O N Kaul
The river of life meanders nonchalantly through the mountains, valleys and plains of convoluted thinking and ideas. It cleans our desires, purifies our thoughts, and pacifies our restless confusions. Its sparkling water can rejuvenate the mind and instill peace. The motion of its journey can entrance and inspire confidence and self esteem. Its gentle caress can engender acceptance through an understanding of unconditional love. The river of life is an infinitely transforming, power of truth and wisdom that invites the eager initiate to bathe in the gentle joy of changing patterns of understanding. Sathya Sai Baba says,
“So long as there remains a separate river distant from the Ocean, which is its source and its goal , then the river will retain a separate name and have an individual identity . But once the river gets merged into the Ocean, it gets the taste of Ocean.
If you want to become one with the Lord, you have to get all the characteristics of the Lord, himself. Only then can you become One with Him .You have to feel that all the attributes of the lord should manifest themselves in you. The broad-mindedness of the Lord should become part of me. The selfless feeling which characterize the Lord, should become part of When you me .The unbounded love of the Lord should become part of me. When you have this feeling then you reach the position of ‘I and He are One ‘and there will be perfect unity. You must continuously strive for this feeling; you should make every effort to acquire it .Then one day, you will reach that fulfillment .This is the ultimate goal of human life. For living beings, it is only when they reach the place from which they have come, that true fulfillment can be theirs”.
We are all divine; in the process of returning to Divinity and whether we are consciously aware of it or not ,we are all willing participants in the activities sponsored by the river of life. We all explore its depths according to our specific needs.
We can choose to find its source in the ocean of Truth; or to be content to play and plunder in the shallow and often polluted tributaries . If we want to discover the Truth in the ocean , we have to have the courage to lose sight of the shore .
Man believes he is content while he experiences material satisfaction, career achievements and the physical, sensual indulgences; but his satisfaction is temporary.
These desires always have a beginning and an end, a birth and death. While man is attached to a belief in the reality of these superficial pleasures his delusion is amplified by the multiplicity of his desires. Man creates for himself a never ending cycle of confusion then searches for his contentment in further egoistic activities. It is not until man reaches a state of frustration with the inadequacies of his belief systems that he delves into the channels of uncompromising Truth.
Swami tells us that because of our physical attachments, we forget our true nature. He goes on to say that, “The river of life means that which is auspicious, immense and immeasurable. The river of life refers to the body, which is capable of conferring limitless well-being on mankind. By true humanness .
The body is intended for rendering help to others and not for self-enjoyment. Unfortunately because of the perversions of the mind, man loses himself in worldly pleasures. He is a slave to the vagaries of the mind and ignores the counsel of the intellect.
When man is constantly changing towards spiritual realization, the process is long and arduous.
Only God knows where we have come from and how long it will take to arrive at our destination. However, as we elevate our awareness, we recognize the delusion of accepting the duality of worldly consciousness. We have floated on the river of life like a piece of flotsam, experiencing change and surviving the dangers of tidal patterns and current fluctuations.
When we finally reach the Ocean we merge into Oneness and realize the separation from the source was only an illusion.
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