I’ve seen some magazine articles touting how easy it is to learn the Wing board. I have a different opinion. I’m 72 years old and have decades of experience placing my body on a single surface board. I first started with windsurfing in 1981, kite boarding in 2001, surfing in 2011, windsurf foiling in 2014 and started with wing surfing five years ago. There’s a progression that happens as we become more proficient in any new tool. We first have to be more involved with the head, listening to others, watching videos, learning the step-by-step procedures for better riding. The term “water time” is key to understanding our progression. Today’s turnkey mentality wants rapid success. Yet, there’s a fair amount of time needed before we move from the head to the heart in our riding, and this is certainly dependent on our age. When I see what people are doing with the wing board I am humbled and recognize I am far from expert. I see youngsters who have a small fraction of the water time I have taking it to the limits I’ll never know. Yet, I may have more wisdom in what’s going on and hope to express it to you so that you have an easier time learning. When I first started to wing board I had over 30 years experience using a wing with a snowboard in the winter. The creation of the inflatable wing was a major renovation. The first year they came out there were problems, but today the rigidity and design elements have made them true works of art. Each year, just like designs in windsurf and kite boarding are forever tweaked for easier and better performance, designs in wing boarding continue to evolve at amazing progress. These innovations make it easier to surrender from the head to the heart in our riding. Just like jazz is taking the handcuffs off, fighting for freedom to move from sheet music to freeform, freedom in riding is the same. It takes the empty mind, the ‘don’t know mind’ that can surrender to the next surprise around the corner, to allow the equipment to move into new territory as it’s presented by nature. When we’re moving to the extreme, just past our level of ability, we can’t be thinking about who we are, how good we are, who’s watching us, etc. There’s a place where we move past the “subject versus object“, fully surrendered into the unfolding present moment. This moment is fresh, it’s solid from the confidence from hours, days and years of water time, it’s clear and spacious. This experience is part of our practice in deepening alignment, balance and awareness. It’s why it fits so well with yoga, meditation practices, and music. The intention is to wake up to the illusion of being separate. The intention is to become the water, the wave, the wind, the sun, the clouds…beyond any notion of who I “think“ I am. With this comes a deeper connection to nature, to others sharing the elements on the water or in the song, a deeper sense of belonging. There’s a “great fullness“ in the body. The sense of a wheel out of kilter diminishes. We cultivate that place of “no complaint no complaint“. This feeling good is so powerful and lets us know what we’re here for.  Many would say we do this as an addiction for our own selfish pleasure. For me, it’s an important part of my practice, the practice of breathing in “yes“ and breathing out “thank you”. It’s the practice of finding the gift in the given. It’s the practice of never taking things for granted and doing the hard work of deepening balance and alignment in the midst of most turbulent times. No doubt, we all experience the earthquakes of disease, injury and eventually the shedding of the body. We have the capacity to face these difficult conditions in rhythm, with harmony, and appreciation for the grace given by allowing us to “just be”.

