Like A Waterfall
“Just as the strong current of a waterfall cannot be reversed,
so the movement of a human life is also irreversible.”
~ Buddha
“Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes.
Don’t resist them – that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality.
Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.”
~ Lao-Tzu
“If you realize that all things change,
there is nothing you will try to hold on to.
If you are not afraid of dying,
there is nothing you cannot achieve.”
~ Lao Tzu
Introduction
Dear Friends,
The following “Like a Waterfall” poetic sutra verses are based upon ancient deterministic and non-dualistic philosophies, and reflect an esoteric interpretation of the above Buddha quotation from a book of daily reflections by the Dalai Lama, that: “Just as the strong current of a waterfall cannot be reversed, so the movement of a human life is also irreversible.”
With comments and quotations after the poem, I explain my poetic interpretation of that Buddhist teaching. Also, the poem’s allusions to our predestined life flow are related to other postings about Go with the Flow and Free Will or Fate.
But before considering those comments and quotations, please reflect upon and enjoy “Like a Waterfall”.
Its verses are dedicated to encouraging us to yield and skillfully go with Nature’s predestined flow, to co-create an ever better world, as we intend, intuit, and imagine it to be.
And so shall it be!
Ron Rattner
Like A Waterfall
Like a waterfall
is the course of your life.
Arising mysteriously from
interdependent karmic causes,
its current flows irreversibly and irresistibly –
Out of this impermanent world
of ever changing forms and phenomena,
and into Eternal Mystery.
You have no destination option.
So, choicelessly and unresistingly,
let go, and go with Life’s flow –
Now!.
Inevitably it will carry you
to an infinite ocean of Eternal Awareness.
There – like contents of a time release capsule –
your illusion of separateness from Source
will melt and merge timelessly
in Truth, Existence, Bliss.
There you will BE –
Eternally –
Wholeness, Holiness, SELF.
And so it shall be!
Ron’s audio recitation of “Like a Waterfall”
Explanation of “Like a Waterfall”
Dear Friends,
The foregoing “Like a Waterfall” poetic verses are based upon ancient deterministic and non-dualistic philosophies, and reflect my esoteric interpretation of the above Buddha quotation from a book of daily reflections by the Dalai Lama, that: “Just as the strong current of a waterfall cannot be reversed, so the movement of a human life is also irreversible.”
For those curious about this enigmatic teaching (as once I was), I’ll try to briefly elaborate. Poetic passages are consistent with perennial deterministic and non-dualistic philosophies which do not accept supposed separate human “free will”.
Thus this “Like a Waterfall” verse asserts and advises:
“You have no destination option.
So, choicelessly and unresistingly,
let go, and go with Life’s flow –
Now!.”
Other verses are similarly consistent with determinist non-duality philosophy (as now confirmed by quantum physics).
They accept that our supposed material world is a mental illusion, like a mirage; that there is no matter, or free will, and that our perceived separation from other apparent forms and phenomena is “an optical illusion of consciousness.” And that beyond our illusory reality, is ONE indescribable and transcendent Source – to which we are irreversibly destined to return.
Also, here are key quotations which may help us understand verses suggesting that the course of each human’s life is irreversibly predetermined, ‘like a waterfall’.
“God alone is the Doer.
Everything happens by His will.”
~ Ramakrishna Paramahansa
Everything is determined, the beginning as well as the end,
by forces over which we have no control.
It is determined for the insect, as well as for the star.
Human beings, vegetables, or cosmic dust,
we all dance to a mysterious tune,
intoned in the distance by an invisible piper.” . . . .
“Human beings in their thinking, feeling and acting are not free
but are as causally bound as the stars in their motions.”
~ Albert Einstein
“The assumption of an absolute determinism
is the essential foundation of every scientific enquiry.”
~ Max Planck
“The only difference between a human being
and a stone rolling down a hill,
is that the human being
thinks he is in charge of his own destiny.”
~ Baruch Spinoza
Q. “Are only the important events in a man’s life,
such as his main occupation or profession, predetermined,
or are trifling acts also,
such as taking a cup of water or
moving from one part of the room to another?”
A. “Everything is predetermined.”
~ Sri Ramana Maharshi
Dedication
These “Like a Waterfall” verses are dedicated
to encouraging us to yield and skillfully go
with Nature’s predestined flow,
to co-create an ever better world,
as we intend, intuit, and imagine it to be.
And so shall it be!
Ron Rattner
