propagating wave front

Freedom to Foam

2011-12-31T11:06:00.000-08:00

Freedom To Foam Opening from www.KORDUROY.tv on Vimeo.

Getting Wet

2011-11-29T10:42:00.001-08:00

I wandered down to local break hoping the crowds would be minimal on Monday with smaller surf. I seem to prefer small surf and less crowded conditions than solid surf with no where to turn.It was nice to get smacked around, see the front of my board and lean blindly back into a turn, paddle to the outside and catch the last wave of the day.

I am the ONE (board)

2011-11-27T18:27:00.000-08:00

Suppose you had to get down to one board, which one would it be? I would try to get around this road block by selling or giving my boards to people I knew who would let me ride them.

To answer the question, it would most likely be a 10.0 In the Pink with removable side bites.

Tudor Flow Model

2011-07-07T18:16:00.000-07:00

These old boards that no one wants, find their way to me so they can ridden in their sunset at Tourmo, may I have a similar end.

Model T

2011-06-21T20:56:00.000-07:00

propagating wave front: 49 frames

2011-06-12T21:11:00.000-07:00

propagating wave front: 49 frames

Foam. Wood. Glass. Resin.

2011-06-12T17:33:00.000-07:00

I prefer the pin tail but the block tail is still amazing.

The surf was choppy, choppy and very choppy, did not care.
The sun was out, the water was clear if only for a brief time.
The chop was ignored by the heavy plow of a log I had the privledge surf today.
The heavy pin tail just kept going like an express train with belly full of coal.
The Summer tried to show it's majesty but the marine layer/wind won today.
The battle is not over, the low pressure up north will not be there forever.

Tudor flow

2011-06-11T17:37:00.000-07:00

Fins

2011-06-06T21:00:00.000-07:00

double ender

2011-06-06T18:40:00.000-07:00

Donald Takayama's Double Ender is on my mind a smooth riding fast board that is a joy to ride. I wish I had 10.0 Double Ender 23 inches wide and 3 1/8 thick with a glassed in fin. With a clear top, redwood stringer and seagreen bottom and rails with black pins and red lams, do not forgget the tail and deck patch. Even an ugly beat up one would do as long a felt the speed as I drop in, and the smooth cut back as I out race the wave.

Yemaya

2011-06-06T11:34:00.000-07:00

“Do not be afraid to visit me in the depths.”

Yemaya is the Yoruban Orisha or Goddess of the living Ocean, considered the Mother of All. She is the source of all the waters, including the rivers of Western Africa, especially the River Ogun. Her name is a contraction of Yey Omo Eja, which means "Mother Whose Children are the Fish". As all life is thought to have begun in the Sea, all life is held to have begun with Yemaya. She is motherly and strongly protective, and cares deeply for all Her children, comforting them and cleansing them of sorrow. She is said to be able to cure infertility in women, and cowrie shells represent Her wealth. She does not easily lose Her temper, but when angered She can be quite destructive and violent, as the Sea in a storm.

Well used

2011-06-06T10:59:00.000-07:00

Some old boards

2011-05-30T15:29:00.000-07:00

High Density Orange Foam - Red Pin Line - And a Tern

2011-05-22T19:16:00.000-07:00

Costa Rica 2011

2011-04-17T19:08:00.000-07:00

Good bye Winter

2011-04-03T16:08:00.001-07:00

crossed up

2011-03-08T17:05:00.001-08:00

CNN: Google award to Khan Academy

2011-03-03T17:23:00.000-08:00

You can not handle the truth

2011-02-17T19:45:00.000-08:00

Linda

2011-02-15T20:09:00.001-08:00

I am the darkness

2011-02-03T11:19:00.001-08:00

Let's go back to Mexico

2011-02-01T08:10:00.000-08:00

it is cold

2010-12-31T08:57:00.001-08:00

drink and grow be done and shrink

2010-12-30T20:13:00.000-08:00

before oil we were not so many
then we drank of the oil,
the blackness from the Sun
earth swollen with it like
a mothers tit full of milk. and we grew to
multiple billions and
we are still not so many
as compared to trillion
billion other Suns
but we all crave the gift
from our Sun and as every drop
is given to entropy we will be
once again become not so many,
a singular billion or less
as that is all she can feed
perhaps are dead will become
that very same oil and we
once again will drink and grow

