Discovering Spirituality while Rafting

I recently went on a trip to Colorado. The first day began at 8am with a rafting trip in the Arkansas river. The river was flowing at 2500 cusecs, a speed which was at 85 percentile of the top speed ever achieved by the river. The instructor informed us " The river hasn't been so swift in the past 15 years. Be Ready for some adventure"

Total disclosure: This was going to be my 3rd rafting attempt. I had previously rafted in the Ganga at Rishikesh in Dec 2010 and April 2012. The Dec 2010 experience had me falling of the boat into the "Golf Course rapid" for close to 10-15 minutes and being drifted 2 km ahead of the boat. The freezing December water and no sun on didn't make the fall easier. Left to the mercy of the gushing river waters and being shaken up and down in the rapids with absolutely no control was a near death experience. At this very moment, in my head I recalled images of the "Nilkanth Yatra" in which 11 year old Nilkanth plunges into the Saryu river in peak flood. Here is the exact scene. Looks like he came to my rescue and next I recall is I am floating in the massive Ganga trying to swim to the shore but the weight of the life jacket and the freezing water is making it a task. "Har Har Gange" and I decide let me just go with the flow. A little ahead I see a rock, and when I am near it I try to grab it. Algae had covered it completely. And I slip to fall back in the river, my life jacket still intact. Meanwhile, the words of our guide come to my head " Average depth of the river in this stretch is 40 feet". I also now see my raft. Parked at one of the edge of the river a man climbs the side and is trying to spot me. The Ganga is still carrying me in its lap( In my head " Hopefully I get to a shore or a rock before the next rapid ").
Finally I see another rock in the middle of the river, grab it and sit on it. My legs are bleeding and some parts of my body have turned purple due to the cold water. Anyways, I realize I have lost my track pants and specs and now that I am out of the water I am shivering !!! The raft comes in about 5 minutes. I have absolutely no energy so the instructor lifts me in the raft.

April 2012 - No accident. Sailed through the golf course.

With this background, I wanted to ensure I don't fall into the Arkansas river. At first sight I was fairly overconfident - I have rafted in the mighty Ganga , yeh Arkansas kis cheez ka naam hai. Also the breadth of the river was may be 1/10th that of Ganga. Hence, the shore of the river is much closer. Little did I know the breadth didn't matter. Because here we were going to encounter Level 4 and Level 5 rapids. Yes we took the difficult "Numbers" stretch. Habituated researcher I had already learnt about the incidents in the past month on the Arkansas river and how rafts had overturned and how many people died and how the river was flowing at its peak. With this I already had a lot of anxiety built up when we began to raft. The GoPro pictures can validate this claim.

Anyway, we did complete the 5 hour rafting including a 40 minute break which helped restore our depleting glucose levels. Mind you when you are on a raft and the instructor tells you " You can have a quick break" --- IT IS A QUICK Break. Count 10 and the instructor has already said "Forward 2".

The feeling of triumph was certainly in the air as we had our raft on the verge of tumbling twice, but it didn't. A single person falling in the river is much better than the raft tumbling over and the instructor having no clue of who is where.

During the second phase of the rafting ( after lunch) we had some moments where we could admire the beauty of the canyons we were crossing. It also allowed me to mull over some thoughts.
In my thoughts I was drawing a comparison between satsang and rafting. Let me list them by point:

• Who is the doer (karta) ?
• In a raft , you are using a lot of energy. You have this Oar in your hand using which you must push the water to steer the raft ahead and keep it balanced. After a point it gets tiring and at times you could be short of breath with the instructor shouting "Come on team !! Keep pushing ". You feel you are pushing the raft ahead. To an extent you are correct. But who is the single most important person on the raft ? Hands-down, It is the instructor. He is the one who navigates the raft in the right direction and gives you the command. It is good for you and your team if you follow him. And without the direction, you may push the oars through the water 1000 times but never be sure if you are heading in the right direction or the right waterway.
• Similarly in satsang and mandir when we do seva we take pride and ego in our act. A lot of times we feel " I am the doer" "Without me what would happen". "Hoon karu" "Main karyu" "Mara lidhe thayu" . But in reality it is Swamibapa who is navigating us. Without that and without his guidance and his energy, we are just pushing the oars in the air. That may give us the feeling of doing, but actually not propel us ahead. 
• Follow the instructor or the Guru
• In a unknown territory it is wise to take advice. Be it a instructor in the river or GPS in a new location. We seek advice. And we follow. Blindly. No Logic. No Questions asked. Why do we do so ? Because we trust the instructor. We know that he has the best of intentions for us. We also know that he has gone this way a thousand times and he knows where exactly in the river will the current be strong, where exactly will there be a trap, where exactly there is a cave and when exactly is the next rapid coming. And where is the sinkhole where rookie rafters can fall. Hence, he warns us and guides us. Take a left. Keep pushing. Don't let go. Follow what I say and you won't fall. 
• Similarly, in satsang and spiritual life it is sapient to seek advice from a spiritual master. He knows what all vices( kaam, krodh, lobh, maan, irshya etc) can do to us. He knows what might affect us in the future. Hence, he warns us to stay away to follow his command. Just like the ups and downs of the water in a river, our lives are never linear. there are peaks and there are valleys.How do you stay afloat in this ? By following the will of Guru. He knows the way, shows the way and also goes the way with us. If you follow his will you can avoid the obstacles that the jeeva faces in becoming brahmrup in this life. Or even after following his will you face an obstacle you won't give it up. Because you know the Guru is backing you up. 
• Teamwork
• It takes 5-6 rafters to propel the raft ahead just like it takes 4 tyres in a car. If one wheel isn't in sync with the others or has a loose screw, than disaster can occur. All the rafters must push as guided by the instructor and the force must be applied together in the same direction to go ahead. Navigating 10 miles in the fastest of waters, crossing the most difficult rapids can be achieved if the team has the same objective and there is no ill-feelings amongst the team members. The feeling is " Om, Sarve bhavantu sukhinaḥ Sarve santu nirāmayāḥ Sarve bhadrāṇi paśyantu Mā kashchit duḥkha bhāgbhavet Oṁ Shāntiḥ, Shāntiḥ, Shāntiḥ " basically meaning "May all be prosperous and happy May all be free from illness May all see what is spiritually uplifting May no one suffer Om peace, peace, peace". Hence when you face difficulties while rafting, you know you have to face those as a team. You know kicking or throwing someone out of the raft will not help as each member is crucial. 
• Similarly in satsang and dailylife, every bhakt or team member is important. Everyone serves their own purpose and without them there would be something missing in the team. Hence, our duty is to treat each and every bhakt with utmost respect. With utmost seva-bhavna. With utmost care. At the same time, as stated in Vach Gad 3 - 12 : A magical technique -   Then, for the benefit of His devotees, Shriji Mahārāj said, "One who desires one's own liberation should not harbour any form of vanity - such as, 'I have been born in an upper-class family,' or 'I am wealthy,' or 'I am handsome,' or 'I am a scholar.' One should not keep any of these types of beliefs. In fact, even with a meek satsangi, one should behave as a servant of servants "

With these thoughts, I think rafting experience 3.0 was fantastic. Not only, did it give me a triumphant and exhilarating feeling but subtly it helped me connect with my spiritual side and understand some deeper aspects of the human life.