Heraclitus is innocent: he simply says you, "This is the thing: the abyss is here. Jump!" He does not persuade you; he does not seduce you. He simply says, "This is the fact. If you want to jump, jump; if you don't want to jump, go away." And he knows that to make steps is useless because finally one has to take the jump.
For Heraclitus, fire became the symbol -- and fire is really a beautiful symbol. Heraclitus says fire is the basic substance of life. It is!
Hindus have called this basic element PRANA, vitality -- but vitality is fire. When you are vital, alive, you are fiery, aflame. Henri Bergson has called the base of all, elan vital, just like prana. Those who have been seeking, somehow or other they come near fire. Deep down this existence is fire. Fire is life.
He is just far out -- dangerously awakened, unafraid of the consequences of what he was saying.
Heraclitus says in the FRAGMENTS: "You cannot step in the same river twice." And then he says: "No, you cannot step in the same river even once...." This is tremendously beautiful, and true too.
Everything is changing, and changing so fast that there is no way to step in the same river twice; you can't even step in the same river once. The river is constantly flowing; going, going, going to the ocean, to the infinite, going to disappear into the unknown.
.jpeg)
No comments:
Post a Comment