One of my favorite sitting spot is in the forest looking at the sunrise. I can hear the birds, the frogs, the wind and the occasional passing car on the distant road. It’s a process of just putting attention to the breath, returning to the present moment and letting judgment go. No doubt, emotions arise and the work is to allow them and see how they change, forever letting thoughts go as they arise. Sitting with bees takes great awareness since they seem to be able to sense fear. When I was young we had the state’s largest cottonwood tree in our yard. My father’s high school friend was a beekeeper. One afternoon our yard was filled with bees that had been living in that tree without our awareness. We were terrified looking at the prospect of multiple stings. When the beekeeper and his children arrived they told us to relax and allow the bees to land on us. We thought they were crazy. Soon their bodies were covered with bees without incident. They encouraged us to stand with equanimity and allow the bees to be our friends. We, too, were covered with bees without being stung. This seems to be a primary goal in life, to hold equanimity in the face of perceived danger. Some have used the acronym for fear as “false expectations appearing real“. When we lose our balance, reacting from anger or fear, the action usually has collateral damage. Last night my son‘s dog was filled with anxiety from fireworks. He came to me with pleading eyes and barked loudly directly in my ear. Almost instinctively I slapped his head in anger. I felt awful. My wife looked at me and walked away in disgust. I later apologized for my actions, to my wife and to the dog. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if every time we lost equanimity and struck out in defense if we could see the collateral damage immediately? Wouldn’t it also be wonderful if we were like the bees knowing that if we stung we would die too? I believe we would come to better know that the damage we caused others we caused ourselves. There’s no doubt that when we take the life of another our lives are deeply impacted. Whether it’s the altered life of a homeowner who shoots an intruder, the policeman who takes a life of a perceived threat, or the combat soldier who is taking the life of a father, their lives are generally changed forever. The collateral damage is often mental distress, suicide, post traumatic stress syndrome, etc., the list goes on and on. Rarely can someone say I’m so glad I killed that person. I often wonder why the Divine didn’t help us in this matter by giving us one shot like the bee gets. If we knew that any time we shot someone taking their life we would lose ours as well the number of killings on this planet would be tremendously reduced. I suspect we would continue to have those with fundamentalist beliefs willing to sacrifice their lives in the name of their ideology. Whether it be kamikaze pilots, suicide bombers, or young children hoping to be initiated into a violent gang, murders and killings and wars would be radically diminished with the exception of the martyr/hero mind. I suspect we would see less violent murder and glorification of war in our media. I’m sure gun ownership would radically diminish. I suspect those who had guns would take it much more seriously training themselves in awareness to responsible use. Could it be the Japanese understood this with their very strict laws on gun ownership? I recently heard deaths from gun violence in that country were less than 10 a year while the United States has 45,000 deaths a year. When we look at our own personal safety being carried away by fear, by false expectations appearing real, it would seem our best barrier is to stay away from media that promotes fear and anger. It would seem our best defense is to practice awareness and equanimity in the presence of bees. And when mosquitoes arrive to suck the blood from the body it would seem best to apply repellent rather than trying to kill them all. This is what the practice of meditation on a beehive is about. I can only hope that if when we use lethal force it comes from love rather than fear. I can only hope that the police officer responding to a violent situation has a primary intention of establishing peace through skillful means rather than exerting lethal force as the parental authority figure entitled to take another life without consequence. When we can look at the mess it’s created from taking another life we may come to see that we are much like the bee that stings and then dies.

Can you imagine our medical system changing more and more to this strategy? Rather than fighting the cancer cells and challenging it to fight back, perhaps it’s better to educate the cancer cell to realize that when the whole body dies it will die too. Similarly, when humanity recognizes that are fighting each other leads us closer to our species annihilation, whether it be the release of a nuclear weapon, continuation of wars, ignoring of climate change and refugees, the dirtying of our water, or the uncontrolled weaponization and willingness to kill each other, our thought of “us versus them” is an illusion obstructing true healing and wholeness.  The bee is me.

Common sense comes from the senses, not from common belief. When we can listen deeply we can sense the interconnection of all things. We are amazed with the gifts of these bodies, the air, the land, the water and the sunshine. Listening deeply brings us to our knees in humility, to this very gift of life and the nature of impermanence. In the song “Amazing Grace“ the line is ‘I was blind, but now I see’. It’s not talking about thoughts or beliefs, but senses. When we’re willing to hurt another there’s always a belief system behind it. We somehow think we’re right and we’re afraid others will hurt us if they don’t think or believe what we believe. Yet, our healing will come from our pledge of allegiance to not cause harm… to one another, to ourselves, to the community, the other creatures on the planet. When we can see that everything is sacred we have come to that place of acknowledging “common ground“. When we can touch this place of common sense and common ground we have no other choice but to respect each other. And with this bigger belonging, with his common sense, we have the faith to allow a bigger answer… a bigger solution… a collaborative effort that is far better than anything our reasonable minds could come up with by ourselves.

A culture of conformity will try to persuade you to think a certain way. A culture of creativity would encourage your open mind. When you find yourself listening to the same news, to the same echo chamber, to the same thoughts of religion and politics, you find yourself in a culture of conformity and you find a smaller belonging from those who think like you. The culture of creativity would always teach to a deeper question, never to a dogmatic absolute answer. The precision of the universe far exceeds the limitations of our mind. When we understand fully that all we’re doing is trying to build a more accurate map to a territory that is so far beyond our comprehension we can only bow in humility to the mystery of it all. The culture of conformity projects an arrogance, a focus on “thinking it’s right“. The culture of conformity is not capable of laying its thoughts down with the stilled mind in readiness to receive something that is bigger. The indigenous understood this. The mystics understood this. And any who have bowed in humility to “I don’t know land“, to that place without words, to the stillness of the Divine, the only response can be the desire for a culture of creativity. 

