In a moment like this, there’s no reason we can’t do that.Photo: Jeremy Bishop
“The waves taught me spirituality, not religion.”
-Matt George
“…researchers have discovered that water is an important, if not the most important, element in the experiences people often call sacred…”
-Jaimal Yogi
You may be a religious person, an agnostic, an atheist, or something in between. Regardless, I think everyone who surfs has experienced it. In the deep blue world, worry is replaced by a sense of utter meaninglessness and a sense of invisible connection.
as a percentage of U.S. adults who are into organized religion. to declineaccording to a Pew Research Center study. 64 percent of Americans We consider ourselves spiritual. The study defines spirituality as “a relationship with the supernatural that looks deep within the self, or a sense of connection “with other humans, living things, and nature.”
As our search for spirituality intensifies, the number of surfers in the United States has increased, reaching almost everyone. By 2023, there will be 4 million people. Is there a connection between our quest for enlightenment and our quest for swell? Here are some ways to combine surfing and spirituality.
style synagogue
Our best surfing happens when we enter a flow state and focus solely on the immediacy of the impending swell. The board below us. Bottom turn. Slide it along the edge of the frame. The best surfers achieve a near-divine presence when they connect with the power of the waves. This becomes their unique style.
bron taylor Professor of Religion, Nature, and Environmental Ethics at the University of Florida suggests that “there are religious-like aspects to the practice of surfing.”People wake up at monastery time before the sun rises”, about the “contemplative dimension” [of] Riding the waves.
Of course, even when we’re riding the waves, worries can creep in for those of us stranded on dry land. So surfing mimics meditation and the constant struggle to empty your thoughts.
Temple of Tuberide
Surfers know that the breaker cycle is continuous, and they also know that waves are a temporary source of energy.To the grown-up Taylor surfing in californiawaves are “tremendous systems of energy” that “originated in the Big Bang and are still rolling through the universe.”
Surfing is an attempt to extend the life of each wave before the thunder and foam roars. At the end of a wave, surfers simply paddle out and ride into the next wave. If this endless act of inspiration, destruction, and rebirth isn’t spiritual, I don’t know what is.
faith in flow
in Surfer’s secret of happinesslate Ellis Avery follows a surfer on Australia’s Bondi Beach while dealing with a series of health issues. Avery notes that the amount of time surfers are actually on the wave is “…a fraction of the time they spend riding the wave…Even really good surfers spend more time off the board than on it.” I noticed that it was much longer.
Waiting for the waves teaches us patience and perseverance. Taylor also cites the idea that most of his time in the water is spent paddling, with “human civilization behind us and Mother Nature right in front of us.”
Recently I was in a long glassy right pocket when a random boil of chop threw me head over heels. You can’t predict what one wave will do. When venturing into the aquatic wilderness, surfers must dive deep, relax and cede control to the ocean.
fellowship of fear
When unexplainable and frightening events occur, many people turn to prayer for comfort. Fear is also an important element of surfing. For example, big wave surfers harness the power of panic and use it like gasoline to accomplish feats of soaring.
Even when the waves are small, rays, sharks and rough waves lurk within each set, forcing surfers to balance their fear of unexpected threats. This requires an open and receptive mindset, similar to being attuned to some kind of higher power.
Interaction with cetaceans
When a pod of dolphins appears, a hungry pelican swoops in, or the sun dips into the horizon like a blaze of orange, we are faced with our own insignificance. Immersing yourself in nature brings us back to our origins. People who roamed the earth thousands of years before us, creatures who ducked under the gates just like us.
Calling surfing a “form of nature spirituality,” Taylor said surfers’ constant exposure to the ocean’s alien landscapes and marine mammals forces them to think deeply about their role in the world. talk. Surfer says, “…These creatures have their own intelligence, way of life, curiosity, playfulness; They have their own intelligence, way of life, curiosity, playfulness, that can make you think metaphysically : Where do these waves come from and how do they fit in with the energy of the universe?”
A moment in my early twenties is still etched in my memory. I spent hours bodysurfing alone at sunset on the empty beach where I grew up. Later, as we tread water, we watched years of memories unfold on the beach, as if tuned into an invisible movie screen. Beneath the bright glow of the emerging stars, I felt completely unrelated and yet endlessly connected to everything.
holy exaggeration
This may all seem more exaggerated and dramatic than it really is. WSL score battle. Sometimes conflicts plague crowded lineups, egos explode, and as surfers spirituality becomes the furthest thing from our minds.
But there is a noble connection between mysticism and breaking through waves, between creating a spiritual core and cutting through pathology…at least in my humble assessment.
