Rivers

[River Sea]

A River Song by Vimal Bhai

 

[River Sea]

I was there was a witness with the Spirit of the River tore through its banks and brought the entire city to its knees in one of the worst floods in the country outside of those crafted by Hurricane Spirits

Always respect the gods, because they often have little care for humans that do not respect them and move aside.

@Quintessence

What was the human disrespect that produced this hurricane, as you claimed about respecting gods?

How can people respect these gods in order to prevent hurricanes?

Who chooses when the gods reason this respect so that these hurricanes are able to be prevented from occurring?

What would this planet look like if these gods were respected by humanity and there were no more hurricanes?

Ok I'm struggling to navigate my edit here.
Look at what you wrote below. So I'll ask here.
Look at the quote you wrote, about ancestors respecting gods, my question to you, yet there's hurricanes though - so how come this respect didn't eliminate hurricanes, for ancestors?
@Quintessence you also wrote:

Rivers being carriers of cycles of transformation was respected more by our ancestors

 

[Quintessence]

What was the human disrespect that produced this hurricane, as you claimed about respecting gods?

It's interesting that you parse the importance of respecting the gods as somehow implying human disrespect of the gods is responsible for "natural disasters." That's generally not how Pagans see things. It's certainly not how I see things in this instance.

What I mean by the importance of respecting the gods in this instance is to... I dunno... practice some common sense? Understand that humans are not the mightiest force in the universe, that the universe is always changing, and that it doesn't revolve around humans? Practice sensible urban planning and don't build permanent structures in floodplains for example? In other words, get out of the way of forces greater than yourselves. It is definitely not about "stopping" any of these things. It can't be stopped. That's the point of respecting them to mitigate the damage to yourself by... well... basically not being idiots. Because the gods aren't going to do that for you. They don't care. Rivers will do what rivers do, so get out of the way or the currents will just drown you in them.

 

[CharmingOwl]

I think all nature is inherently sacred and spiritual because it is alive and trees can work as portals between worlds under certain conditions. However, Florida does not seem to have any natural wonders AFAIK, besides the local hiking trail I visit and the parks.

 

[robocop (actually)]

Not sure if this is the right sub-forum.

Rivers have always held meaning for me, and for Hindus. The Ganges, especially is known as India's sacred river, but there are more. There are many legends and ideas associated with it, and the essence of it's waters gets invoked all over the world in daily ritual. The Cauvery, Yamuna, Saraswati, are also important.

People, as individuals, can often say 'my river' about a particular river, small, large, etc.

The Nile was sacred to the Egyptians.
So ... which rivers are important to your religion, what about it makes it important, and do you have a particular affinity to any river, or do you feel spiritually connected to one in some way?

(Maybe there's more that one thread here.)

You might like "Sensitive Chaos" by Theodore Schwenk. A little expensive though.

 

[River Sea]

Rivers have always held meaning for me, and for Hindus. The Ganges, especially is known as India's sacred river, but there are more. There are many legends and ideas associated with it, and the essence of it's waters gets invoked all over the world in daily ritual. The Cauvery, Yamuna, Saraswati, are also important.

@Vinayaka and @robocop (actually)
I learned about Yamuna River at one time flowed west then flowed eastward due to tectonic uplift, and I feel for all the people living in Harappan cities because depriving them of water

Rivers being carriers of cycles of transformation was respected more by our ancestors,

@Quintessence The ancestors I learned about dealt with four Yugas—Krita, Treta, Dwapar, and Kali. So is it also learning how to process the four Yugas?

get out of the way of forces greater than yourselves. It is definitely not about "stopping" any of these things. It can't be stopped.

I heard a YouTube video about Bruce Lee explaining how his fighting methods are like flowing water. Act like water.

If humans act like water, however, humans can think, while rivers, @Quintessence you were saying

Rivers will do what rivers do, so get out of the way or the currents will just drown you in them.

In this case, the Yamuna River caused a drought, and eventually people left the Indus Valley, at the same time as Exodus, around 1445 BC, this is what I learned about ancestors, so it appears they had to migrate.

 

[River Sea]

I think all nature is inherently sacred and spiritual because it is alive and trees can work as portals between worlds under certain conditions. However, Florida does not seem to have any natural wonders AFAIK, besides the local hiking trail I visit and the parks.

@CharmingOwl

Speaking of trees, which work as portals between worlds, Let me see if I can articulate this. However, maybe I'm leaving the topic of trees. Well, I had heard of the tree of life; we're the branches. I did see a video on how Trees communicate through the roots, making sure each tree is fed. Maybe you can explain more about how trees can work as portals between worlds?

