“Row, row, row your boat, gently down the steam. Merrily, merrily, merrily, life is but a dream.” Many of us sang this tune as kids, oblivious to any deeper meaning. ‘Row’ could mean to move your life into the flow. ‘Gently’ could mean with love. ‘Merrily’ could mean happily. ‘Life is but a dream’ could mean everything is insubstantial. Nothing lasts; everything is fleeting, just like a dream. Things are not really there, just like images in a dream upon awakening. During dreaming, people and things seem so real, but when we wake up we realize there was nothing there, it was only a dream. Things were like an illusion, or a hallucination. With continued study and meditation on wisdom, everything appears like an illusion. This becomes our experience. Nothing seems substantial and real anymore. When we begin to see and experience ourselves and everything to be like an illusion, we are delivered to a great freedom, a deep peace. We no longer cling to anything because there is nothing to cling to, and no one to cling! Blessing for a joyous new year.
