Sitting Beside River...
Heraclitus, who was an ancient Greek philosopher, once said: “One never steps into the same river twice.” He meant to emphasize upon the moment and the impermanence of it. Just like the river is always new with every step as new waters could have come, every moment is different and one must accept the impermanence of life. Permanence is just a capitalistic thought; the only thing that is assumed to be a constant requirement is money, which to a certain extent is right in this industrial society.
There is only one thing that I experience sitting beside most rivers and that is being awestruck at the whole ambiance which is inclusive of the water body, the various trees and shrubs around it emitting an essence of green into the background; birds chirping and flying across also at times fishing; and definitely the fish that swim. This moment is definitely to be taken in to ponder about one’s life and its choices. At that point of silence, introspection gives rise to an enigmatic writer or a poet swirling down verses or paragraphs on that vibrant river lying ahead.
Hindus believe that Ganga is a sacred and a pious river that washes away sins that one commits births ago but on the contrary one dirties it with one’s own filth. This may be a reflection upon the humans themselves with the notions of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ being arbitrary as the true nature if there is any is ‘gray’. I may be an agnostic having the least faith in any religion but I believe in spirituality and the most spiritual experience is definitely dipping in a pristine river untouched by human intervention.
Human intervention definitely disrupts all natural resources so, rivers aren’t untouched. With the construction of dams blocking the flow and displacing the marine lives; dirtying the core with human filth especially plastic waste, yet the river maneuvers itself beyond these obstacles and lives a life of utmost freedom.
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A river is a good example of expression and we can establish a corollary with human emotions. Our biggest problem is pent-up frustration by not being able to express what we feel. This is when rivers should be set as examples. When they are furious, they flow fast. Whereas, the flow is mellow when they are calm. Similarly, one should realize that one must channelize one’s energy and emotions, even the negative kind like anger or sadness, in a proper way so as to live a peaceful life.
We humans have our big inflated ego hanging around us which does not let us at most times to think beyond ourselves and cooperate with others. This is when we have to learn a valuable lesson of coexistence from rivers; from the way, the various tributaries join the main river which further joins the ocean. We must shrink our egotism by annihilating the prejudices based on caste, gender, sex, religion, nationality etc. and realize the important virtue of living together.
Sitting beside this river of life, writing this piece, I realize that divinity exists in all the creation of nature than in a different realm with a sense of hierarchy as the various religions define gods. We comprise the divine so we must take care of each other, every aspect of the environment and other beings. We must harbor the seeds of understanding regarding the importance of sustainable development as prosperity comes through cooperation.