Rivers portals. I used to call this membrane a cell. Earth is one of the many cells. Each cell is concave. When we leave the earth, we leave this cell. Shechina: I learned this word from the Jews in this forum. Please feel free to correct me if I'm using your vocabulary in the wrong context, as I'm borrowing words. The light tunnel is what helps direct us through this membrane portal.

So why did I include the word river?

Light is like a river that flows and lives in us; we drink from the life of the light river, which satisfies our spiritual needs and teaches us.

 

[Aupmanyav]

I was there was a witness with the Spirit of the River tore through its banks and brought the entire city to its knees in one of the worst floods in the country outside of those crafted by Hurricane Spirits.

The spirit of River Yamuna in Delhi, India, has tore through its banks and has brought the entire city to its knees with the worst flood in 50 years.
delhi in flood - Google Search

 

[Aupmanyav]

So ... which rivers are important to your religion, what about it makes it important, and do you have a particular affinity to any river, or do you feel spiritually connected to one in some way?

Bhagirathi, at its origin at Gaumukh, Gangotri glacier.
The time I went there, Mother Bhagirathi created a level snow bridge across itself and I could just stroll to the other side without even wetting my shoes.

"The Volga, navigable for some 2,000 miles, and its more than 70 navigable tributaries carry more than half of all Soviet inland freight and nearly half of all the passengers who use Soviet inland waterways."

Volga River | Map, Definition, Economy, & Facts

I love Volga too, because I believe Indo-Europeans came down to Caspian Sea (Kurgan hypothesis, Yamnaya region) from their original homeland by Volga Valley.

 

[Aupmanyav]

In this case, the Yamuna River caused a drought, and eventually people left the Indus Valley, at the same time as Exodus, around 1445 BC, this is what I learned about ancestors, so it appears they had to migrate.

A little earlier than that, sometime around 1,900 BCE. They did not have to migrate very far, say about 100 or 150 miles. There were other rivers. The demise of Indus valley civilization was due to the sum of many factors. Serious change in river courses due to a tectonic event, River Sutlej moving West, and Yamuna moving east. Scarce rainfall, and political changes in Mesopotamia and Iran which brought their trade to a halt. Not just in Punjab, but also cities in the South, Sindh and Gujarat, also withered.

 

[CharmingOwl]

@CharmingOwl

Speaking of trees, which work as portals between worlds, Let me see if I can articulate this. However, maybe I'm leaving the topic of trees. Well, I had heard of the tree of life; we're the branches. I did see a video on how Trees communicate through the roots, making sure each tree is fed. Maybe you can explain more about how trees can work as portals between worlds?

Rivers portals. I used to call this membrane a cell. Earth is one of the many cells. Each cell is concave. When we leave the earth, we leave this cell. Shechina: I learned this word from the Jews in this forum. Please feel free to correct me if I'm using your vocabulary in the wrong context, as I'm borrowing words. The light tunnel is what helps direct us through this membrane portal.

So why did I include the word river?

Light is like a river that flows and lives in us; we drink from the life of the light river, which satisfies our spiritual needs and teaches us.

I'm not sure about any of the other stuff, but since trees, animals, and plants are alive without an ego like a human has, they have a direct connection to the underworld and various ancestor spirits can pass through to interact with the living. Any human can also develop this ability but they must bring down their ego to be a viable vessel and allow things to pass through them. I think that when talking to trees, it is the soul of that tree that is able to respond on the metaphysical level, which is why it requires people to tune in to it.

 

[River Sea]

Bhagirathi, at its origin at Gaumukh, Gangotri glacier.
The time I went there, Mother Bhagirathi created a level snow bridge across itself and I could just stroll to the other side without even wetting my shoes.

@Aupmanyav

The Photo you shared looks beautiful, and does the sound at all echo when under the glacier? I looked up the word glacier online, and it explained that glacier is ice. That's ice to go under; it's so dark in there. Did you drink the water?

River Bhagirathi goes under a glacier named Gomukh.

I see online that the word Gomukh/Gaumukh (go/gau=cow, mukh= mouth) literally means "Mouth of a Cow." Gaumukh (gou, cow + mukh, mouth), about 18 km (11.2 mi)

Am I understanding correctly? Going under this glacier, one can go 11 miles before reaching the end. Have you ever traveled the 11 miles under this glacier and felt the end of this glacier, or is it impossible to reach and feel the end of this glacier?

 

[Aupmanyav]

@Aupmanyav
The Photo you shared looks beautiful, and does the sound at all echo when under the glacier? I looked up the word glacier online, and it explained that glacier is ice. That's ice to go under; it's so dark in there. Did you drink the water?

