Your Boat on Our River

Once upon a time, in a timeless time, long ago- Sage Narada and a group a yogis were rowing down the Ganga river.  Suddenly, out of nowhere, the bright sunny weather shifted into a torrential downpour. As the rain continued, the bottom of the boat started to fill with water. The yogis tried to gather the water with their hands and scoop it out, but the rain was falling faster than they could scoop. In a panic they turned towards the Sage, only to find that Narada was ladling water from the river into the boat. Just as the boat was about to sink, the rain stopped and the sun came out. Under the heat of the sun the yogis began to dry off. The Sage then started to ladle water from the boat back into the river. Those who were present watched with eyes of confusion. When they began to question Narada, he explained, “At first I thought the Divine wanted to sink the boat, so I offered my hands in service. Now it appears the Divine wants to dry us off, so I offer my hands in service.”

To dive deeper-

This is a lesson in going with the flow of life. We never know what is going to happen. We have the choice to resist and suffer, or to receive and serve. How can we learn to fully embrace all experiences and aspects of this human embodied life? What systems of support or structures do you need to have in place so that you are prepared for, well anything and everything?

My teacher Manorama’s teacher, SBS said, that in life we will all be met with unanswerable “whys”. How we meet these “whys”, depends on how much we practice. The question then becomes not why, but what. What are you learning through this experience that you couldn’t learn any other way? Remember life is not happening to us, but rather for us- for the evolution of our own soul.