Through and through as I have meditated, I would find that water would be a crucial aspect of my meditations. Most often, as I would breathe, I would feel water inside of myself as the ocean coming upon a shore (the inhale). The recess of the water back into the ocean was the exhale of my breath, back into the world. This feeling of letting go of the breath and moving past the moment.
When meditating – you will find that The River’s Song is a way of giving yourself a chance to breathe. When I say “river”, what I mean by this, is the stream by which the Buddha sat. By the stream was a tree — the Bodhi tree. This tree welcomed him home, but the river gave him a place to sit. From the River, one learns to listen to the water and to the emotion of the self inside. Our emotions are much akin to the water that brings it forth… in our anger, in our tears, in our sorrow, in ourself.
In one’s way of sitting, the knower inside of you, finds a place where solace, solitude, gentleness, silence, and the lite of heart are found. This place is where you can feel most at home and in comfort with yourself. The river teaches us many things. Specifically, to listen to yourself; to your pains, aches, worries, troubles, temperaments, unstillness and doubt; it is for you to come to terms with the ways in which you are as uncalm or at unease with yourself — much like the river may be inside of you as it ebbs and flows through your body.
When you are calm and still, the water inside and the water in the way of your mind become equal. They stay steady, calm, and subside together. This mind, body, soul connection — the three aligned with you at the helm and in control, give way to yourself becoming the river as it learns to understand your nature from a flowing state of being; to a stilled, silent state of being. This state of being has many names, but it is ultimately the peace that comes with the surrender of yourself from the world, so that you may have a place were silence is a refuge for you.
Every moment that you have a chance to be still and silent, take a moment to do so. Take a moment to recognize your awareness for the moment in question. Your awareness brings much and only you can understand what your awareness is expressing and showing you. Every moment in time that you are aware, is a moment where your meditations becomes alive and more pronounced inside and out. This presence of mind, body, and soul will eventually become a honed practice, which you will be able to automatically put yourself self into.
This moment makes it so that you are able to harness the potential of energy that has waited for you to greet it. To do so, you should honor it with kindness and compassion. Perhaps the moment is abrupt and calls attention to the mind or perhaps the body shows signs of emotion, either/or, treat yourself the same and stay with the river. Flow with the river, ebb with the river, remain calm, remain centered, and remain rooted with your being in totality of yourself with the water as it stays or as it goes.