Let me digress a bit from your story of innocence reclaimed. Ironically this morning I was also reading an article about "kidults" or adults refusing to develop the stamina needed to stand on their own feet and survive some of the "logs" of life inevitably colliding with us. Can one of our "rafts" be manipulating others to do the heavy lifting and take a bullet for us rather than daring to make our own ways in the currents. Is gaming your life away in your parents' basement also a "raft", or maybe a "submarine"?
Your parable describes the "success trap" of actively building a raft in an attempt to find security for ourselves and loved ones. There is also a shadow side of passively attempting to sink the rafts of others so all feel as insecure as they do. I am thinking of Donald Trump often described as the "Toddler in Chief" with his destructive pessimism and cruel comments about everyone but himself.
Yes, some of us can emerge from trauma with an epiphany while others will continue to struggle in panic drowning all those who attempt to rescue them. It takes a degree of maturity and a basis of a fairly secure attachment style to remain calm and trust going with the Flow. I suppose I have become an old curmudgeon but my experience is not all of us make it to shore and many will drown in fear. Talk me down from here Shiv...
The “kidults” you speak of (and we have spawned an entire generation of them) neither build their own rafts nor remain in the river. They clamber onto rafts built by others (their parents and such) and use these platforms to pretend as if they have learned something of life.
You said: “I suppose I have become an old curmudgeon but my experience is not all of us make it to shore and many will drown in fear. Talk me down from here Shiv...”
You are incorrect. None of us ever make it to shore. There is no shore. And we all eventually drown in the river. Drowning is inevitable. The only difference is, those who do not know the river will drown in fear. And those who know the river to be inseparable from themselves will drown in peace knowing that it is just this temporary form that dies. Yet this self that is the river flows on for eternity….
Yes, Karl. The raft is optional and a useful artifice that is all. And any feeling of separation from the river it facilitates is both imagined and temporary
Hey Shiv, I'm always mesmerized by your words, are you in the mood to write a bit more about child education? I'm always wondering if it's possible to raise a child without falling into 'raft building mode'. Is it just the ineviteable play of life or are we misguided as a society at large? It seems so destructive and unneceserry to me, when I was a child I cycled through forests, nursed plants and was happy until school came along. I don't think much of what happened in school is in constructive operation these days and I could have made a living from raising plants aswell. (Even my english skills stem mainly from Diablo II.) How does 'building a raft' apply in the light of difficulty and suffering as necessary growth factors? Hope you get my point. Have a nice day.
Row, row, row your boat,
Gently down the stream,
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily
Life is but a dream.
Row, row, row your boat,
Gently down the stream,
If you see a crocodile,
Don’t forget to scream!
Please recommend a book that more than any other put into words how you think. 🙏🏿
I have written a three books that express similar sentiments called the Advaitaholics Anonymous series:
Sobering Insights for Spiritual Addicts:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1916290361
A Manifesto for Spiritual Anarchy
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1916290345
An Antidote to Spiritual Enlightenment
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1739724933
What a great parable...
Let me digress a bit from your story of innocence reclaimed. Ironically this morning I was also reading an article about "kidults" or adults refusing to develop the stamina needed to stand on their own feet and survive some of the "logs" of life inevitably colliding with us. Can one of our "rafts" be manipulating others to do the heavy lifting and take a bullet for us rather than daring to make our own ways in the currents. Is gaming your life away in your parents' basement also a "raft", or maybe a "submarine"?
Your parable describes the "success trap" of actively building a raft in an attempt to find security for ourselves and loved ones. There is also a shadow side of passively attempting to sink the rafts of others so all feel as insecure as they do. I am thinking of Donald Trump often described as the "Toddler in Chief" with his destructive pessimism and cruel comments about everyone but himself.
Yes, some of us can emerge from trauma with an epiphany while others will continue to struggle in panic drowning all those who attempt to rescue them. It takes a degree of maturity and a basis of a fairly secure attachment style to remain calm and trust going with the Flow. I suppose I have become an old curmudgeon but my experience is not all of us make it to shore and many will drown in fear. Talk me down from here Shiv...
The “kidults” you speak of (and we have spawned an entire generation of them) neither build their own rafts nor remain in the river. They clamber onto rafts built by others (their parents and such) and use these platforms to pretend as if they have learned something of life.
You said: “I suppose I have become an old curmudgeon but my experience is not all of us make it to shore and many will drown in fear. Talk me down from here Shiv...”
You are incorrect. None of us ever make it to shore. There is no shore. And we all eventually drown in the river. Drowning is inevitable. The only difference is, those who do not know the river will drown in fear. And those who know the river to be inseparable from themselves will drown in peace knowing that it is just this temporary form that dies. Yet this self that is the river flows on for eternity….
Well said and thanks for the clarification. I am interested in resilience and would be curious of your thoughts on this in the future. 🙏
Beautiful metaphor, but then you are forced to build another raft, but I suppose you take the currents of life less seriously?
Yes, Karl. The raft is optional and a useful artifice that is all. And any feeling of separation from the river it facilitates is both imagined and temporary
Wonderful analogies throughout.🙏
I’m deeply touched. Thank you Shiv.
This is very beautiful. And evocative. Thanks for sharing it.
👌
You got a knack Shiv.
Trying to watch the Grand Final Football through teary eyes…
So beautiful…
Go the Lions
dear shiv,
beautiful piece!
i love this: "When you were a child, you did not seek and yet you found constantly."
thank you for all the delightful offerings here!
love
myq
Hey Shiv, I'm always mesmerized by your words, are you in the mood to write a bit more about child education? I'm always wondering if it's possible to raise a child without falling into 'raft building mode'. Is it just the ineviteable play of life or are we misguided as a society at large? It seems so destructive and unneceserry to me, when I was a child I cycled through forests, nursed plants and was happy until school came along. I don't think much of what happened in school is in constructive operation these days and I could have made a living from raising plants aswell. (Even my english skills stem mainly from Diablo II.) How does 'building a raft' apply in the light of difficulty and suffering as necessary growth factors? Hope you get my point. Have a nice day.
https://youtu.be/vaIXj2VQHK0