The Spiritual Exercises – Page 3

On April 29, 1994, I went to the Vedanta Temple in Hollywood to visit Swami Swahananda. It was the day of my initiation into the Ramakrishna Order. On that day I demonstrated this training method which I had been doing for a few years. The Swami liked it, showed me some additional applications for it, and gave me his blessings. It is How To Surf, Skateboard, and do Boardsports Without A Board, and is an actual way which I will describe below. It can be done with any board sport, and also in other sports and activities of life. It has many cool applications. This is informational only. Be sure to read the disclaimers below, and don’t try this on your own. Here's How To Do It: So let's use surfing for this example. Use the frame of the human body to set up the equivalent of a scale, or a mini surfboard, by selecting and holding two points on the human frame. One on the left, and one on the right. I will teach you how to find these points later, but to understand this to some degree now, you can select the two sitting bones on which you sit upon the chair, and use these as the two points as you read along. These two points roughly correspond to the contact points of the surfer's two feet on a surfboard. By selecting a point on one side of the body, and one on the other, it essentially forms an old-fashioned scale, or a mini surfboard, and the points held can represent both feet. Resting in the place between the two points corresponds to the surfer resting their center of gravity between their feet on the board. Every moment in life, the world continually presents itself in ever-new sights, sounds, feelings, smells, tastes, etc. While holding these points, the world will continue to present itself in this way. And here is where surfing comes in. We Lean Toward What We Like, And Lean Away From What We Don't Like. Mystic Traditions call it aversion (avoiding) and affinity (liking). This is usually felt as leaning, having your attention drift away, distraction, or some other subtle change that you will usually feel within while holding the points. But by holding the two points, you now have a kind of scale to weigh and measure both the presenting changes as they arrive, and your response to them, and you will be surfing them as if surfing a wave but on a mini surfboard within. You Too Will Feel Unique Internal Responses To Life's Changes. Because you will actually feel those subtle changes while holding those points, you can physically adjust your posture and intention in a most subtle and profound way, to surf those changes and abide as balanced. You will notice that making slight postural shifts will change the feeling at the points, and bring them back into evenness, very much as in surfing. Moving your intention from one point to the other point works in a similar way. If you put your intention on just one of the two points, you will notice that you feel that point more than the other one. So besides slight postural shifts, you can also move your mind and intention as needed to abide in and surf that state of balance and evenness. Similar to surfing, you simply use relaxation to subtly adjust the posture so as to abide in the center, continuing to feel both points evenly, and rest in the place between left and right, in the place between opposites. In this article, I will introduce this training method: How To Surf, Skateboard, and do Boardsports Without A Board, also known as The Preston Flatt Board Sports Method, and its relationship to surfing, skating, board sports, and life. For surfers, it is a way to surf without water, waves, a rope, a leash, or even a car to get to the beach. It is also a great and meditative way to skateboard and do other boardsports without a board. You will see that this can be a great additional form of off-season training for surfers, skaters, and board sports enthusiasts. Note from Swami Swahananda to Preston Flatt April 29, 1994. Vedanta Society Hollywood Temple. In Surf Theory, There Is Something Called Flow, Or The Zone It is the sweet spot, where all things, heaven, and earth all come together in just exactly the right way. The place to look for this is between opposites. It is found in the place that for any application is just right. Not too high, not too low, not too fast, not too slow, not too early, not too late, not too much to the front, not too much to the back, not too much to the left, not too much to the right. Because it is just right, everything is good there. Nothing has to change, and it is enduring. It marks the primal origin, the beginning, and end of all things, that surfers, skaters, and board sports enthusiasts try to achieve. The sweet home that was there before life's opposites arose, and what will remain when all subsides. Few know that it is possible to be established in that place, In the zone, and to access it at will. As the world continually changes around us, basically, we lean toward what we like and lean away from what we don't like. This shows up in the human experience both as leaning, and also as the mind drifting and not remaining on the points evenly. In surfing, the real achievement, and life’s game itself, is to abide as steady despite everything, despite life’s changing circumstances, or anything that the world can throw. With this method, when the mind is distracted away from the two points, that counts as losing balance off of the board. No big deal, just hold the points again in the same comfortable and relaxed way that you would put both feet back on the surfboard, and then just continue modifying your posture and intention in the most subtle ways to surf the changes and keep evenness between the points. When you are wave surfing, the pressure under your feet changes in new ways, directions, energies, forces, as the ocean, and your entire environment change in ever-new combinations beneath your feet and