River Bhagirathi goes under a glacier named Gomukh.
I see online that the word Gomukh/Gaumukh (go/gau=cow, mukh= mouth) literally means "Mouth of a Cow." Gaumukh (gou, cow + mukh, mouth), about 18 km (11.2 mi)

Am I understanding correctly? Going under this glacier, one can go 11 miles before reaching the end. Have you ever traveled the 11 miles under this glacier and felt the end of this glacier, or is it impossible to reach and feel the end of this glacier?

The two major rivers which join to form River Ganges are Bhagirathi and Alaknanda. These rivers are important to us religiously. The last temple on Bhagirathi is Gangotri and that on Alaknanda is Badrinath. These temples are pilgrimage places for Hindus for more than 1500 years.

If I were to use a word for Gaumukh water, I will use scintillating (because of the fine soil it contains). No, I did not drink the water, but carried back some in a container. The water is used in Hindu rituals.

Perhaps one can go under the glacier for 11 miles but I was on a solo journey and I had a family back in Delhi with two children. Such an enterprise was clearly not for me. Glacier collapses are horrendous events. A recent glacier collapse caused a flood in Alaska.

Glacier burst in Himalayas, 200 dead at the dam site.

 

[Lucca la Croix]

I tend to be drawn to water in general, particuarly fresh water lakes, deep natural lakes. Swamps/Marshes also. But honestly there is something very healing for me being on the banks of rivers and streams. Even if not wading into water I always dip my hands in flowing waterways in respect.
I grew up in WA state, and the Nisqually river was my home river, and very clean (but Ice cold glacier melt) I swam in it alot, which was always a form of meditation and prayer.
I now live less than 1 mile from the Susquahana River, It is ancient , but also polluted now. Yet it is my local Sacred River, and will remain so, as well we have a stream below cliff in our backyard that cuts through bedrock, and is home to fish. If the wind is not rustling leaves heavily, I hear it sitting on patio, although I have yet to climb down there...Need rope, and I am not in best shape, its about 6ft down.

 

[Bharat Jhunjhunwala]

I tend to be drawn to water in general, particuarly fresh water lakes, deep natural lakes. Swamps/Marshes also. But honestly there is something very healing for me being on the banks of rivers and streams. Even if not wading into water I always dip my hands in flowing waterways in respect.
I grew up in WA state, and the Nisqually river was my home river, and very clean (but Ice cold glacier melt) I swam in it alot, which was always a form of meditation and prayer.
I now live less than 1 mile from the Susquahana River, It is ancient , but also polluted now. Yet it is my local Sacred River, and will remain so, as well we have a stream below cliff in our backyard that cuts through bedrock, and is home to fish. If the wind is not rustling leaves heavily, I hear it sitting on patio, although I have yet to climb down there...Need rope, and I am not in best shape, its about 6ft down.

Flowing Water has the capacity to take thoughts away from our minds. That is the reason hindus consider them holy.

 

[mangalavara]

Glacier burst in Himalayas, 200 dead at the dam site.

This is unfortunate for their loved ones, especially.

I like the pun at the end of your sentence.

 

[Lucca la Croix]

Flowing Water has the capacity to take thoughts away from our minds. That is the reason hindus consider them holy.

They do seem to, but not exclusively "take away" atleast for myself. Being in contact with flowing water, has occured during inspiration regarding questions that I had long had little in mind to comprehend, as if "foreign" whispers. Sarasvati comes to mind in this regard also. Many cultures on earth seekers of knowledge, arts and music often experienced spontaneous insight in their study, while in flowing water. The Spiritual causes of this may be many, but water is dense physical energy, that makes up the bulk of our body, so in the scientific sense, I am sure rivers have very profound changes on us, that and they are so primal a example of challenge to face, and source of life. If land animals meditate, aside from humans...Many likely find the desire near rivers.

 

[mangalavara]

do you have a particular affinity to any river, or do you feel spiritually connected to one in some way?

I’m starting to feel appreciated by the local river in southwestern Korea. Every time that I go to her, I put my palms together and give her obeisance. The past Saturday night, I did it more than once in a heartfelt manner. She’s apparently getting used to this foreigner.

I now live less than 1 mile from the Susquahana River, It is ancient , but also polluted now. Yet it is my local Sacred River, and will remain so

I’m glad that you have a sacred river there. It’s one that we Americans have all heard about.

 

[Aupmanyav]

Where I grew up, there was no river. But water would rise up in the narrow streets when it rained. We children loved that.
Edit: It did not used to be as drastic as in video. I do not know what has happened now. This year, it was clearly excessive rain in short period of time..

Jodhpur flooded:
People are sitting calmly. Why did they not secure their cars and bikes with chains or ropes?

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1551736654855311361

 

[River Sea]

Jodhpur flooded:
People are sitting calmly. Why did they not secure their cars and bikes with chains or ropes?

I was wondering the same thing, and some people even laughed.