Cosmic Calendar, we have been surfing for seconds

2010-12-28T16:01:00.001-08:00

The Cosmic Calendar is a scale in which the lifetime of the universe, 15 billion years, is mapped onto a calendrical year; that is to say, the Big Bang took place on a cosmic January 1 at precisely midnight, and today's date and time is December 31 at midnight. On this calendar, the solar system did not appear until September 9, life on Earth arose on September 30, the first dinosaurs appeared on December 25th, the first flowers on December 28th, and the first primates on December 30. The first humans did not arrive until around 10:30 p.m. on New Year's Eve, and all of human history has been recorded in the last minute. The Middle Ages to the present is a little more than one second. On this timescale, an average human life is about 0.15 seconds. The scale was popularized by Carl Sagan in his book The Dragons of Eden and on the television series Cosmos, which he hosted.

The Cosmic Year

Big BangJanuary, 1 - Big Bang
May, 1 - Milky Way Galaxy formed
September, 9 - Solar System formed
September, 14 - Earth formed
September, 25 - Oldest rocks known on Earth

Life birthOctober, 2 - Life on Earth
October, 9 - Oldest fossils
November,1 - Development of sex
November, 12 - Oldest fossil of plants using Photosynthesis
November, 15 - Eukaryotes flourish
December, 1 - Oxygen atmosphere begins to develop
December, 17 - Invertebrates flourish
December, 18 - First oceanic plankton
December, 19 - Fish and Vertebrates appear
December, 20 - Vascular plants appear. Plants begin colonization of land
December, 21 - Insects appear, animals begin colonization of land

Giants dominations
December, 22 - Amphibians and Winged insects appear
December, 23 - Trees and Reptiles appear
December, 24 - Dinosaurs appear and dominate for over 160 million years
December, 26 - First mammals
December, 27 - First birds, first Flowers

Global extinction
December, 28 - K-T mass extinction, many forms of life perished, including dinosaurs

Primate domination
December, 29 - First primates
December, 30 - Early brain evolution of primates, first hominids
December, 31 Time 13.30.00 - Ancestors of apes and men
December, 31 Time 22.30.00 - First humans
December, 31 Time 23.00.00 - Use of stone tools
December, 31 Time 23.46.00 - Domestication of fire
December, 31 Time 23.56.00 - Most recent glacial period
December, 31 Time 23.59.00 - Rupestral painting in Europe
December, 31 Time 23.59.20 - Agriculture
December, 31 Time 23.59.35 - Neolithic civilization

History begins
December, 31 Time 23.59.50: End of prehistory and beginning of history, Dynasties in Sumer, Ebla and Egypt, Astronomy
December, 31 Time 23.59.51: Alphabet, Akkadian Empire, Wheel is invented
December, 31 Time 23.59.52: Hammurabic legal codes in Babylon, Middle Kingdom in Egypt
December, 31 Time 23.59.53: Bronze metallurgy, Mycenaean culture, Trojan War, Olmec culture
December, 31 Time 23.59.54: Iron metallurgy, Assyrian Empire, Kingdom of Israel, Founding of Carthage, Nigras

Emperors and gods
December, 31 Time 23.59.55: Birth of Buddha and Confucius, Ch'in Dynasty China, Periclean Athens, Asokan Indian empire, Indian Veda holy scriptures are completed
December, 31 Time 23.59.56: Euclidean geometry, Archimedean physics, Ptolemaic astronomy, Greek Olympic games, Roman Empire, Birth of Christ
December, 31 Time 23.59.57: Birth of Muhammad, Zero and decimals invented in Indian arithmetic, Rome falls, Moslem conquests
December, 31 Time 23.59.58: Mayan civilization, Sung Dynasty China, Byzantine empire, Mongol invasion, Crusades.

