When a city has a river passing through, the city will be alive with real soul. Many large international metropolitans have a river passing its down town, such as Seine in Paris, Thames in London and Huang Pu River in Shanghai, which brought new energy and soul to a city.
The thought inside a human being is like the river in a city. If the thought becomes closed, stiffed, and inflexible, the human’s soul will be slowly decaying like a dead pond. Work, play, sports and books can fill a day. But if a person stops thinking and feeling, and not filling his (her) heart with fresh air and energy, he(she) will still be same lonely and empty, making life become uncontrollable repetitiveness and boredom.
So, could we keep a clear mind to accept new things and an open heart to feel true life, in order to enjoy beautiful and peaceful life each moment? Thus we could still maintain our true self in front of all temptations in this forever changing world, instead of losing ourselves. Thus we could be able to exchange our idea with other independent self with truthfulness, sincerity, generosity, and depth, creating harmonious true understanding at the bottom of our hearts.