Heraclitus
Heraclitus was an ancient Greek philosopher from Ephesus, who lived around the late 6th century BCE. He is best known for his doctrine that change is central to the universe, encapsulated in his famous saying, "Everything flows" (Greek: πάντα ῥεῖ, panta rhei). He believed that fire was the fundamental substance of the world and that the universe is in a constant state of flux.
One of his most famous metaphors is that you cannot step into the same river twice, because new waters are always flowing. Heraclitus also introduced the concept of the unity of opposites (Duality of the nature), suggesting that opposing forces are interconnected and interdependent in the natural world
You cannot step twice into the same river, because it is not the same river, and he is not the same man.
Above is a quote by Heraclitus. It seems very superficial and easy to understand. However, recently they grabbed my attention as I have seen how much they inclined with the understanding of the world. It is just a single sentence and a few words but summaries a lifetime of wisdom. Let's visit some of these hidden messages to attempt yet again to understand life. As a student of mindfulness, I could appreciate more, and you would too.
Why cannot you step twice into the same river?
It is obvious, river is changing moment to moment. This is not new wisdom. If you have observed a river from a bridge, as I did some time ago, you would understand this truth. River is a good example to show something which rapidly changes. Moment to moment, second to second, water under the bridge would be replaced by new water from the upstream. Hence, you will never be able to step twice into the same current twice. As you can see, not only twice, really speaking, stepping into a river is so dynamic, that each second you will be facing new water. But why did Heraclitus wanted to emphasize this fact? We already kind of know this salient feature of the river.
Why did Heraclitus say the above quote when it is something obvious?
I think part of the answer is that often we forget that river is an ever-changing function. Although it is obvious, although it is prominent, we forget that river is a changing function. When we cross a river, it looks the same as yesterday. The bends it has created on the banks essentially remains the same. Even the name of the river remains same over centuries. But it changes. Water of the river, continuously and rapidly, course of the river slowly, changes over time. This is evident when we take photographs of rivers over the years from google satellites.
But mostly we forget this simple fact. We forget and talk about crossing the same river. We do not think it is a new river I am crossing today, than yesterday. We forget the fact that the river did change from the moment we started to cross it to the end of it. Even a fraction of a second. We forget, when we plan a bridge, make a dam or going to fish, it is not the same river. This is just a simple truth which we forget, unless we are mindful about it all the time. And fact is we are not mindful, hence Heraclitus had to emphasize this as a fact. And that is just the reason number One!
He also said "We cannot step into the same river, as it is not the same man. Just like the river, man also changes, moment to moment, second to second fraction of a second to second. What he thinks changes, his memories changes. His body weight changes, number of cells changes, number of hydrocarbons in the body changes, and with inhalation of exhalation. Even the length of hair changes, but we do not notice this. It is not obvious like the river, but everything about a "man" is continuously changing. I think when Heraclitus talked about stepping into the same river twice, he wanted us to notice how we have changed just like the river. I think he wanted us to compare ourselves to the river which changes in each instance of the time. And learn it is not the man who woke up this morning who is writing this article. Even not the same man who is writing from the start of the sentence to the finish of it. If that is the truth, who the hell am I?
Everything flows- Heraclitus- in mindfulness.
Philosophy is a deep subject. It is not for the faint heart and the stupid mind. It is the language of the seekers. Who are a group of individuals separated by time and space, who wanted to become a hydrophobic leaf before the limitations of life start to make you drenched in water. Hence, I am sure Heraclitus did not want us to stop asking questions and to stop there. He would have wanted us to question more. What is true for a river, and what is true for a man, must be true for everything else. That is the true wisdom that this quote wants us to achieve.
Imagine you see the river and apply this wisdom to your, computer, your car, your house and the stock market. You can apply this even to the language or philosophy itself. It is not the same river! it is not the same river! and more than anything this could become the mantra that we should practice our mindfulness with. Once we do that, I am sure we will gain more wisdom. We might be able to see hilarious nature of blaming someone when your car broke down. What would you expect from a car which was continuously changing like a river? It is bound to break down. The only reason for that it broken down cannot be that you didn't service it regularly. Even you are not the same.
I think Heraclitus wanted to tell us everything we observe is a continuous function. Hence, I will end my article with a link to "Modeling the world with a mathematical function".
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