Voyages of discovery
December, 31 Time 23.59.59: Voyages of discovery from Europe and from Ming Dynasty China, Columbus lands in America, Renaissance in Europe

The current second
December, 31 Time 24.00.00: Beginning of modern culture, surfing, science and technology development, French revolution, World War I, World War II, Apollo lands on the moon, Spacecraft planetary exploration, Search for extraterrestrial intelligence

rain

2010-12-22T18:07:00.001-08:00

goawayrain

Lost in space

2010-12-22T17:31:00.000-08:00

lost in space
in space lost
space lost in

lost in space
lost space in
in lost space
in space lost
space in lost
space lost in

lost in space
in lost space
space lost in
lost space in
space in lost
in space lost

must be the rain

was here slopolk

2010-12-22T17:16:00.001-08:00

Henley

2010-12-22T15:12:00.001-08:00

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate;
I am the captain of my soul.

Tagore

2010-12-18T11:24:00.000-08:00

"I slept and dreamt that life was Joy.
I woke and saw that life was Duty.
I acted and behold, Duty was Joy"

just what I did not know I needed 7'2 Glass Slipper

2010-12-11T20:29:00.000-08:00

Once again

2010-12-07T20:51:00.001-08:00

Once again our focus is pulled to the coming swell.

Our first life awoken by possibilities of falling into a momentary freedom.

Today's windless skies with a big negative tide brought a small taste of what we crave.

Cold crisps lines that break and carry us towards land.

Smells, sounds, long and short, colorful and plain tools all come together to play this game.

Tip to tail, drawing fleeting lines in liquid all witness by a sinking orange fiery sphere that supplied the perturbation for the game we need to play.

We had a little bump today

2010-11-29T21:40:00.000-08:00

Cold, crisp, inviting, anticipation, grateful, welcome back to planet water.

Green light becomes after shooting through that moving wall that folds.

Removed from the life endangering traffic and florescent bulbs, lost for a moment flying with harmonic motion.

We had a little bump today.

Kool G Rap & Dj Polo - Butcher Shop

2010-11-18T18:54:00.000-08:00

A Tribe Called Quest-Clap Your Hands

2010-11-18T18:53:00.000-08:00

Ultramagnetic Mcs - Ego Trippin(Original 12'' Version)

2010-11-18T18:52:00.000-08:00

Very Short Board

2010-11-16T20:07:00.000-08:00

Days Of Our O'Side

2010-11-16T08:35:00.001-08:00

Days Of Our O'Side from BirdManTV on Vimeo.

small left wave

2010-11-14T19:17:00.001-08:00

small wave

2010-11-14T17:56:00.001-08:00

small waves

2010-11-14T17:48:00.001-08:00

kick out

2010-11-14T17:40:00.001-08:00

d'egg

2010-11-14T17:25:00.000-08:00

Today

2010-11-13T16:14:00.000-08:00

Today

Tiger is not going to win in Australia

Surf was not too good

I discovered Nicole Grace and that faith is more positve than hope

It was warm like a summer day

The newbie SUP people had a meeting

Myanmar finally did the right thing

I rode a 10.0 Model T but the Frye crew were all on something longer

I still have not done those dishes

I did not want to leave the beach

Ordered baked and got fried

Was a good day

it is my fault

2010-11-10T18:15:00.000-08:00

I have been surfing a few years and most times when I leave the water I am a little high, like I smoked some of the Sea-weed but other times I do not feel so high. And I like being high.

There is a lot of rage, and selfish jocking for that precious wave of the day, the "drop in rate" is soaring in my neck of the woods.

Fighting others to get on that wave so I can feel the high does not seem to be working for me.

Please go ahead and get on my wave, I will let you know if you are getting to close. If you do not want to me surf on your peak, that is fine I will be glad to surf another peak.

Hey, as far as I am concern there is infinite amount waves and finite amount of people so the percentages are on my side.

If I am closer to the peak and on the outside and you turn around and look right at me and go anyways, I am sorry ahead of time for being on "your" wave. And I am sorry you did not learn to share and about all that anger your spewing because I was on "your" wave.

I will concentrate on understanding the ocean better and learning how to see the waves coming and leave all that rage and anger alone.

