Row Row Row Your Boat

We are all so familiar with this little nursery rhyme…

“Row, row, row your boat,

Gently down the stream…

Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,

Life is but a dream…”

As I was reflecting on the lines, it struck me, how profound each line is. There is so much to each line, and the person who created this little rhyme must have been a great philosopher or genius…

Life is but a dream, so very true isn’t it? When this life ends, we will realise that, it was all nothing but a dream, and a nightmare at some times too. And the person who manages to remain awake in this dream, is the one who is really awake, the enlightened one. Most of us live through our lives being asleep throughout. Quoting Anthony DeMello….”Most people, even though they don’t know it, are asleep. They’re born asleep, they live asleep, they marry in their sleep, they breed children in their sleep, they die in their sleep without ever waking up. They never understand the loveliness and the beauty of this thing that we call human existence.” So if we manage to wake up at least for a small part of this dream, life indeed becomes infinitely more beautiful…

So how to live this life? Merrily merrily merrily merrily… When you know that life is nothing but a dream, all the experiences you go through do not really affect the real You, then why fret and worry? Live life in all enjoyment, make merry while you are alive!!! Anthony DeMello says, “Happiness is your natural state. You don’t have to do anything to acquire it, because you have it already.” You just have to realise it, and with that life becomes merry!! What greater joy is there than being alive! 

Life is a stream, on which you are rowing your boat. If you row in the direction the stream flows, it’s much easier than rowing against the flow. Sometimes, the wind is in your favour, making your job easier. Sometimes it isn’t… Sometimes the flow is gentle, sometimes a little rough, at times you might even fall into the stream and get wet.. But in the end the boat is going to reach the ocean, isn’t it? So merrily enjoy this boat ride… Quoting DeMello once again.. “Don’t fret about enlightenment. No matter which direction you turn, you are homeward bound.”