You cannot step twice in the same river

 

Life is always represented as flowing. This means that it is ever moving and never static. This dynamic nature of the life makes its permanence disappear, i.e. every moment in this life is unique. So, one will never experience the same moment twice – may be a similar moment, but never the exact same ones. This beautiful universal truth is captured by a famous quote of the Greek philosopher Heraclitus – “You cannot step twice in the same river.”

In this essay, I will attempt to explain this beautiful universal truth – decoding why the river-like life changes every moment; how this change affects one; and finally, how one can sustain and endure such change. 

Let the sail begin!

Dynamic life

Life consists of two constantly interacting variables – self and non-self. Here, the ‘self’ denotes our mind and the ‘non-self’ denotes the environment. The dynamic interaction between our mind and the environment is what makes life flow like a river.

In the theory of relativity, Albert Einstein proved that matter is equivalent to energy. So, when one matter encounters another, the energies get transferred. While science limits interaction to energy transfer, Indian Vedic philosophy extends it to formation of imprints. Since the environment is made up of matter, every interaction between the mind and environment leads to energy transfer, which in turn, leaves mental imprints called Samskaras. So, one is never the same at any two points of time. Just like how the river never contains the same water!

Such mind-environment interactions are without a pause, ever happening. Thus, loads of new Samskaras are generated every moment. These new Samskaras in turn, constantly alter the mind, giving rise to new thoughts. These new thoughts rewire our perception of the world, i.e. how we evaluate a situation based on our internal value system. This perception is what is often reflected as behaviour, i.e. our response to a situation. Thus, the altering of mind involves a change in our perception as well as our behaviour.

While these alterations of mind can lead to short-lived mood swings, the prolonged exposure to a specific environment can change one’s perception & behaviour substantially. For example, a girl from a patriarchal family might believe that she is a subject to be controlled and any share of power with her is an act of kindness. But, after the exposure to an egalitarian college environment, this perception changes. She will expect more share in power, not as a matter of kindness, but as her in-born right, as a matter of natural justice. This shift is marked by the change in her internal value system, which went on from expecting chauvinistic sympathy to demanding her ingrained right.

This establishes the truth that – change is the only thing that is constant! But one must be wary of the nature of such change. While mind gets altered by interacting with environment, the outcome of such change is determined by the quality of that environment.

Mind the surroundings

There is a famous saying, “show me your friends and I will show you who you are.” On broader interpretation, friends are a vital part of environment. Since one is shaped by their environment, it becomes important to choose to live in a good company. Often miserable acts are done by those whose mind is narrowed by ugly companionships. In Mahabharata, while Duryodhana committed unforgivable deeds under the companionship of his uncle Shakuni, Arjuna was driven into the Dharmic path by his ethical charioteer Shri Krishna. It is just similar to how a river flowing through mineral rocks gets enriched opposed to mixing with sewage which gets it polluted.

Thus, the change that happens in life, despite inevitable, can be directed towards goodness if we choose our surroundings wisely. But often, it does not end there. Despite a healthy atmosphere, the interaction between the mind and the environment becomes crucial. For that interaction to happen in the first place, the mind must be “present in the present.”

Live the moment

Many either grieve too much about their past, or over-forecast their unpredictable future. But what they fail to do is to invest in their present. Investing in the present involves to leverage the past experience and live in the present fully without the fear of future. This does not mean to disregard the future just because it is changing and is unpredictable. But, to resist oneself from expecting a predictable future, and get ready to endure the change. This is what the Taoism says as – “Let it go, ride the wind.” It means not to resist the change but to travel along with it.

But, in a world filled with expectations and warnings about the unseen, this practice of staying in the present becomes challenging. In reality, one must have a goal in life. However, fixing that as the endpoint of the journey is not wise because it was set by your old self. Now that you might have changed along with the circumstances, your goal might need revisiting, and also resetting if necessary. This does not necessarily make the journey towards your previous goal useless. In fact, the experience from that journey was the very reason you might be successful in pursuing your new goal. Just think – would have Gandhi imagined that he would end up as a national leader when he started as an unsuccessful lawyer? Or was being a lawyer a necessary precondition to become a national leader? In fact, he wouldn’t have imagined his experience in South Africa would translate to Indian freedom struggle. All these events in his life unfolded just because he rode along the wind!

Life is an ever-flowing river filled with energies that interact constantly shaping and re-shaping one’s inner and outer space. This lets no one remain the same making change inevitable. Since such change is influenced by the nature of one’s surroundings, it forces one to choose their acquaintance wisely. Besides that, a healthy interaction between self & non-self is possible only if the mind lives in the moment riding the wind, embracing the travel, and further, re-determining the destiny in line with the flow. Summing up with what Bruce Lee had said – Be water, my friend!

Do not restrict your thoughts. Let it flow in the comment section!