My hands will be pretty full understanding those complicated propagating wavefronts moving toward that shock and if we happen to have a problem in the water, it is my fault-- now can we get back my joy the Sun is not going stay up forever.

Duane DeSoto Longboard World Champion

2010-11-06T14:31:00.000-07:00

one last wave for Irons

2010-11-02T19:37:00.000-07:00

Vintage BING 60,s LONGBOARD MODEL TAKAYAMA - $350 (HUNTINGTON BEACH)

2010-11-01T19:41:00.001-07:00

Vintage BING 60,s LONGBOARD MODEL TAKAYAMA - $350 (HUNTINGTON BEACH)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Vintage BING 60,s LONGBOARD MODEL TAKAYAMA FOR REPAIR THE FINS . \/ NO EAMAILS PLEASE CALL CARLOS 714 818 26 01

Fin

2010-10-16T13:51:00.000-07:00

This fin keeps were I need to be

2010-10-14T23:17:00.000-07:00

Kenneesha Jackson asked me to marry her above Waimea Bay and I said YES!

I Finally Got Skip Frye to Make Me a Surfboard

2010-10-14T23:09:00.000-07:00

I Finally Got Skip Frye to Make Me a Surfboard

K

2010-09-21T21:27:00.001-07:00

Flat

2010-09-11T21:19:00.000-07:00

J.T.

2010-09-10T08:07:00.001-07:00

Summer in San Diego

2010-08-29T10:28:00.000-07:00

2010-08-28T16:59:00.000-07:00

http://wonderlandsd.com/

Short Stories - DARK SIDE OF THE LENS

2010-08-28T14:04:00.000-07:00

I am doing swell

2010-08-27T09:38:00.000-07:00

The swell did not hit South San Diego as well as we would of like but surfing for the last few days was enjoyable and the waves were at least rideable. I mostly did the dawn patorl thing getting in the wat eaarly very with the moon still high in the sky provided in direct sun light.

This morning was more inconsistent, smaller and no brilliant sunrise like the last few days but I will take this gray time with out complaint.

I am hoping we get some building of the swell later, I will be checking it out.

In the last couple days I rode everything from my 6'8 Phat Fish to my 9'10 Red Fin all a different trip all enjoyable. The 9"6' NR2 is still kind of my favorite, it is not to long, not to heavy and seems to suit a variety of conditions.

What to do for the weekend?

Surf Science

2010-08-24T14:23:00.001-07:00

It is all about me and d'cat

2010-08-23T18:46:00.000-07:00

Not so litte Egg - not part of the recall

2010-08-23T12:04:00.000-07:00

Hang 10, Dude

2010-08-23T09:38:00.001-07:00

Kids!

2010-08-23T09:27:00.000-07:00

MR

2010-08-23T08:44:00.001-07:00

Calm

2010-08-20T22:10:00.000-07:00

DH

2010-08-20T22:08:00.000-07:00

quiver

2010-08-20T22:05:00.000-07:00

quiver

2010-08-20T22:01:00.000-07:00

Tak/Tudor Lam

2010-08-20T21:43:00.000-07:00

Square Tail Pig

2010-08-20T21:35:00.000-07:00

flat beauty

2010-08-20T21:34:00.000-07:00

fins

2010-08-20T21:32:00.000-07:00

Yuck

2010-08-20T21:26:00.000-07:00

Cut backs - PB earlier this year

2010-08-20T21:24:00.000-07:00

Kay's none surfers view of Scared Craft

2010-08-17T21:58:00.000-07:00

Scared Craft

2010-08-07T21:36:00.000-07:00

Today I put a pretty tall but raked, not too deep, fin with a good size base length in my 9'8 In the Pink. I had been riding with 10.5 smaller based fin with a "fat" tip which turned nicley but left the board too unstable. The new fin provided lots of stability and the board still turns pretty well. I did not realy have chance to do very hard cut back but I suspect I will not be able cut back as hard with the new with getting tossed.

I will try the "fat" tip fin again when we get a good swell and I am going to try a smaller raked fin to see how that feels. I put a smaller raked fin in my pin tail and I swear it is way faster. Fins really make the same board feel very different.

