The Parable of the Raft

Episode 11 of the Secular Buddhism Podcast

Hello. You are listening to the Secular Buddhism Podcast, and this is episode number 11. I'm your host, Noah Rasheta, and today I'm talking about the parable of the raft.

Welcome

Before we jump into the topic, I want to remind you that this podcast is produced every week and covers philosophical topics within Buddhism and secular humanism.

Episodes one through five serve as a basic introduction to secular Buddhism and to general Buddhist concepts. So if you're new to the podcast, I definitely recommend listening to the first five episodes in order. After that, all other episodes are just meant to be individual topics that you can listen to in any order.

I also like to mention a quote from Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, where he says: "Do not try to use what you learn from Buddhism to be a Buddhist. Use it to be a better whatever you already are." Just keep that in mind as you listen to this podcast or to any of the topics discussed within the podcast series.

There is no intent here to convert anyone to anything. I'm just sharing what's meaningful to me as I've studied Buddhism over many years, and trying to share it in a way that can inspire you to be a better whatever you already are.

So remember, if you enjoy this podcast, please feel free to share it, write a review, give it a rating—all that really helps.

Let's Jump In

Hi guys, I'm excited to talk to you today about a parable called the Raft Parable. This is a well-known teaching in Buddhism that I think is quite popular because it has a great message. It comes from the Alagaddūpama Sutta, which is also called the Water Snake Simile Sutta or teaching.

The idea here is that it's two different stories. The first part of the story is about a water snake, and the second part is about a raft. They go hand in hand, and there are various interpretations of what this parable means and what the moral of the story is.

The Water Snake

Just to give you some background on the actual story, the first part is about a man who approaches a water snake and picks it up from the wrong end. He grabs the tail end, the snake turns around and bites him, and it's a poisonous bite. He regrets that he picked it up the wrong way.

The moral of that story is about learning the teachings of the Buddha, or the Dharma. If you grasp them in the wrong way, it's going to have consequences. It'll put us in danger. The idea is that as we're studying and learning the teachings of the Buddha, they need to be understood correctly, because to understand them the wrong way is very much like picking up a snake from the wrong direction.

This understanding in the water snake part of the story is probably what Nagarjuna had in mind when he said, "Emptiness wrongly grasped is like picking up a poisonous snake by the wrong end."

The Raft Story

Then the raft story immediately follows the snake story. The idea is that there is a person who comes to a large body of water and needs to get to the other side. This can be a river or an ocean—I think it's told differently in different translations or interpretations—but the idea is that he's there, he needs to cross to the other side, and there's no safe way to do it. So he starts to assemble all of the components he needs to build a raft: the twigs, the branches, the rope. He spends all this effort and time building a small raft.

Once it's put together, he relies on this raft to keep himself afloat, and he makes his way across the body of water to reach the other side. And then, once he reaches the other side, the question arises: is he supposed to leave the raft or drag it along with him? Is he supposed to carry it on his back?

What the Buddha taught is that he should leave it. He explained that the Dharma, or the teachings, are like this raft. They can be useful for crossing over, but not useful for grasping or holding on to.

It's a short and simple story, and it's been interpreted in many ways. One understanding is that as you're studying the teachings in Buddhism and become awakened to what these teachings mean, are you supposed to continue hanging on to these teachings or let go? Some argue that as you become awakened or enlightened, you let go of Buddhism entirely. Others argue that's not the right interpretation—that it has more to do with the way you grasp or cling to these teachings. What you're supposed to do is let go of clinging, and that the raft isn't necessarily the teachings themselves. Rather, the raft is the act of clinging to the teachings, and what we need to release is that clinging.

Again, there are several ways to interpret this, several arguments. My intention isn't to explain one particular argument. I like the parable for other reasons.

