The River

Roger Wagner There is a River

The River it is very important symbol in many cultures and for me personally. It has a depth that seems luminous and yet is mysteriously incomprehensible. You do not see below the surface no matter how long you gaze into it.
Its symbolism is ambivalent: to water is linked to both life and death.Water is the Styx that Greek souls crossed with Charon the boatman, but also the delightful Kawthar of the Muslim paradise, as a symbol,
embraces within itself the entire mystery of reality and the goal of creation.

Joachim Patinir Crossing the River Styx

The famous saying of Heraclitus "No man steps in the same river twice, for it is not the same river, and he is not the same man" reflects a sight at existence flows on like a river.
"All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full."(King Solomon).
"Tao in the world is like a river flowing home to the sea."(Tao Te Ching, Lao Tzu,chapter 32)
In Chinese cosmogony, water is a pledge of the spiritual dimensions of beings and emerges as the mystery of the universe by transfiguration as is illustrated by the action of Qu Yuan, "the first poet" of the Middle Kingdom, who threw himself into the river Milo to renew the alliance of Heaven and Earth.

Courtesy of Zhang Cuiying

But if ocean symbolism is based primarily around water in a relatively unmoving form, river symbolism is based around water in movement.  Chinese river poems and river pictures suggest the journey of life. The River represent the irreversibility of history and time, and the fact that sooner or later every must come to end.
In almost every culture, water was endowed with spirituality.

Sunrise at Ganga River,Varanasi 2012

Gange cha Yamune chaiva Godavari Saraswati,
Narmade Sindhu Kaveri jalesmin sannidhim kuru

The River Ganges or Ganga is perhaps the holiest river in any religion. River Ganges has been revered by millions as a symbol of spiritual purity. The holy river Ganges is believed to be a pathway to attain Moksha.
Mother Ganga is described by ancient Hindu scriptures as a gift from the gods—the earthly incarnation of the deity Ganga. "Man becomes pure by the touch of the water, or by consuming it, or by expressing its name," Lord Vishnu proclaims in the Ramayana
 Allahabad, also known as Triveni Sangam, is sacred to Hindus because three sacred rivers - the Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati (which is supposed to join them from beneath the ground) meet there. It is also called Prayag, or "the confluence". How it's possible to reach this Sangam for us?
But if an individual human existence is similar to a river - this river will teach us everything we need to learn. The water follows and trusts the current. The current knows where its going. And this is how we are led when we trust our source and allow that source to lead us. And all small individual rivers are already on their way.

In addition, a pair of my favourite rare songs about River. Both reflect different views on this symbol but each of them is true. You can have different thoughts on it but the River is just the River.


Lyrics:
O river

The river thinks it has captured the moon in her breast
The river thinks it has captured the moon in her breast
That's not the moon, it's reflection

The real moon looks down from the sky and smiles
The river thinks it has captured the moon in her breast
As long as the moon doesn't shine
Fireflies look nice
The strolling actor king lives like a king
That's not the moon, it's reflection
The real moon looks down from the sky and smiles

The river thinks it has captured the moon in her breast
O foolish river
You're a big fool
ln this world the fake and false are occupying the true
Don't try to pass off the fake as true, trusting destiny

That's not the moon, it's reflection
The real moon looks down from the sky and
smiles
The river thinks it has captured the moon in her
breast
O foolish river
You're a big fool



The refrain of this song is translated - "O wondrous play!"

OM NAMAH SHIVAYA