where the river narrows

Walking along the Russian River yesterday afternoon, I observed a spot in the river where the water suddenly seemed to flow faster. The current appeared faster at the surface, and along the edges of the river the water gurgled as it rushed through some plants.

The parallel in life that I notice is that when our "river" is wide, we coast gently down current. As our "river" narrows, or constricts, the current seems to speed up. The same volume is passing through, it just seems more hectic.

A contrast also occurred to me: while at the point where the river narrows, the water increases in speed; the point at which the freeway narrows, traffic inevitably slows.

The degree of love we manifest determines the degree of spaciousness and freedom we can bring to lifes events. Imagine taking a very small glass or water and putting into it a teaspoon of salt. Because of the small size of the container, the teaspoon of salt is going to have a big effect on the water. However, if you approach a much larger body of water, such as a lake, and put into it the same teaspoonful of salt, it will not have the same intensity of impact, because of the vastness and openness of the vessel receiving it. Even when the salt remains the same, the spaciousness of the vessel receiving it changes everything.

We spend a lot of our lives looking for a feeling of safety or protection--we try to alter the amount of salt that comes our way. Ironically, the salt is the very thing that we cannot do anything about, as life changes and offers us repeated ups and downs. Our true work is to create a container so immense that any amount of salt, even a truckload, can come into it without affecting our capacity to receive it.

--Sharon Salzberg, Lovingkindness
from Everyday Mind