around you. On the wave, if the mind, attention, or balance becomes off track, all you do is just bring it back and continue surfing. It is possible to do this with or without a surfboard. And because you can practice any time and any place, this opens a whole new availability. Every Moment Is A New Experience When you think about it, every moment on earth is unique in that it has never happened exactly like that before. The world changes from one moment to the next. By holding those two points, it's possible to know and get to actually surf the space between opposites, the space between left and right, and feel a similar satisfaction as surfing in the ocean. The mind will tend to become distracted, but one just brings it back. One can bring it back earlier and earlier, subtly adjusting the posture, and literally surfing the place between the points in the most exquisite and refined way so as to continue to feel both points evenly, and in spite of how the world may change. More About Why People Lean We move away from things we don't like, and toward things that we do like. To better understand this, here is how it works. When an ice cream cone shows up, you lean towards it. Similarly, If something undesirable shows up, you lean away from it. It's as simple as that. What you'll experience though, is that it's not just one thing presenting itself at a time. Instead, the infinite combinations arising from normal life all arrive together continually, as they usually do. Sights, sounds, feelings, smells, tastes, thoughts, etc. Changes that have never occurred in that way and in that place ever before, from the beginning of time. Every presentation is unique. Life is ever new, and it is witnessed from the exact place of where you are. That's one of the reasons you exist. To surf life. Surfing Without A Surfboard Is A No Brainer. There is no way you could consciously think through everything in your world, and know what everything is, or how to respond to it. The great thing about doing board sports without a board is that you don't have to figure anything out. You don't have to know what any of it is, or even figure anything out. Just keep the body straight and don't lean, no matter how, when, or where. Use the points you hold as a reference, similar to a mini surfboard or a scale. There Will Be Lots That You Don't Know. You don't have to count or identify all the types of fish beneath the wave before you can surf. Similarly, with this, all you do is hold the two points, use relaxation to abide in the middle, the place between left and right, between front and back, and as life unfolds around you, abide in it, don't lean, and surf. Whether it's sharks, seaweed, or other surfers, they will all show up on the stage of life, and you just keep balanced as you go into, stay balanced, and enjoy witnessing the unfolding of life around you. The world keeps changing, and you keep balanced, comfortable, and fully arrived, no matter what its presentation. You will find that this gives you balance and strength in the midst of a changing world. This practice extends way beyond the wave. As a visual example, discovering this new method of surfing in life is something like this: What if you wanted to see a movie but didn't have a movie screen? There you are with a movie tucked under your arm, but with no place for its particles of light to land. You walk all over the place looking for a screen. Eventually, you finally get one. You have a place at last for the particles or waves of light to land, and for the picture to show. In this example, establishing the screen represents finding the way to hold the points evenly and resting between them in the space between opposites. From that reference point, it is possible to understand life and surf your place in it. Gathering two or more (ie points) together, one can find what is in the midst of them. You Now Have A Scale, Weight, And Measure Within. It is a reference point that can help you enjoy life with all its interests and subtleties, and you can surf its experience in a new resourceful way, and instantly know how and when you are off track. When you hold the points, you have a new reference point from which to process the complexity of life as it presents before you. How it arrives, how it is registering in your body, and you can calibrate and fine-tune your responses to it. And you can feel more fully and completely arrived. With Surfing, The Ride On The Board Ends Too Soon. It takes a lot to paddle out past the waves and get to the lineup. Then as you ride in, the wave ends, and when it does, so does your opportunity to practice. The wave reaches the shore and that's it. You can't just jump right back on another wave. If you paddle back out to the lineup with your skin rash, sore arms, sunburn, and bruised ribs, you may still have to sit there cold and waterlogged while you wait for your turn on the wave. Can you see that there may be a limit on how many times you can do that? That means that it's not easy to practice the principles of surfing as much as you may want. Then, when the chance to ride another wave does arise, it may only offer just seconds to train. That is not enough. It needs to be more than that. Advantages Of Learning To Surf Without A Board. With this method, a person can surf without water, without waves, a rope, a leash, or even having a car to get to the beach. Surfing the zone, in the flow without a surfboard allows much the same satisfaction as surfing, but the wave doesn't run out. With this skill, life becomes interesting. You can surf new combinations of life that have never occurred from the beginning of time. You can practice in so many new places and settings, that boredom is less of a thing. You can welcome and even seek out new experiences as never before, as like new waves, they offer new opportunities to practice steadiness. The place between left and