Going Down The River Of Life

In so many way our lives are like a river. Sometimes our course is smooth and tranquil. At other times we encounter rapids and rough water, just like the problems in our lives. We can all learn from the lessons taught by the river. Contains quotes from the book, Siddhartha by Herman Hesse. Music by Chris Collins. #66

Transcript

Welcome,

And I hope that each one of you will come to find peace within yourself.

Today,

We're going to take a little trip down a river.

If you've listened to my other lessons,

You know that I have a very strong feeling that our life is like a river in so many ways.

So today,

We're going down a river that I know very well.

It's the Rifle River in Michigan.

And I've told you that I was down this river 27 times with my dad and my brother.

So I know the river like the back of my hand.

I'll do all the paddling,

And all you have to do is sit there in the middle.

You can lay down if you want.

Please don't stand up.

And we'll get this trip started.

You can close your eyes now and just sink into your river experience.

Just paddling softly.

And I want to read a quote from the book Siddhartha by Herman Hesse.

Siddhartha has come to a vast river and is talking to Vasudeva,

The ferryman.

And Siddhartha wonders how he can learn.

And Vasudeva says,

You will learn it,

Spoke Vasudeva,

But not from me.

The river has taught me to listen.

From it,

You will learn it as well.

It knows everything.

The river,

Everything can be learned from it.

See,

You've already learned this from the water too,

That it is good to strive downwards,

To sink,

To seek depth.

Right here,

The river is not too wide.

But no river ever runs completely straight because a river will always seek the path of least resistance.

And all of us could learn a great deal from watching a river because it constantly flows,

No matter what gets in its path.

If a river encounters a boulder in its path,

It simply flows around it.

Or over it.

Or under it.

Or through it.

And given enough time,

A river will wear down anything that gets in its path.

Look at the Grand Canyon.

It will gradually make it a part of itself.

A river will work on an obstacle until it's no longer an obstacle.

The river perseveres,

No matter what.

And when we learn to view our lives like a river,

We can learn to overcome obstacles in our path as well.

This river is smooth right now and it's got a fairly good current.

And right now there's no rapids.

In a way,

That's kind of how life is.

It's like a river.

A lot of times you just flow along and everything is just going smoothly.

But I know this river and a little ways down the river we're going to come to some rapids.

And these rapids will be like the problems in your life.

Very much like those problems.

You just have to figure out a way to get through.

I'm in a canoe on a river and you have to learn how to read the water.

You have to look for where the water flows and where it doesn't.

You have to look at where obstacles are.

Rocks and boulders and tree limbs.

They divert the river one way or the other.

And when you get good at reading the river,

You'll learn how to read it.

And when you get good at reading the river,

It doesn't make the rapids go away.

But it makes them a little smoother because you can go through the rapids with more ease.

And that's really what meditation does.

It helps you to go through the rapids of your life with more ease.

With more calmness.

With more tranquility and feeling more centered.

Alright,

Now up ahead we're coming to the first rapids.

I've been down this river many times.

And I know from experience that even though to an untrained eye it looks like I should go to the left,

I know that the majority of the water goes to the right.

The left side looks wide and sparkling and inviting.

And many novice canoe people will be going to that side.

But I know that when they go that way they're going to get stuck.

And although the right side is very narrow,

That's where most of the water is going.

And that's where the water is deepest.

So we'll go to the right side.

Once again,

This rapids is a lot like life.

Sometimes something seems like a good idea,

Like going to the left.

And only by going that way and getting stuck do you realize that you should have gone to the right where the water was deeper.

And while I'm busy paddling,

You're focusing on your breath.

Breathing in and breathing out.

One breath at a time.

So as we continue down the river and you continue to breathe,

Think about that.

Think about how life is so much like a river.

And if you have thoughts,

It's just like the debris that floats in a river.

Leaves and sticks and insects.

You just have to let them pass by,

Just like the river does.

Don't spend any time worrying about it.

Just keep moving on,

Looking ahead to see what's there around the next curve.

And any river worth canoeing is going to have some rapids,

Just like your life will.

Rapids on rivers are classed on a scale where level 1 are the easiest,

And level 6 should only be attempted by a few professionals.

Once again,

That's just how your life is.

Some problems are relatively easy,

Like running out of Kleenex.

And others can seem almost impossible to overcome.

But note that I said almost impossible.

Because just like the river,

You can look at a problem,

An obstacle,

And see if you can go around it.

Or maybe over it.

Or perhaps under it.

And if not,

Maybe you can go through it.

And no,

Your river might not move as fast as it once did.

And no,

Your river might not move as fast as it once did.

But a river never quits.

It never stops.

And neither should you.

Paddling down this river,

There's lots of wildlife in the woods on either side of the river.

There's a blue heron up ahead.

And you don't see too many of those along the river.

But on our way,

I've also seen cardinals,

And blue jays,

And some squirrels.

And earlier,

Before that last bend,

I saw a mama fax with her kits.

And those are kind of like the people you meet in your life.

You're going down the river of your life,

Going through your life,

And you encounter others.

Some of those others will follow you.

They'll move along with your river.

For a long way sometimes.

But others,

Like the blue jay,

They're just there for a little while.

They make a little noise,

And then they fly off in their own direction.

