The vast flood
by Ikkyu (Ikkyu Sojun)English version by R. H. Blyth
Original Language Japanese
The vast flood
Rolls onward
But yield yourself,
And it floats you upon it.
 | -- from Zen and Zen Classics, by R. H. Blyth |
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This short poem feels like it is saying a lot.
The vast flood
Rolls onward
Day after day, experience after experience, terrors and tragedies, joys and victories, everything -- life. It can feel like an onslaught. Most of us learn to dampen down the awareness in order to cope and mimic those around us.
Yet even with dimmed senses we feel overwhelmed.
But yield yourself,
And it floats you upon it.
This is the liberating wisdom of surrender.
Most of our intense efforts in life, whether directed toward work, family, even spirituality, are about trying to control the flow of life. We want to master the flood, bring it under our will. We want to tame it so we can be safe.
But it never really works.
This lifelong effort is like a duck on a great river who imagines he controls the current by the action of his paddling feet. When he happens to face downstream -- Amazing! The river goes just where he commanded! When he turns left or right, he imagines that he needs to increase his effort and improve his technique to get the river flowing where he wants. And when he turns upstream -- Calamity! He has lost control of the river.
Or... he can just sit on top of the river and let its current carry him.
Yielding ourselves to this great river, no longer imagining that we control it, we can finally begin to discover its true nature and direction -- and beauty. We come to see its flow as a unifying harmony and not a threat. Importantly, we notice our natural buoyancy. We are built to float upon it.
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