Stream as an useful analogy for life
I was reading Yukio Mishima (one of the greatest Japanese authors of our time) and in his book, “The Temple of Dawn” the main character Honda goes on a trip to India to explore the concept of transmigration, which has haunted him for decades.
Streams of people
The story is set during the Second World War era, but many many years later, streams of millennials and western (and eastern) souls of all other generations continue to flow to India.
I have never been to India, but what Honda witnesses is probably very similar to that of many other visitors who reach the Ganges: a shocking experience full of extremes (and even repulsion).
While reading the depictions of hordes of people congregating to wash themselves in the river, I really felt that I didn’t want to go there.
There. I said it. I have always been wary of crowds, but the older I grow, the more I have become sensitive to masses (and living in Norway has definitively not help my case either). Still, this notion of stream/river/flow did leave a strong impression on me.
The concept of stream in buddhism
I’m not an expert in buddhism. In my first years, I grew up in Japan and I will go to temples with my mom during the “matsuri” and I remember my granddad having a tiny altar for my grandma and my great grandma. But other than illustrated books of “The life of Oshakasama” (Gautama Buddha) my experience with Buddhism was more of a gentle rain sound that surrounded my childhood memories (my experience with catholicism was completely different, but I will leave that for another story)
Even with this “light” exposure to buddhism, it was possible for me to understand that what Honda saw as the concept of transmigration was tightly connected to the notion of a stream. And how by seeing ourselves as a stream, we are more capable of understanding how we fit in this universe (too deep?) So why the concept of stream is useful? Here is my take:
We come (from somewhere) we move across time/space and then, we join other entities. By saying we join other entities, I guess what I’m saying is that we loose our individual form, but in reality we never cease to exist.
Individuals and Streams
So, if we take the “macro lenses” and see humanity, what we see is a stream of individuals, moving at different rhythms.. and we are echoing tales and impressions that we have all collected in our journeys. In the micro, we are convinced of our individuality, but this notion quickly disappears in the mighty realms of time and space.
I guess that is one of the reasons why we are drawn to rivers? — of course there is the tiny fact that rivers happen to be the source of life :P but maybe it also makes sense that streams are widely-adopted abstractions for cultural cosmogonies (of course, before the big-bang theory came up ;)
In this publication collection, will try to follow the same pattern: a stream of impressions flowing, moving, changing..
To close up, here is a piece of poetry by Amitav Radiance:
Think not of the hurdles and distractions
You are to flow through this life
Carrying the anecdotes and memories
Be like the stream, and rejuvenate every life