Accenture - "Surfing Elephant"-Spot

2010-08-07T15:38:00.000-07:00

Collectible Longboards

2010-08-01T14:45:00.000-07:00

Collectible Longboards

IB

2010-07-31T10:37:00.000-07:00

Not So Shortboard

2010-07-24T21:42:00.000-07:00

I sold my 7'6" Hybrid and replaced it with a 7 foot (same) model, Channel Island M-13. I am stil weighing around 195 lbs, perhaps one day I will be lighter and can go with a shorter and thiner not so shortboard. 7' X 20 1/8 X 2 3/4

Cold Flat and Crowded

2010-07-08T08:22:00.000-07:00

I miss Playa La Saladita, which sad because when I was there I miss Kay and San Diego.

Takayama shop closing

2010-07-07T17:33:00.000-07:00

Takayamas shop is closing in Oceanside and some the boards are headed to Surf Indian in PB. That is 6 miles for my VS 30 miles.

http://www.thesurfersproshop.com liquidates

Playa La Saladita, Guerrero, Mexico

2010-06-28T12:35:00.000-07:00

Zihuat

2010-06-27T10:17:00.000-07:00

I am in Mexico.

Saladas20junio10

Forty Five

2010-06-06T13:47:00.000-07:00

I was fortunate to surf today, it has been a few weeks. My lower back has been nagging me and I have been taking an Oracle class so it was a good time to take a break from the sport of kings.

I went on a little staycation with Kay and hung out by the pool at one the local hotels doing nothing for the b-Day. I am Forty-Five now, I am not sure how that happen so fast.

It would be nice to do another Ironman and surf some exotic breaks before I get much older.
My company just announced that it will be sending my job to China, Bulgaria. Costa Rica and India in the next few years, so I am thinking about going back to school to learn some more cool stuff.

It would be nice to get on the road bike again and in the pool but where can I find all this time.

The future is uncertain but I guess I would not have it any other way. 45 is not so bad so far.

Exactly

2010-05-25T14:18:00.001-07:00

class of 2010

2010-05-23T13:20:00.000-07:00

I have been on 3 college campuses in 3 weeks, the graduates seem so young. I wish them luck, patience and more luck.

hmm

2010-05-19T15:07:00.000-07:00

Freedom from self as not to suffer

Quad

2010-05-07T15:08:00.000-07:00

Where is happiness?

2010-05-05T21:05:00.000-07:00

Where is happiness? How can we get there?

We share 50% of our DNA with bananas

2010-04-20T20:08:00.001-07:00

We share 50% of our DNA with banana.

"If we share 50% of our DNA with a banana then we should expect the banana to tap us on the shoulder one day." Statement made by christian speaker at an Earth day event.

Does the bible mention DNA? Nope, well I guess it does not exists.

The problem with Christianity is the Christians.

Complex interactions

2010-04-18T10:33:00.000-07:00

I have not felt like surfing much since I came back from Hawaii. I checked the reports yesterday and 1 to 2 feet was the sad news, which is a perfect reason for staying home and doing some chores.

Instead I pulled out a 10 foot aircraft carrier and headed to the local break on what was a very gray gray day. The break was of course very crowded, I should have stayed home and watched "Cross Over" one more time.

I parked, got out my truck and preceded to deal with complex social interactions of the parking lot. Answered all the question about where I have been and what kind of board I was riding and what was happening in the water. Each interaction inspiring a triggered memory that gave life to past event once again in the form of a colorful story. I never have any colorful stories.

I eventually paddled out and greeted/waved to all the different personalities I only see here in the constantly moving bowl of liquid we call our meeting place. Everyone is friendly but lets face it, this is a competition for a scarce resource and I want the resource know as the wave to myself know how matter how friendly am to you. If you happen to get the same wave as me and get right behind me so I can cut back so be it, or if you do not look behind you before you stand up right in front of me, oh well, that is just the price I have to pay for surfing this easy ass break.

I decided to catch a few on the inside to see if I still remembered how to surf, that got old after dealing with gutless waves and too many people coming down line who needed to be dodged. I paddle to outside by myself (I am on aircraft carrier), first couple of tries were rollers. I was starting to feel that little bit of panicky feeling - am going to get skunked today.

