Gibran’s ‘River’ Courses Our Lives

The River Cannot Go Back: A Parable

“The River Cannot Go Back,”
declared once the mystic and poet,
Lebanese-American Kahlil Gibran.
author of “The Prophet,” a dreamer.

By observing the movements of rivers,
this mystic and poet, this dreamer,
was observing something remarkable:
The constancy of change.

That, in the course of time,
all is in a state of flux.
 All in a state of transition.
Thus change itself is ‘constant.’

On a much larger plane
of human existence;
on the existential plane of life,
we too must come to realize this:

Neither time, space, nor human thought is fixed.
All is transient, all ever moving.
All ever being transformed.
All seeking to know its ‘Self.’

The ‘Self’ that is ‘The All.’
The ‘Self’ that is indivisible.
The ‘Self that flows like a river.
The indivisible ‘Self’ that is ONE.

No one, not anything, can ever ‘go back.’
For to go back is not possible.
To go back in our existence;
that is most certainly impossible.

Just as the river on its journey,
is deemed by nature to traverse its course;
 and, by nature, is charged to ‘take risks,’
so too, must every living species, take risk.

The river, while winding its course,
traversing rocks and crevices,
charged by nature’s disposition,
must take the ‘risk’ of entering the ocean.

The river must discover and must experience
vast new unknown realities.
The river must encounter and confront fears.
And the river must overcome those fears.

The river must not be fearful.
She must not be fearful of her extinction.
In the wake of uncertainty,
the river must display confidence.

In the wake of uncertainty,
the river must display faith and trust.
The river must remain obedient
to the profundity of her new life.

The lowly mountain river
will with certainty have new life.
She will now have abundant life
in the vastness as an ocean.

So likewise must we too,
like the babbling brook or river,
traverse rocks and crevices;
all the hindrances in our lives.

So like the forest river,
overcoming seasonal obstacles,
so too must we not look back.
Instead, we must choose to march forward.

Like the river we cannot go back.
Instead, we must march forward.
Like the river we must trudge onwards.
We must move towards ‘the ocean.’

We must be intrepid travelers.
On pathways not yet taken,
we must pave our way.
For, like the river, we cannot go back.

‘The Road Not Taken,’
is the road we are asked to take.
It may not be wide and spacious,
but it is made for our correction.

The river cannot go back.
Indeed, nothing can ever go back.
So thus we must move forward
to greater expectations.

On this forward journey
of the straight and narrow pathway,
we too like the river
will encounter obstacles.

These are more like guidelines,
instructing us with knowledge,
that life is full of challenges
to strengthen us with vigor.

The vigor that is needed
to embrace the many changes;
all needed to support us
on the journey that we call ‘Life.’

The river cannot go back.
Neither can we go back.
Neither should we seek to go back.
Like the river we must go forward.

This then is our reality:
Gibran’s ‘River’ courses our lives.
On our winding journey of life,
we are like that river.

Like Gibran’s mythical ‘River,’
we must course our way.
We must do so on a winding path.
But we must choose to trudge forward.

Though we may do so with trepidation,
that is the path we are asked to take.
We must overcome obstacles.
We must overcome our fears.

The river cannot go back.
Neither can we go back.
Our task is to trudge forward;
to the destiny that awaits us.

After all is said and done,
let us reflect on this message:
All of us are like rivers.
We are all ‘Living Waters.’

Indwelling deep within us
are treasures to be discovered.
So like Gibran’s ‘River,’
we must strive to know ‘The Self.’

The Self that lies buried
like a cavernous river.
The Self in numinous cavern.
The Self that yet bears light.

Our task is as explorers,
to explore the vast universe
of the darkened inward journey
that leads to inward light.

This is the inward journey
that leads us to The Self.
The Self that lies buried.
The Self that offers Light.

Our task then as travelers,
is to come to know ourselves.
For there is no greater journey,
than to be at peace with Self.

The river cannot go back.
The river must go forward.
We too cannot go back.
We too must go forward.

Just as the river cannot go back,
and must merge to join the sea,
so too must we bravely forge ahead;
towards the hidden depths of Self.

Gibran’s ‘River’ courses our lives.
We are like that mountain river.
Ever moving, trudging forwards,
fearlessly, to embrace the Self.


 
POSTSCRIPT:  
Dear reader, “To thine own Self be true.”