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Walking on Water: The Spirituality of the World's Top Surfers by Jeremy V. Jones
Book Summary InformationAuthor: Jeremy V. Jones Edition: Paperback Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published) Published: 2006-09-05 ISBN: 0830742859 Number of pages: 172 Publisher: Regal
Book Reviews of Walking on Water: The Spirituality of the World's Top SurfersBook Review: Know Thyself Summary: 5 Stars
A lot of people still have this old notion that surfers are synonomous with bums; they have no real ambition but to be in the water and surf all day but what most people don't seem to understand is that the ocean is about transformation/baptism/renewal and riding waves is equivalent to resurrection/transcendence/empowerment.
I am not a board surfer, but I do body surf, and whereas I have tried board surfing (and failed miserably) body surfing still gives me that rush that surfers call "being stoked". Being stoked is a high, an enthusiasm, an energy where you are called from the depths of your soul to get back into the "womb of creation". Most surfers are incredibly humble people. They actually will laugh if you tell them that they're going to "tame the wild sea"...you can't tame the ocean, all you can do is humble yourself enough to respect its magnificence. There have been a few times where I've been caught in a riptide and the worst thing you can ever do is try to fight your way out, you literally have to surrender yourself to this power and only when you have completely surrendered to the power, you will be restored to the state of flow.
Tell me that's not a spiritual experience.
This book will give you a glimpse into the psyche/the soul of surfers and even if you don't surf, you just may find yourself relating to their experiences. Y'see, I see God, the Living Spirit as an all encompassing ocean of energy, and the waves that rise up in the ocean are God's Holy Manifestations. The wave can never be separate from the ocean just as creation can never be separate from the Creator. In other words, we are the Spirit of God manifesting Itself as who and what we are right here and right now.
Surfers must be passionate and yet grounded and centered at the same time. When a huge wave comes, you don't have time to be thinking about yesterday or tomorrow, you must become 110% present in the moment. This repetition of being in the moment...being in the moment...being in the moment is the ultimate in meditation. I've skydived, too, same principle. You must become aware of what is in front of you and when we are totally present with that which is, one cannot help but feel an incredible sense of joy for life. All fear is imagined...all doubt is of the past or of the future...there is no fear in the moment, all there is, is Love. Not sentimental Love, not Romantic Love, but Regenerative, Restorative Love...you can also read that as 'Grace'...
Grace keeps us getting back up and trying again and if there is one thing I admire about surfers is their tenacity and their determination to not let anything weigh them down. That girl that got her arm ripped off by a shark...guess what...she's surfing again. I even saw a guy who was paralyzed from the waist down, get back in the water with the help of his friends'.
All I can say is that this book is long overdue. It paints a beautiful picture of the athlete and makes me respect and appreciate them all the more. When I watch ESPN and I see Laird Hamilton riding an 80' wave, I don't think he's nuts, I think to myself, there is a man who knows exactly who he is and what he is about. That's God Realization...that Self Realization and isn't that the real quest to all of life, to know thyself?
Lose yourself in the ocean of Life and you will find your-SELF in the sea of Everpresent Love.
Peace and Blessings, everyone...
Summary of Walking on Water: The Spirituality of the World's Top SurfersSurfing is spiritual. Ask most wave riders and they?ll describe some sense of deeper connection with the water, the waves or the power around them. Surfing to them is a spiritual experience. In a subculture that?s traditionally known for its rebellion, here you?ll find a deep undercurrent of faith amongst these top wave riders who share an understanding that the Creator of the waves also desires to know and relate with them. In these pages, you?ll meet top surfers such as C.J. Hobgood, who rose to the top of the surf world but found it ultimately dissatisfying; Bethany Hamilton, a courageous teen who survived a shark attack and returned to the sport; surf legend Tom Curren, a middle-aged father of four whose comeback of sorts is the talk of the surf world; and Al Merrick, a remarkable surfboard shaper who crafts the vehicles ridden by surf stars. Discover what makes these celebrities and others believe that surfing is meaningless without a deep satisfying faith in something more.
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