‘We Are A River’
Don’t accept the modern myths of aging.
You are not declining.
You are not fading away into uselessness.
You are a sage,
a river at its deepest
and most nourishing.
Sit by a riverbank some time
and watch attentively as the river
tells you of your life.
This poem was sent to me by my friend M*****. He had actually sent it to his lovely daughter S******* and his mail which included this is a classic worth its weight in gold. I reproduce it below.
Dear S******,
A few days back I happened to read the following brief poem
” We are a River”.
by William Martin.
Two line introduction of the author follows.
He has been a student of Tao for almost twenty years.
He teaches the practice of Taoist/Zen meditation.
It is not fair on my part to tell you as to how you should
reflect/meditate on the poem.
All the same this is how my mind moved.
We are a river……”there is only flow of thoughts and feelings in my mind.”
you are a Sage…..” Perhaps what Sri Krishna meant….. ” Sthithaprajna” in Gita.
a river at its deepest….”deepest” a state felt while remaining in the present without identifying with the drama.
..”most nourishing”….almost in “Ananda”..a state wherein one feels this state alone will do.
While reading the last three lines
I was reminded Of the following read while I in in Poona years and years ago.
“You do not need to leave your room. Remain sitting at your table and listen. Do not even listen, simply wait, be quiet, still and solitary. The world will freely offer itself to you to be unmasked, it has no choice, it will roll in ecstasy at your feet.”
― Franz Kafka
You are very dear to me.
And I request you to consider reading this brief poem
in a quite place all alone and reflect.
Who knows ,
you too may be amazed to realize
as to how young you are.
M*****, you inspired me to go and sit by the side of our own Mulamutha yesterday evening and reflect. It was a mind blowing experience.
S*******, you are blessed to have such a father. I wish that I could write a similar letter to Ranjan.