Not too much longer I caught a 3ft left with a bit punch tried to get all the way to nose and keep the beast in the trim and perform a descent dismount. The dismount was not that nice but the at least I was not going to get completely skunked today.

I can go on but in the end I slowly felt like my old self, got some very nice rides and held my ground on the tip the board in the more critical sections of the waves, drop knee turns has abandoned me (may have never known it) and few hours later with shoulders glowing with a little ache and feeling a little dehydrated I kneed one in and headed for more complex integrations in the parking lot. I love the not so simple act of trying to ride a wave properly on a log and spending a little bit time near the nose of that log.

Short and Sweet 5 MINUTES WITH NOAH SHIMABUKURO

2010-04-14T09:50:00.000-07:00

Nice Pics of Noah

Surf Therapy

2010-03-31T18:03:00.000-07:00

The other day I had a nice fight with my gurl and was feeling like a rusty old can with a snarl. After pacing around the house for a bit, I grabbed my pin tail and headed to the beach. Paddled out and cursed the water for being so cold. Paddle into a wave and curse the clueless branny who tried get on the wave with me. Then the wave started doing what it does, I took a few small steps forward and a few small steps back, then a lean to fall into a cut back. Once I turned back into the wave and traveled down the line to a differnet place all my anger and fear were gone and I was once again healthy and light.

Skinny kid

2010-03-29T14:26:00.000-07:00

it's a musical world

2010-03-23T21:26:00.000-07:00

Warmer Days

2010-03-22T21:09:00.000-07:00

It was a very choppy very dark water day, grey and stormy, I am dreaming about warmer days.

Detachment

2010-03-20T15:32:00.000-07:00

One Buddhist feels like he's surfing when he's meditating and meditating when he's surfing.
BY: Jaimal Yogis

Often when I’m meditating, I catch myself fantasizing about surfing. My attention migrates from the breath to gliding on the steep face of a peeling wave. The water is warm. The wave is the color of clear jade. After almost ten years of regular sitting and surfing, I’ve noticed that my surf fantasies have a different quality than other thoughts. I let them pass like any other distractions, but I also notice that visions of waves help me settle into the sit.
The ancient Hawaiian sport of the gods, surfing never developed in India, China, Tibet, or Japan. But I’m convinced that it’s a Buddhist practice—a proper yoga and a great analogy for the mind. After years of hanging out with a lot of Buddhists, a lot of surfers, and some Buddhist surfers, I’ve realized that many meditators are interested in surfing, and vice versa. There’s an intuitive connection between the two activities. For many of you this connection will seem a little too hippy-dippy-1970’s to take seriously. Nevertheless, it’s my experience. I am a Buddhist surfer. And in a world where Buddhist teachings can be pricey and genuine masters as hard to find as cheap sushi, I have let the ocean be my greatest teacher.
I remember listening to a dharma talk about five years ago by one of my favorite teachers, Ajahn Amaro, a witty British monk in the Thai forest tradition who lives in a humble hut in the Mendocino Forest in northern California. He used a surfing metaphor to explain samsara, the endless cycle of birth and death. The Ajahn laughed as he talked about the ridiculousness of surfers. They struggle to paddle through the crashing surf in search of their perfect wave, he said. But when they finally catch one, they get a fleeting rush of adrenaline, get shoved underwater, come up breathless, and then struggle to get back out again for another round. This, he said, is dukkha—suffering. Ajahn Amaro was pointing out that we are addicted to the emotional patterns that continually pound us down. We chase after them for a fleeting rush, but that rush is never quite enough. I agree. But I would like to suggest another Buddhist lesson we can glean from surfing. I believe surfing can teach us to ride samsara, even enjoy it, like a wave, while still seeing through its illusory nature. One of the highest insights in the Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhist traditions is to realize that samsara is, in fact, nirvana: that there is no need to escape because everything is originally pure and perfect. In a small way, surfing has begun to teach me this. When I started surfing on the island of Maui at sixteen, I was just beginning to meditate regularly. I was living on the north shore of the island, where the waves are extremely big and powerful. For a beginner, it seemed impossible to paddle through the breakers. I would see a huge, frothy wall charging toward me and my body would tense up. The wave would break on top of me and send me rolling back toward the sand. I felt like a failure, unable even to get out to the point of takeoff. But after a few weeks of daily beatings, I learned the most important principle of surfing: a wave, no matter how large, is still just water. If you understand the wave and how it moves, you don’t have to be afraid of it (or at the very least, you can be less afraid). After all, when you break a wave down to its basic nature, it is just cycling energy moving through water. When the conditions are right, when the water is shallow enough, the wave is born. It breaks. It dies. It becomes the sea again. When I realized this on an experiential level—through learning how to “duck dive” under or through the wave so that its spiraling energy sucks you under and spits you toward the horizon—the waves lost their ability to paralyze me. I began to see through them, and also enjoy riding them.
The same thing happens in meditation with waves of thought. At first our minds are stormy, and the water is choppy and mucky with silt and sand. It’s like jumping into a washing machine. We get thrown around by currents and whitewash with little awareness. The waves are too close together and they all seem very solid, very real. But as we practice regularly, the winds of thought become gentler and the sea gets what surfers call “glassy.” There are still surges of thought, but they are distinguishable, like the sets of waves that surfers patiently wait for because they’re the easiest to anticipate and have the clearest form. Because of the quiet space between them, we can recognize these thoughts as they swell into our consciousness: excitement, pride, planning, anger. We see them coming and can ride them with the stability, balance, and poise of a skilled surfer, or simply let them pass. And the more aware we become, we can even begin to see—while riding—that the wave is impermanent and lacks individuality. It’s the same substance as the ocean, the basic nature.