And in today's case,

The blue heron has followed us all along the river.

Flying out in front of us,

And waiting for us to catch up,

And then flying ahead.

In life,

You find that you have very few herons that go along with you for the length of your river.

And you have a lot of blue jays.

They're there for a little while,

And they fly off in their own direction.

But that's what makes life so wonderful,

So interesting.

Because it's made up of all the things that are along and in the river.

It's made up of all the things that are along and in the river.

And every single thing is a part of your river.

A part of the river of your life.

And those things are with you always.

You always have the experience of the blue jays.

But you have the experience of the squirrels,

And the raccoons,

And the fox and your kits.

And you also have the experience of the heron.

And all become a part of your life.

All these things change the tone of your life,

The tone of your river.

And while I'm paddling,

You're continuing to follow your breath.

Breathing in and breathing out,

Just one breath at a time.

Everything you encounter,

No matter how small or how minor,

Alters your river forever.

Even if just in a little way.

And every encounter makes you a little wiser,

A little fuller.

Breathing in and breathing out,

One breath at a time.

And here,

While there's a clear spot in the river,

I'll quote again,

From Siddhartha,

Where he says,

How did he love this water?

How did it delight him?

How grateful he was to it.

In his heart,

He heard the voice talking,

Which was newly awakened.

And it told him,

Love this water.

Stay near it.

Learn from it.

Oh yes,

He wanted to learn from it.

He wanted to listen to it.

He who would understand this water and its secrets,

So it seemed to him,

Would also understand many other things,

Many secrets,

All secrets.

And think about that while I'm paddling.

And up ahead,

We're coming to the Pipeline Rapids.

It runs for about two miles.

And the bottom is all sheets of ancient shale.

It's not rocks like on the rest of the river.

It's one continuous rock in broken sheets.

And it's almost impossible to get through this rapids without stopping.

And again,

Sometimes that's how life is.

Sometimes you encounter a problem that makes you stop.

Makes you think.

Makes you have to study the problem.

The path ahead.

To see if there's a way through.

And sometimes you study the river carefully.

You can find a path through this rapids.

It might be bumpy.

You might get wet.

If you find a way through,

If you find your way through,

That's great.

But always,

The rapids is unforgiving.

You may have to stop.

And get out and push.

Several times.

In order to get all the way through this Pipeline Rapids.

But again,

That's part of life.

Some rapids,

Some problems,

You can navigate and go right through.

And others,

You have to work at.

With others,

You have to stop and think about it.

Some others,

You're going to have to get out and push.

And you might get wet.

But eventually,

All rapids end.

There isn't any rapids.

There isn't any problem that goes on forever.

So while we're continuing down this river,

Let's focus on our breath.

Because your breath is what's going to help you.

It will be your guide.

It's going to be your anchor.

As you go through the river of your life,

Your breath is going to always be there.

A pace setter.

A companion.

And a way to get through even the toughest rapids.

I've been through a lot of rapids in my life.

I've been through a lot of rapids in my life.

And some that seemed like they were almost impossible.

And in every case,

My breath has gotten me through.

There's an old,

Old saying.

That this too shall pass.

And that's true in life,

And it's true on the river.

You may go through a hard rapid.

You may have to get out and push.

You may get really wet.

But eventually,

The river and the rapids pass.

Just continue to follow your breath.

Breathing in and breathing out.

One breath at a time.

Always when I'm on the river,

I think of the book Siddhartha.

And especially the part where he was with the ferryman on the banks of the large river.

Here are a quote from Siddhartha again.

But out of all the secrets of the river,

He today only saw one,

And this one touched his soul.

He saw this water.

It ran and ran.

Incessantly it ran,

And was nevertheless always there.

Was always and at all times the same,

And yet new in every moment.

Great be he who would grasp this,

Understand this.

Our life is like a river,

And we flow through it.

And while we're flowing along,

We have blue jays and herons and squirrels and foxes.

And some things flow with us forever,

And other things do not.

We're coming to the spot in the river where we're going to get out now,

And I hope you've enjoyed this little trip down the river.

If you haven't already,

You can open your eyes now,

And stretch,

And come back into the canoe,

Because it's going to be time to get out pretty soon,

And you're going to be cramped.

But I hope this has been a beneficial and calming session.

Listen to it again.

Go down the river and see how the river symbolizes so many of the things about life,

And the problems in life.

Take in a deep breath through your nose,

And let it out through your mouth,

Letting out a sigh.

You're ready to go back into your day,

Get out of the canoe,

And go back about the things that you need to take care of.

Till next time.

Reviews

Thanks for taking me in your canoe a little along the River of Life. Like you, Siddharta and so many others I’m learning to both meet and enjoy its challenges. Namaste 🤓🙏🏻

I loved this experience! WOW, so real, and I could sit back and trust your experience on this river. So beautiful - thank you for pointing me to this newest one 🚣🏼

Lovely meditation Michael, I enjoyed my journey on the river with you. Lovely quotes from Siddathera too, I remember reading that as a teen and it totally blew my little mind.

Thank you from my heart for taking me on this canoe trip down the river, Michael. Also, you have beautifully incorporated the quotes from Siddartha. I bow to you 🙏🏽✨️🌊🩵💕