The river

Since I became familiar with the river allegory in Buddhism it strikes me it is one of the best explanation of life ever. According to the teachings of the Buddha, life can be compared to a river. The flow of the river, sometimes steady and calm, sometimes wild and roaring, representing a successive series of different moments of our lives, resembles the eternal flow of life. Each drop in the river represents every substance of life, ever changing and moving in the process of development or decay. It is just as we are, ever moving and changing. At one point we are here, and at the other we’re somewhere else. Each second we grow older and each second that passed is a history. A history that can’t be turned back into, the only way is forward. The river of yesterday is not the same as the river of today. The river of this moment is not the same as the river of the next moment. So does life.

I started to think about this allegory very deeply after reading Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse. In Hesse’s book Siddhartha, who later becomes the Buddha, comes to seek for answers sitting on the riverbank, contemplating and listening to the current. In the end Siddhartha is able to hear what the river has to say and gives him all answers. The river reveals all the secrets of life and illuminates his mind to a point where he feels complete and accomplished.

Water is the essential element to the nature of the Scorpio Zodiac sign (and to Cancer and Pisces as well), and I am a proud Scorpio. I’ve always been very fond of water, in any form there is. Pure water is my favourite drink; nothing’s better after a long day than a bath or a shower; swimming, as one of my favourite sports, fills me with happiness; sitting beside the river and just looking at the flowing water gives me such peaceful feeling; ice-skating on the frozen lake is such a great fun; I enjoy whisky the best with couple of ice cubes in it; the food is healthy and tastes great when steamed; rain is so powerful and energizing; sea so lonesome and still thriving with such a great variety of life… So it seems everything in the world needs and is tightly connected to this “colorless, transparent, odorless, tasteless liquid that forms the seas, lakes, rivers, and rain and is the basis of the fluids of living organisms” (Oxford dictionary definition). This colorless, transparent liquid makes the world blossom with all the beautiful and rich colours there are on the nature’s palette. This odorless and tasteless fluid makes the world smell with such delightful fragrances and scents of life and taste with all the unique flavours and spices. And seas, lakes, rivers, and rain composed of this liquid have so much life, scents, tastes, and energy in them that when you learn how to absorb their power, it fills you up with so much strength as only power of nature can strengthen you. It is after all the substance we are made of so the unity is essential. 

The river

A new life begins between the two hands.

A key to all things between the two banks.

A son or a daughter - where they’re bound?

Deep down in the water the path is drowned.

Bathe your hands in, clean them in rejoice

In depth of your skin you will hear its voice.

Set your eyes nearer, the surface will show,

Your life is a mirror to this steady flow.

Never withdrawn, yet it takes you away.

The river at dawn is other than yesterday.

Inexhaustible like art - hated or admired -

The river, like heart, never gets tired.