Voices of the River

Siddhartha was taught that by listening to the river with a still heart, an expectant and open soul, he could learn more from it than anything else in the world. “'This is probably what you mean: that the river is everywhere at once—at its source, at its mouth, by the waterfall, by the ferry crossing, in the rapids, in the sea, in the mountains—everywhere at the same time. And that for it there is only the present, not the shadow called the future.” (Hesse 112). It is understood that the river is everywhere throughout the world at once and yet its still not considered in the future. Siddhartha decides that his life is just like the river, for his childhood and his aging self is merely only separated by shadows, not anything real. It was realized that not only are desires a cause of suffering, but so was the concept of time. By becoming aware that the concept of time does not exist and all things around Siddhartha have changed and always will be changing, he can accept that its simply the way life works.
Personally, I never would have thought of the river that way. It was creative and interesting to read about how you can interpret a river and your surroundings. My grandpa has told me before that by learning from your surroundings you can achieve anything. I never really thought of it much until I read this book and its now that I finally realize how right he truly was. If everyone simply payed attention to their surroundings, everything would be much better understood. Living in a world of material, its often forgotten what we can learn from nature and the world.