What the Raft Truly Means

What I really like about the parable of the raft is the concept of something that is meaningful in your life at one point in time. Maybe a lot of energy and effort went into it. This can be a relationship, a specific belief system, a job—something that was very meaningful to you, and a lot of time and effort went into building that. Then, at some point in your journey or path, it's no longer relevant or important. Well, it may be important, but it's no longer necessary because you've reached the other side.

So you let go of it. And to continue to carry it would be, well, carrying the raft unnecessarily.

The Relationship Example

As an example with a relationship: you're in a relationship with someone. All the time and effort that went into making that relationship important, meaningful, and successful is like building that raft. Then at some point, the relationship ends. You've reached a new shore where it's no longer necessary. And to continue to carry those aspects of that relationship—now that you're not with that person—would be like carrying the raft. It's unnecessary, and it's actually just hindering your progress at that point.

But one of the typical things we do is, assuming you're able to let go of the raft or leave it behind, it's detrimental to look back on that specific phase of your life and think that it was a waste of time.

The Real Problem

For example, again using the parable of the raft: at one point, the raft meant everything. Your time and energy went into building it. Once you're on the raft, floating over the water, the raft is a matter of life and death. That's how meaningful that raft is to you. Once you reach the other side, it's no longer necessary.

Now let's say somewhere down the road, whether you're carrying the raft or you left it behind, it would be silly to look back on that phase and say, "Man, I wish I would have never wasted time building that raft. That was stupid." But here's the thing: you're saying this from the perspective of someone who's already at the point in your journey where the raft is no longer necessary. It's like we forget that at one point it was, and when you were on the water, that meant everything.

So if you were to apply this to a relationship—or where I see this a lot—is with people who are transitioning in their faith journey. Maybe at one point they belonged to a specific religion or understood life through the lens of a specific school of thought or a specific set of ideas. Then later at some point in their life they don't, and they look back on that and think, "Why did I ever believe that? How could I have been so silly?"

But the concept is the same as the raft. You know, once you're at a point in your life where the raft doesn't mean anything to you, I think it's detrimental to look back and regret the time or energy that went into building the raft. You're thinking, "I didn't need that." But you're saying that from the perspective of a place where you are now, where the raft doesn't mean anything to you. It's not necessary because maybe now you're walking around on dry land.

The Two Ways We Fail to Let Go

I think there are two ways that we can fail to truly let go. The first is the obvious one: we literally don't let go. We carry the raft with us, even though we don't need it. We're carrying it and it's heavy and it's slowing us down, but we carry it anyway.

The second, even if you are able to let go, is that you actually haven't let go because now you're angry at the phase of life that you feel was wasted by spending time on the raft. Now you feel like that's a waste. But we forget that at the time when we were in that place mentally or emotionally, it was necessary. The raft was everything. It was a matter of life and death.

From this lens, the parable of the raft, for me personally, is the story of understanding what it means to let go.

The Two Monks and the Woman

I think there's another story that helps illustrate the teaching of letting go, and this is a Zen story about two monks and a woman.

The way this story goes, there were two monks—a senior monk and a junior monk—traveling together. At some point in their travels, they come to a river with a strong current. The monks are getting ready to cross the river, and at that point, one of them sees a young and beautiful woman who's trying to cross this river.

The young woman asks them for help, and the two monks glance at each other because they realize they've taken vows to not touch a woman. Without a word, the senior monk doesn't say anything. He just picks up the woman, carries her across the river, and gently places her on the other side. Then they continue their journey.

As they continue traveling, the younger monk just can't believe what happened. This is festering inside him, and he's thinking and thinking. At some point, he finally speaks up and says, "Hey, I don't get it. We've taken vows to not touch a woman. How were you able to just pick her up and carry her on your shoulders and put her on the other side? I don't get it. You've broken your vow."

The older monk looks at him and simply says, "I put the woman down on the other side of the river. Why are you still carrying her?"

The Message

I think it's a simple Zen story, like all Zen stories, and it carries a simple, beautiful message about the concept of letting go. It shows how often we carry something, hold on to it, and it festers on our mind because we're not capable of letting go.

