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Rushing Waters

It seems logical to assume that time moves from the past into the present and then forward into the future. But what if it is not time but we who move from the past to the present and then into the future. Perhaps time itself does not move in the same way we do.

I see a person, alone, walking from his past toward his future. The longer he walks, the larger his past becomes, and the shorter his future. He carries his past along with him like a sack which grows ever bigger and heavier with each increasingly strenuous step.

Imagine that same man standing in a river facing upstream, the rivers’ current pushing against him and rushing past him. The past behind him, he stands now firmly, now wobbly in the present moment focused upon the future before him. 

As if from nowhere, the thought arises in me that this man does not have to walk into the future. Is not the future moving towards him? He may be moving from the past into the future, but time itself seems to be moving from the future towards the past. After all the man thinks, “Does not the future eventually become the past? What if I were to turn around? He’s afraid of this idea. But he is also exhausted. He’s at his end.

In one sudden moment of courage, he turns around. The past he had been sure would be there is no longer. He hears the future whispering to him from behind. “There is only me, only the future. Give up trying to stand solidly in the present. In my world, there is no present. As soon as the present arrives, it is gone. That means it does not and never has existed. A man-made concept I am afraid to say. Give up as well your idea of the past, yet another man-made concept. What you call past holds your habits, your old ways. But I tell you, there is no past and there is no present. There is only the future, and the future alone. Only me.”

“As you have seen”, the Future continues, “there is no need to walk towards me. I am always moving towards you. I am the source of your creativity. It is from me that your insights and revelations come.”

You have turned around. Few do. A great act of trust on your part. Now, I ask you to trust me utterly and completely. Give up your ground. There is no present. Why continually try to hold on to something you know does not exist, that has never existed? Let go of it. You have turned around. Sense it. Feel it. There is no past behind you now, no sack to carry, no habits in want of repeating, no story of yourself that needs to be told. There is only me, the River. Give in. Relax. Live in me. Let the sound of my rushing waters fill you with pleasure. Give up being you. Become me.

Written by Bruce Fertman

Bruce brings 60 years of study as a movement artist and educator to his work having trained in gymnastics, modern dance, ballet, contact improvisation, the Alexander Technique, Tai Chi Chu’an, Aikido, Chanoyu, (Japanese Tea Ceremony), Argentine Tango, and Kyudo (Zen Archery). For the past 30 years, Bruce has been helping people experience the interconnectedness of physical and spiritual life. He founded the Alexander Alliance in 1982 and Grace of Sense in 2019, his online community-school. Author of Teaching by Hand, Learning by Heart, and of The Way In ~ The Way Out, Bruce is currently co-authoring a book with Michael Gelb for New World Library entitled, Walk – How to Discover Comfort, Vitality, and Inspiration in Every Step.
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