Continued

The Four Noble Truths - Pleasure is as fleeting as a wave

2010-03-20T14:49:00.000-07:00

The Four Noble Truths

buddhism

The Four Noble Truths comprise the essence of Buddha's teachings, though they leave much left unexplained.

They are the truth of suffering, the truth of the cause of suffering, the truth of the end of suffering, and the truth of the path that leads to the end of suffering.

More simply put, suffering exists; it has a cause; it has an end; and it has a cause to bring about its end.

The notion of suffering is not intended to convey a negative world view, but rather, a pragmatic perspective that deals with the world as it is, and attempts to rectify it.

The concept of pleasure is not denied, but acknowledged as fleeting. Pursuit of pleasure can only continue what is ultimately an unquenchable thirst. The same logic belies an understanding of happiness. In the end, only aging, sickness, and death are certain and unavoidable.

The Four Noble Truths are a contingency plan for dealing with the suffering humanity faces -- suffering of a physical kind, or of a mental nature.

The First Truth identifies the presence of suffering. The Second Truth, on the other hand, seeks to determine the cause of suffering. In Buddhism, desire and ignorance lie at the root of suffering.

By desire, Buddhists refer to craving pleasure, material goods, and immortality, all of which are wants that can never be satisfied. As a result, desiring them can only bring suffering.

Ignorance, in comparison, relates to not seeing the world as it actually is. Without the capacity for mental concentration and insight, Buddhism explains, one's mind is left undeveloped, unable to grasp the true nature of things. Vices, such as greed, envy, hatred and anger, derive from this ignorance.

The Third Noble Truth, the truth of the end of suffering, has dual meaning, suggesting either the end of suffering in this life, on earth, or in the spiritual life, through achieving Nirvana. When one has achieved Nirvana, which is a transcendent state free from suffering and our worldly cycle of birth and rebirth, spiritual enlightenment has been reached.

The Fourth Noble truth charts the method for attaining the end of suffering, known to Buddhists as the Noble Eightfold Path. The steps of the Noble Eightfold Path are Right Understanding, Right Thought, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness and Right Concentration.

Moreover, there are three themes into which the Path is divided: good moral conduct (Understanding, Thought, Speech); meditation and mental development (Action, Livelihood, Effort), and wisdom or insight (Mindfulness and Concentration).

Surfwise

2010-03-14T20:30:00.000-07:00