Again, with this Zen story, don't read into any of the moral or ethics of the vows they had taken. None of that matters. The point of the story, the moral of it, is: when you do something, you do something, and then when you're done, you let it go.

Applying this to the parable of the raft, it's very similar. There's a raft—at the time that it makes sense to have a raft, build a raft, or be on a raft—the raft can mean everything. Then at the moment the raft no longer means anything to us or it's no longer necessary, you have two options: you carry it with you, or you let it go.

And I think that letting go also has two options. Once you've let it go, you either let it go completely, or you let it go and let it fester on your mind that you're mad you ever carried it in the first place. And that would be silly when you think about the concept, just the story of the raft. It would be silly to look back and say, "Oh, I can't believe I ever wasted time building that raft," only because you've forgotten that there was a time when the raft did mean everything to you.

Living the Parable

That's what I wanted to discuss in this brief podcast: the parable of the raft.

I would hope that you can spend some time looking into your own life and think: What are the rafts that I've built in my life? What are the bodies of water that I needed to cross? And in order to do so safely, I had to rely on a raft. How did I build that raft? What was that raft to me?

And in what ways am I still carrying the raft with me? Again, this might apply to relationships, to faith transitions or journeys, to career transitions, parenting transitions—so many different applications here. But in what way do you continue to carry the raft with you? And if you have let it go, or at least you think you've let it go, in what way are you actually still carrying it with you? Because you let go, but you continually think of it. It's still there on your mind. Or you resent the fact that you ever had to carry the raft on your back, or that you ever had to be on the raft in the first place, or that you wasted time and effort building a raft.

I think there are so many levels that you can apply this to in day-to-day life. And I think it's a worthy mental exercise to spend time thinking about the parable of the raft and the teaching that the Buddha taught—specifically about the importance of learning to let go of something that can be as meaningful and as important as a raft is when your life depends on it.

The raft means everything to you, but at some point when it doesn't, it's okay to let it go. And it can be detrimental not to let go.

My Own Journey with the Raft

I know in my own life I can think of several instances where things were as important to me as rafts. They meant everything to me. And I thought I had let these things go. Then at some point I'm like the younger of those two monks who realizes I haven't let it go. It's been festering, and I'm thinking about it.

At that moment you kind of unleash the question, like, "Why? Well, I don't get it. You were supposed to..." It's like you're talking to that senior monk saying, "Why were you carrying her?" And that was hours ago, or days ago, or months ago, or years ago. And the wise monk will say, "I let that person down on the other side of the river. Why are you still carrying them?"

It's like, "I let the raft go when I no longer needed it. Why are you still carrying it?" This is a matter of wisdom, right? It's not right or wrong. It's not saying you're wrong for doing this. It's just not wise. It's not wise to be carrying a raft when you don't need it.

And at some point, when you encounter a new body of water, then you're going to spend the time and energy building a new raft to cross that body of water. But we don't just carry these with us.

Closing Thoughts

That's the concept of the raft. I'd love to hear what you think of the parable and specifically what this parable means to you. The various aspects of it—the water snake and how we grasp things and how dangerous it is to grasp them improperly. And also the concept of the raft itself. What does it mean to you? What are some of your rafts?

Let's talk about these. You can email me or post it on our Secular Buddhism Facebook group or on the blog post—anywhere you want. I'd love to discuss these things. Try to get to the root of what some of your personal rafts are and in what ways you can let go of these things.

If you have any other questions or comments about this, please feel free to get a hold of me. Again, like in all podcasts, if you enjoy this, please feel free to write a review through iTunes or give it a rating. And share this with someone who you think might enjoy the things that I'm sharing and teaching on these podcasts.

Thank you for your time, and I look forward to sharing another podcast with you next week.

Thank you.

For more about the Secular Buddhism podcast and Noah Rasheta's work, visit SecularBuddhism.com