Surfing the Crocodile

I liked the analogy that one of the commenters used on my last post - one that he attributed to Ramakrishna who, when asked whether a householder can find enlightenment said,

“Of course, but the householder must first cross the Ganges on the back of a crocodile to gain the far shore.”

That crocodile is life and it is a strange beast. You can feel it carrying you somewhere but you can’t speak with it, influence it or negotiate with it like you would with people and other minds.

In fact, when the mind does try and grasp the crocodile’s intention and convinces itself that it is finally “communicating” with it, the results are most comical!

“Ah, that’s where you are taking me! I see it now…” and then in the next moment the crocodile turns unexpectedly and the mind’s futility is revealed once more.

The crocodile has its own intention. Our own intentions in guiding it are illusory. We think we are directing the crocodile mostly because at times it appears to “follow” our instructions. But that is just coincidence. Really it is guiding us. And we are simply along for the ride.

You cannot speak to the crocodile. You cannot understand the crocodile. And you most certainly can’t make it understand you or do what you want it to do.

But you can surf the crocodile.

By this I mean that you can feel into the crocodile. You can sense its will in your own body. You can feel its twisting muscle and sinew beneath your toes. You can sense when it is relaxing and when it is getting ready to shift course. You can feel its split second intention right before it suddenly plunges into the Ganges with you on its back. And as you hold your breath submerged, wondering when (or if) you will resurface, you can even, in the midst of fear and desperation, sense how its intention may not be to perish you. That it will resurface when the time is right and you will be alright.

Surfing the crocodile is knowing the crocodile in an entirely ungraspable way. You can only ever know it in your being in this moment. But you can never predict what it will do. Does it love you? Is it indifferent to you? Does it want to swallow you whole? Will it suddenly, when you least expect it, drown you in a death roll? Will it protect you when the Ganges becomes torrential?

You can never know what the crocodile ultimately intends. And you cannot guide its intention. But you can feel what its intention is in this moment and align yours to its own.

The crocodile feels you too. It is not a mechanical animal incapable of awareness. In fact, it is acutely aware of the rider on its back. A tense rider is almost inevitably in for a rougher ride. A relaxed rider will tend to have a smoother experience. However, that is not to say the crocodile favours the relaxed rider. If he wants to eat you he will eat you regardless of how easily you ride!

I love the crocodile I am riding. Even if it gives me mild heart attacks from time to time (and on rare occasions, major ones). The river of time flows swiftly past us as we cross towards the distant banks. I can see them on the horizon. But I’m in no hurry to arrive.

For now I still have much to learn from this crocodile.