Where the River Leads: The Art of Surrendering to Life’s Divine Current
- Ben Neil
- Nov 11
- 2 min read
Since ancient times mystics and sages have used the image of a river to describe the flow of life. They recognized that life moves with an innate intelligence that is always guiding us toward growth, healing, and expansion. Like a river flowing steadily toward the sea, our lives are constantly moving forward whether we resist or not. When we fight against the current, we exhaust ourselves. But when we learn to flow with it, to trust its course, and to surrender to its direction, we discover peace and harmony beyond understanding.
Resistance is the root of much of our suffering. We resist change, uncertainty, and pain, believing that by doing so we can control the outcome. Yet resistance only creates tension within us, causing us to feel as though we are drowning in the waters of our own making. The river does not fight the stones in its path. It does not complain about the bends and turns that lead it away from its imagined destination. It simply flows, trusting that every curve and obstacle will shape it into something more graceful, strong, and whole.
The great sages taught that to practice non resistance is to live in alignment with the divine will. When we release our need to control, we allow the intelligence of the universe to guide us. Just as the river knows its way to the sea, the current of life knows exactly where to take us. In surrendering, we do not lose power, but gain it. We become one with the force that moves mountains, shapes valleys, and sustains life itself. Non resistance is not weakness. It is the ultimate expression of faith and strength, the willingness to trust the unseen hand that directs all things.
As we surrender to the river, we begin to experience life differently. The struggles that once consumed us lose their grip. The need to have all the answers fades, replaced by a quiet knowing that everything is unfolding as it should. The waters that once seemed turbulent now carry us gently forward, and in their flow we find our rhythm with the universe. We begin to see that every challenge was not an obstacle but a necessary bend in the river leading us closer to the ocean of our true self.
The lesson of the river is simple yet profound. Life does not demand that we struggle or resist, only that we allow. When we stop fighting the current and learn to trust its flow, we discover that it was never leading us astray. It was always carrying us home. Through the practice of non resistance, we awaken to the truth that peace is not something we find at the end of the journey, but something that reveals itself when we stop fighting the river and allow ourselves to become one with its flow.
If these words speak to your heart, I invite you to step into the journey through my books The Initiate, The Initiate: Remembering, Synchronicity: Illuminating Your Destined Path, and Mindfulness: The First Step to Reconnecting With Your Soul. May their pages remind you that you are never alone, and that your path no matter how winding has always been leading you home.
With Love,
Ben Neil- The Initiate
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