Surfing the Wave of What Is
Surfeando la ola de lo que es
This meditation invites you to stop struggling with life as it is and instead learn to move with it, like a surfer dancing with a wave.
Surfing the Wave of What Is
Take a moment to notice everything that is happening.
Nothing is more important than something else of what is happening right now.
Notice the tendency to fixate,
which means highlight,
focus,
zoom in
on a part of what we're experiencing.
Presence is to be free from fixations.
There's no need to fight,
struggle,
push away where we fixate.
It's all about noticing.
Noticing your preferred fixations
Notice where your interest tends to go.
Notice your preferred fixations.
You can recognize them as a repetitive rumination,
what's on the foreground.
It could be a specific sensation in the body,
a kind of discomfort,
a certain interpretation of your life, your current situation.
Something in time,
something in the past,
something in the future.
The deeper longing
Deeply within, we long for something different,
and we believe
that the change has to happen in what we experience,
that we need to change our situation in some form.
But the real true answer to that longing
is a complete shift, a change in how we relate to whatever is happening.
We may experience the fortune and the misfortune
of not being able to satisfy this longing
without this true shift.
Without the deeper shift,
if a more superficial shift satisfies the longing,
then we would probably not be here.
You're probably here because,
at least intuitively,
you sense that what you most deeply want
is closer to you.
The deeper longing.
And if I can land a pointer or a map that works,
I would say the deeper longing
is to fully relate with what is happening,
so that there no longer is something wanting it to be different to what it is.
So that what is experienced is experienced so directly
there isn't a sense of needing it to be some way different, in some other form.
And right now you could possibly see
that any sense that what is happening is not okay,
should be different, could be different,
that is just a thought.
The surfer and the wave
If a surfer was surfing on a wave,
noticed the shape was challenging,
and then thought, "That's an odd shape, that should be different,"
and struggled with the shape of the wave,
the surfer would immediately lose balance and fall.
The surfer surfs, and can surf,
because he does not fight or challenge the shape of the wave.
Because he or she is so immersed
and is taking it all in
without fight,
without resistance,
without friction.
Accepts the wave exactly at the shape that it is,
and the movement exactly in the movement that it has,
and dances with it.
Pure immersion, pure non-resistance.
It doesn't mean he has no preference to stay on the board.
Doesn't mean he doesn't want to go right instead of left,
and chooses so.
Just doesn't fight the shape of the wave and the movement of the wave at any moment.
It is exactly the same with life
It is exactly the same with life.
And when we see the futility,
the absolute impossibleness of wanting the wave to have a different shape,
and wanting this present moment to be different in some way, shape, or form,
and that becomes so absolutely obvious
that it's seen as a cosmic joke,
you could say, "How could I ever have thought
that the present moment, the shape of the wave,
could be in some way different to what it actually is right now?"
That is the beginning of being with the waves.
The beginning of surfing.
And we may know this and experience this.
We do, once in a while, experience that flow.
That knowing can go a lot deeper.
So deep
we can no longer entertain thoughts about things being different,
because it would be like wanting two plus two to be five.
Just the thought of it could be funny or silly,
but never, never going to take you, seduce you.
Devotion, beauty, understanding
Deep spiritual traditions develop paths to that.
Devotion. Truth. Beauty.
To love life so fully, to love the moment so fully,
you can no longer struggle with it, fight with it.
Deepening in faith,
deepening in trust,
surrender: the path of devotion.
To see in marvel and wonder
how incredibly beautiful existence is.
Clean the lenses of improper interpretation.
Notice the awe and beauty, the magic.
Notice it is always there.
The path of beauty, the artist.
Understand: how can this moment be any different to exactly how it is?
How futile to wish it so.
Understand that and see that so deeply.
The sense of a center,
the sense of an I wanting reality to change,
to be different from what it is exactly right now.
That true, deep, non-mental understanding
can make it all collapse.
There isn't one path that is the right path for a person.
They are inseparable, leading to the same:
loving life,
seeing the beauty and the marvel of it,
and understanding, clarity, and deep seeing.
Turning toward the sense of lack
If there is frustration,
relate to the frustration.
If there's a sense of lack,
something missing or not right in you, in life,
don't fight that.
Turn your gaze away from that which you want to be different.
Turn it towards the sense of lack,
the sense of a friction with what is.
Surrender and the creative dance
There is no need for resignation.
What we surrender is the struggle with what is,
and not the struggle with what could be.
By surrendering the struggle with what is,
the struggle with what could be becomes a dance,
a creative joy.
We don't struggle with what is.
We don't struggle with what could be
if things go different to what we want.
The direction of our energy can shift
towards deeper intimacy with what is.
Deepening of holding and being present with
difficult feelings,
uncomfortable intensities,
fears,
pains.
And as we do that, our energy can also tap into deeper desires
that we can follow and surf like the waves.
To take bigger risks,
as the fear of unwanted outcomes diminishes,
as our trust and faith in being able to sit with
and hold the difficult feelings of unwanted outcomes grows.
This is the virtuous loop.
Wisdom. Spiritual maturity.
To cultivate this is the greatest value.