence of being in the present. Our life is so often filled with regrets and remorse for the past, and the future anticipated with anxiety and premonition. The river flows in one continuous never ceasing moment, and there’re no ‘before or after’, ‘yesterday or tomorrow’; the moment which defines river is ‘now’. What happens in the past and what might happen in the future has no relevance with your present; however, we are often too concern with what was and what will be. “Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery; but today is a gift, that’s why it’s called the ‘present’.”

As the river flows downstream it encounters steep slopes, rugged terrains, vast plains, etc; however when the rivers flows through such an array of landscape, its journey sometimes are very smooth and at times extremely arduous. Through the narrow valleys, the rivers are forced to a much constricted areas, forcing the river to form fast and dangerous rapids; but through the plains and gentle slopes the river flows with grace and poise. The river never flows in one straight line; its journey is afflicted with many twists and turns.  It shows the co-existence of happiness and sorrows as an integral part of life. Our life can never be full of happiness, neither can it be full of sadness; however, in life learning to appreciate happiness and savoring sadness are in fact a valuable dictum of life.  

As the river flows downstream it greets the other compatriots at the confluence with alacrity and goodwill. The two rivers merges together to form a bigger river, which endows them with a greater power and influence. It’s disheartening to see countries waging wars amongst themselves, when war brings about nothing, but just suffering and destitute.  Instead of recriminating and killing each other, if all the nations in the world could come together for one common purpose and reason, accede to one general and mutual consensus, unite and not divide; then we can literally help suppress suffering, and could rather help elevate happiness to a much higher level and magnitude.   

The river has a natural propensity to conquer its obstacles; the river would go around, it would flow over, and would also run through it. It never tends to go against its obstacles; however it tends to go with it, and ultimately it’s the river that comes out as the victor. The obstacles remain where they were, however the river after conquering its foe continues on its journey. Our life too is often hindered and challenged by obstacles; but instead of being apprehensive and intimidated by what lies ahead, we must remain ever optimistic and never falter. “Where there’s will, there’s a way,” like the river, if we have the will power, then we’ll always succeed no matter what.

Let’s face it; life is not a bed of roses. Within the roses, we often encounter thorns, big and small alike.  Problems and obstacles are the part and parcel of our life, and we should not be deterred by such trivial things; instead learn from your previous mistakes, pick yourself up when you fall, and like the river which believes in itself,  always have faith and belief in yourself. “Greatness lies not in what you have achieved. Greatness lies in what you believe.” 

The messages and lessons that the river delivers are subtle, yet profound wisdom encompassing our life and its perpetual journey. To hear you need to listen and to see you got to look, and only if you could listen and look at the river with a sense of reverence and an inner contemplation; then only you’d understand and realize its true essence. Nonetheless, life would go on for river of life never ceases to end.