The River
I am only a ferryman and it is my task to take people across this river. I have taken thousands of people across and to all of them my river has been nothing but a hindrance on their journey. They have travelled for money and business, to weddings and on pilgrimages; the river has been in their way and the ferryman was there to take them quickly across the obstacle. However, amongst the thousands there have been a few, four of five, to whom the river was not a obstacle. They have heard its voice and listened to it, and the river has become holy to them, as it has to me. "Have you also learned that secret from the river; that there is no such thing as time?" That the river is everywhere at the same time, at the source and at the mouth, at the waterfall, at the ferry, at the current, in the ocean and in the mountains, everywhere and that the present only exists for it, not the shadow of the past nor the shadow of the future. -- From 'Siddhartha' by Herman Hesse
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On Apr 18, 2022 Claudia wrote :
When I was younger I practiced whitewater kayaking, and the time felt expanded when being in the river or around it, one also had to be fully present while kayaking. I know is not what Hesse means in Siddhartha, but for me the river was/is sacred, and usually between trips I would think about being there with nostalgia. When I was back in the river, the time I had not been there, was gone, like vanished. During the day the river was the center of attention, and at night the milky way stars shining above our heads, the sound of the ever present river and our conversations, laughter and silence had a really magical effect, we felt connected with nature and with everything and everyone. Hearts were filled with love. Time was non-existent.