right, between opposites, is always there and doesn't run out. The opportunity to surf the zone is always available. No sunburn, no tired muscles, no bruised ribs. You have the opportunity to enjoy this kind of surfing without interruption whether you are sitting, standing, walking, and in your normal, otherwise boring life. You can enjoy it and can practice it any time you want. Does An Invisible Surfboard Really Work Though? In boardsports, a person can surf various boards and surfaces of many types and sizes. Buses, Airplanes, boats, ships, even the surface of the earth you stand on can all be surfed. You can stand on the city bus without holding on to anything and have a great time surfing it, as it flies down the road, over bumps, and around corners, holding on to nothing, and surfing whatever is presented. (If you haven't done that before, it is way fun, but just keep safe.) You can do that on a smaller scale too. Right down to the smallest sizes imaginable, as long as you know how to establish the equivalent of a mini surfboard within the human frame, and can follow the same principles. This is related to the location of the points that you choose. When you get good at it, it's pretty fun to choose different points to hold, change the points up as a surfer changes their feet on the board, and sample the world in lots of new ways. What Are The Benefits Of Surfing Without A Surfboard? With consistent practice, the benefits of surfing without a surfboard, or with an invisible surfboard can include: Steadiness, relaxation, balance, confidence, reduced shyness, reduced looking away, peace of mind, better posture, gait and appearance, and the ability to establish a kind of universal rapport. I will write more on each of these to explain and show how they work, so please subscribe below. Final Thoughts: Most can't discover enough opportunities to practice or train in the zone, at least, not enough to make the progress that they would want. They run out of wave or get tired too soon, ribs too bruised, too sunburned, with not enough opportunity to practice. They haven't persisted long enough to become established in the flow, and life happens to them so fast, and with such rapid changes that they sometimes, unfortunately, give up and go back to slaving away in their non-surfing lifestyle. Most people experience the zone, but it is a fleeting experience. With the exception of that inescapable zone, the zone that you are always in- the zone of being YOU, most people in their outer life, experience the zone, as fleeting. Their zone experience comes and goes like a flash in the pan. It is that once-in-a-lifetime lucky shot that is skipped across with no control, and no ability to repeat it. They try to hang onto it, reliving past glory. But every moment is new. In its newness, it is still able to be lived in the flow, in the zone. One must know how to do it though. Surfing without a surfboard can be enjoyable. It is a way to find excellence and mastery in life. This training helps surfing and boardsports because you can practice during the off-season too. When You First Start. When you first start out, it is a good idea to start with as few variables as possible, in a peaceful steady environment. Then as time goes on, gradually increase the variables. Eventually, you will have practiced in so many settings and conditions that few things in the world can throw you as they once did. Being able to do this means you have found a way to reconcile the world and its presentations as they continually unfold before you. Those things which in the past, might have had you losing balance. Knowing in this way, the world with its presentations means you know intimately the items presenting themselves in their unfolding before you. That is why this practice is also called the practice of knowledge. Life Will Never Be Boring Again. When a person is in the zone, they experience more efficiency. Time saved, more balance and comfort, less wear and tear, less energy wasted, better relaxation, and more beauty and power in their movements. The Surfer's Cross: It's Mystical Meaning. This may seem unrelated, but it's actually not. Many of you have heard of the surfer's cross. Besides the valued meanings that the cross has always had, the cross can also be thought of as showing the surfer's ideal of being perfectly in the zone. The horizontal arm of the cross can represent the place between too high and too low, and the vertical arm of the cross can represent the place between too far to the right and too far to the left, and/or front and back. The design of the traditional surfer's cross, however, is too large and squared up looking and isn't as good a design to visualize this as a regular cross is. I mentioned in another article that it is possible to use this method to surf the changeless place between opposites while mystically praying the beadless rosary on both hands, and abiding in the center. I have placed the link for that article below. This new way of practice is something that can bring a lot of joy in life. There is such a close connection between the body, mind, and spirit, that sometimes all it takes to be on track is to just keep doing the things you love. Whenever you are in doubt, just keep surfing, skating, and doing board sports. You can know you are doing the right thing. It can bring you joy and help set things right in the world. https://youtu.be/NsRnchnEYeo How To Surf Or Skateboard Without A Board: (The Spiritual Exercises) Explained on video by Preston Flatt To learn more about how I select the points, be sure to subscribe in this box just below to get my notifications and follow my articles: P.S. I'm trying to come up with some cool-looking merch too. If any of you want to look it over, please do. Thanks! Here is the link to that article on How To Use This Surfing Method To Mystically Pray The Rosary With Or Without Beads.