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The Nondual Highlights
#2131 -
This issue is devoted to a form of Oceanic
Satsang: Surfing.
Lisa Palac
Initially, I stuck with it because I was in
love: I met Mr. Right and followed him into the water. But soon,
it became a love triangle: me, him and the sea. I was, as they
say, stoked. I felt so alive in the ocean, and it connected me to
the world in a way that shoe stores and cocktail parties didn't.
Surfers always talk about the spirituality of the sport; they'll
call someone who's fluid and graceful a "soul surfer."
But the truth is, it's pretty hard to tangle with the waves and
not feel soulful. The ocean is primal -- it's just as heavenly
and hellish today as it was thousands of years ago -- and it
continually reveals the essence of being to me, in the most
primal way. ...life takes on a new perspective when you're
face-to-face with the beautiful violence of nature
from http://archive.salon.com/wlust/feature/1998/03/27feature2.html
Brad Melekian
from http://www.surfermag.com/magazine/archivedissues/godgoofy/
I sought out Dr. Lekshe Tsomo Caalaman, who is a Buddhist nun
and professor of Theology and Religious Studies at the
I liked this contrarian bent, but when I approached her and
asked if she thought surfing could be a religion, she shot me
down right off the bat.
“I think that surfing comes closer to spirituality than
to classical definitions of religion,” she said, with a tone
that sent me back to my university days, as though I had come to
her office hours with an idea for some “totally awesome”
thesis paper about surfing and religion, and she was responding
to me with the caring-but-knowing tone reserved for students
submitting flimsy ideas. Then, as I had come to expect, she
intimated once again that the lack of a supreme being was what
precluded surfing from religious status.
And at that, I grew defensive. I mean, what about Buddhism?
There’s no God in Buddhism, is there? And yet it’s
widely accepted as a religion. What about that, Dr. Tsomo? Huh?
Momentarily, I forgot that she’s a Buddhist, and therefore
has infinite patience.
“That’s always been the question. I think that some
people consider it a religion, particularly those who practice
it, but it’s also been considered a psychology, a
philosophy, a way of life. There’s no defined membership, no
required code of belief, no talk of a supreme being—unless
it’s the Buddhist as a human being.”
There it is. Like a little red-and-white-striped life
preserver sent to save me as I floundered in a muddled sea of
spiritual confusion and abandoned editorial columns. It is the
out. The savior.
Let me explain: Buddhists believe that the enlightened self is
the closest thing to a deity, or a supreme being, that exists. If
that’s the case, and if this is what’s garnering them
religious status, why can’t the same be applicable to
surfers? Why couldn’t the fully actualized surfer—the
surfer that embodies not some esoteric relationship with nature,
but the values that are the best things about our sport—be a
deity unto itself?
I presented this idea to Dr. Tsomo—Dr. Tsomo who is, I
may remind you, a religious scholar, ahem—and, truth be
told, she got kind of excited right along with me.
“I like where you’re going with this. I think it can
be a spiritual pursuit, and some elements that I would point to
from a Buddhist perspective are the idea of stillness and calm
that we feel when we’re waiting for waves, the kinship with
nature and other beings that we feel when we’re in the
water. Plus, surfing is definitely a way to get in touch with one’s
own mind, which is of course the point of Buddhism.”
But she was quick to point out that, like anything, the main
hindrance was the manner in which we go about our surfing lives.
“It depends on how you surf, right? I mean, in some ways,
surfing has become cutthroat competitive. That’s not
spiritual. If it’s all about my waves, then it’s just
ego. Sometimes surfing becomes so competitive that it’s sort
of about offing the other person—where one’s own ride
is at the expense of whoever gets in my way—and it gets
vicious, and that certainly has nothing to do with spirituality.”
And while I didn’t want to align surfing specifically with
Buddhism, I did think that this could be a jumping-off point.
Just like becoming fully enlightened would be the goal of any
good Buddhist, so too should becoming a fully actualized surfer
be the devotion of anybody pursuing surfing as a religious
devotion.
