Living as a River by Bodhipaksa

In one of the most satisfying blessings I have discovered thus far in this life, I have been presented this book as a gift from SoundsTrue publishers in order to read and review this piece here on my humble ole’ book blog.  Within its covers, I found poetry.  Centering.  Bodhipaksa is a master at beautifully weaving together words to convey the importance of straying away from the self and the destruction the comes from clinging to ego-oriented needs that will prevent me from reaching my highest satisfactions.

I found description of the teachings of Buddha, with the perspective from the author.

This piece is a written meditation on the six elements.

For example, the first element, Earth: reminds us that we are not separate.  We are part of the Earth element, constantly being born and dying. Every cell within us returns to the Earth.  Every new cell born is from the Earth. We are not our physical bodies.  Our bodies are part of a flowing river.

Water: Our present body is like an eddy in the river.  It appears to be a “thing” but is not something you can take away from the river.  It appears to be separate, but there are no boundaries and the eddy cannot exist without the rest of the river.  Much like a river, every drop of fluid within us is from the world, and from the cosmos.

This book gave me an opportunity to practice my understanding of unity of what I refer to as my Self and the Universe.  It reminded me that the chemical make up of my experience is not newly created chemicals, but the same atomic building blocks that have existed as long as existence of anything has been possible. Perhaps this is what we would refer to as “all time.”

I feel SO very blessed to have received this book; the timing has been absolutely perfect.  I have already recommended it to one friend, but feel like so many people I love should read it.

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Thanks for reading, ya'll.

Miss Ash