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Rivers of Light, Water of Life

Rivers of Light, Water of Life

Author: Jo Rushby
Date: 2023-12-08

'Butof all the water's secrets, he saw today only a single one-one that struck hissoul. He saw that this water flowed and flowed, it was constantly flowing, andyet it was always there; it was always eternally the same and yet new at everymoment! Oh, to be able to grasp this, to understand this!' (Siddharta).

Whatis it about rivers that so entrance the mind and make the imagination slip andslide? I remember as a child making the annual trip to the Lake District. I wouldstare transfixed as the streams turned into icicles, forming shapes thatTolkien would turn into people. When I think back about splashing in water, itis almost always in a river or lake, rather than the ocean. My brothers tryingto swim across, against the current, cajoling, teasing me to follow.

Andthen in 2022, there I was on the edge of the mightiest river in India, theGanges. Varanasi. There is something startling as the morning threatens andthen breaks. No metronome here, the tick tock, this is jyoti, jai, happiness,soothing bells, rhythmic sunrise chanting, ma ganges; bathe, om nama shivaya,prayer, faith, spirituality, energy, call it what you like, it is what we aremade of and maybe this is all we need. It's an image I return to often in mymind. Brass cup held high, pouring love into the soul, water of life. Everymorning. The ritual, temple, tea, faith, hope, healing.

Dusk.Standing on a balcony overlooking the river. The moon is lightly lighting thewater. I can hear the gentle waves of the aarti. Clay lamps twirl and swirl.Enticing the gods and drawing me to the river. Once more. The Ganges laps it upand comes back for more. Thousands of years are compressed into a moment. Thereis devotion here, both on the surface and deep in the wellsprings of the soul.And at its centre is water. Grabbing the dead, with the promise of new life.

Ina whisker, I am back in Durban. Speeding over the Umgeni. On the snatch of asandbank, a heron stands majestic. The Indian ocean washes up into the Lagoon.

Water,elixir of life, sustenance, power. I too feel it, the energy and miraculoushealing power of water. As often as I can, I dive into the ocean, to reset.,drink like a fish eagle from mountain rivers, streams, wherever it flows. It isa feeling like no other. A wave, a rush, you are alive, you are life,be present, and flow.

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