But there’s the rub. What the hell is a fully actualized
surfer? Dr. Tsomo may have been able to recite Thomas Aquinas
word for word, but she couldn’t answer this question. And if
I went around a surf industry trade show—surfing’s own
To be a surfer in the full sense of the word means to pursue
surfing not just as an athletic endeavor or as a sunny day
diversion, but to try to glean whatever lessons you can from the
practice. It means being aware of your surroundings, and
respectful of the people and places that you interact with. It
means being patient, mindful, kind, compassionate, understanding,
active, thoughtful, faithful, hopeful, gracious, disciplined and…good.
It means thinking about things while you’re doing them, and
trying to embody the universal truths that all of us—Christian,
Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, whatever—know that we’re
supposed to live. You’re laughing now. After all, how do you
learn all this from surfing? I think there’s a way, and my
glass has been half-empty for a long time. Maybe you give up a
wave here or there. You let someone go. You show a kid how to
paddle through the whitewater and into the channel. You help
people. And when you’re not doing that, you’re enjoying
the time alone, the time to think—about your life, about
your surfing, about what your place is in the world—and you’re
becoming more and more aware of your surroundings. You enjoy
nature, you relish the time spent pursuing waves, you try to
glean lessons from the act of surfing. You try to contribute in
some way to making the world—and the lineup—a better
place every time you paddle out. You’re pursuing surfing not
as a forum to do three good top turns, but as a way of life, a
way to make yourself better. You keep this in mind while you’re
doing it. You try to make yourself the best surfer you can be,
regardless of how much spray you’re throwing on your turns.
And then, maybe, it becomes something closer to a religion.
So, in the end, is surfing really a religion? And is God
really a goofyfoot? I guess that depends: Are you?
from http://www.fineliving.com/fine/adventure_essentials/article/0,1663,FINE_1421_1112107,00.html
The Spiritual Side of Surfing
More than any other sport, surfing goes beyond a mere
activity, and seems to encompass a unique lifestyle and
philosophy. When describing a day spent in the waves, surfers can
even speak in spiritual or quasi-religious terms. What's really
behind this notion of surfing as a spiritual experience?
Corky Carroll has surfed all over the world, and has risen to
the highest levels of the surfing scene. A professional
competitor with an impressive collection of trophies and titles,
Corky also teaches surfing in
For more information on surfing, check out the following
organizations and websites:
Corky Carroll.com
www.corkycarroll.com
http://www.surfingrabbi.com/index.htm
Surf and Soul Thought Of The Week
The One Minute Farbringen
Nat Young,
T hose younger surfers just don't get it! With an absolute
cavalier attitude, they paddle out at their favorite surfing
break, drop in (usually vertically!), and proceed to stuff their
"pocket-rockets" ( 6 ft. boards and smaller) into
ridiculously insane tubes, pull out and get ready to do it all
over again! Seems they just don't appreciate the
"short-board revolution" and the impact that it had on
the world of surfing, how it literally changed the way man
perceives a wave. The very concept of "riding" the
tube, carving turns while locked in the barrel instead of just
"escaping" out of the tube, was an event no less
momentous than the discovery of gravity!
Where did it all start? Some people say that the world of
surfing owes a debt of gratitude to Robert "Nat" Young,
the great Australian, who along with Bob McTavish paddled out one
day at Honolua Bay on their "short" ( 8"6') boards
and made history. John Witzig recorded it all on film back in
'69. His movie, the "Hot Generation", captured the
imagination of a world still bound by the constricting
"straight" lines of the older, heavier boards.
Nat's revolutionary break with a world of confinement,
restrictions, a "narrow" mindset, recalls the very
Exodus out of
A happy Passover to all!
from http://www.withitgirl.com/wig_archive/water/wigarc_wa_h3.html
...surfboard
designs are now directed specifically towards certain
styles of riding and wave types. Three main elements, the rail
curve, the tail design and the bottom contour, which aids
performance by channeling the flow of water underthe board,
evolved. Through these elements four basic designs sprouted. Some
of the more significant tail and bottom contour designs include:
And how's
YOUR surfboard designed?