This is a culture that realizes that happiness comes from shelter, food, a sense of safety and a certain sense of belonging. But it also recognizes that when we have enough, trying to get more doesn’t make us happier. This is the principal from Sweden called “lagom”, this notion of “just enough”.   From “Lagom: The Swedish Art of Balanced Living”, “According to happiness research, money makes us happy, but only to a degree.  If we’re poor, cash will add to our sense of happiness, but if we’re already well off, more of it won’t make us happier. A ‘lagom’ amount of money is enough; beyond that, our happiness levels depend on other factors.”  This is quite contrary to the American dream model that ‘more is better and bigger is necessary’.

A culture of conformity would try to control you through persuasive speech. Whether it be the marketing of the clothes you wear, the political view you hold, the religion you believe is “the right religion“, the medication that is the right prescription to end your disease, the foods you should eat or the beer or wine you should drink etc. A culture of creativity would have you fully examining what brings you to that place of “ease”. The culture of conformity is a culture of “this is” as dictated by the loudest voice or the most convincing parental authoritarian. The culture of creativity recognizes the value of balance, equanimity, sustained joy and well-being and the training needed to still the craving mind of dissatisfaction.The only thing we need to conform to is our deep intention to not cause harm. Once we can agree on this we can set our thoughts and actions to relieving the suffering of others, to feeding stewardship for the gifts that we have received through the air, land, water, and the beauty of nature and those around us. Once we realize what real “well-being“ is, we find it lives in our center. The center of the body is where we find our grounding and our stability. When we realize this we realize the value in becoming lighter, craving less and hanging on less, to finding that place of ‘just enough’. We become more nimble in our movement, filled with gratitude for what we have. The hungry ghost that’s always asking for more, the mind of dissatisfaction that feeds our disease, begins to settle down. This is the mind of moderation and we stop rewarding craving and excess material accumulation. We start living with greater balance, alignment, less complaint and more joy.

 My ego would have me desire your approval and attention. It wants validation to its separateness. Yet, the greatest of all freedoms is to wake up to the illusion of our separateness. That freedom would be to have a deep awareness to those things, people, thoughts etc. that nourish and feed the soul, the divine light that lives in all things. Waking up to this, I’m more aware of what’s good food and what’s bad food, of what nurtures and nourishes and what is toxic. So I no longer seek people to join me, to approve me, to give me their thoughts that I am right. But I do look for good food. I want to be around people that fit in their motivation to wake up to the sacred in all and their commitment to not fight. When you think you are right, when you are close minded in your belief systems, there is not a fit. Good food for me is being around the curious, the open minded, and the healers devoted to not causing harm.

For me, good food feels good. It feels good from the time it enters the mouth as it travels down to the stomach and as the belly digest it. It provides energy and increased awareness. Good food creates gratitude and a lighter vibration. Just like the food we ingest, good media feels good. It does not aim to cause fear and anger. Yet, it does not shy away from the truth of events. Healthy media aims to steer free from opinions and judgments of those delivering the news. Healthy media is motivated to speak truth, to adjust the facts as new evidence comes in and to do what it can to stay away from the complaining mind. Unfortunately, there is little media that drives us to the “no complaint, no complaint“ mind. With special interest from those who have excessive wealth, there is an agenda to shape minds and thinking through fear with their unbridled greed for more wealth and attention. There is very little media today that fits with my motivation to not fight. Whether it’s radio, TV, social media or the entertainment that is provided to us today, there seems to be little that is highly motivated to demonstrate the skills of nonviolence and a dedication to not fighting. On the contrary, it’s hard to look at any media without seeing the glorification of warriors, fighters, heroes, of those willing to cause harm to others.

If it’s a fit it nourishes and invigorates.  Vitality increases and the well-being meter moves further into positive territory.  Some call it mojo, others mana, lust for life, abundant energy. 

I have found the key to successful living revolves around the capacity to stay flexible, adapting to new evidence and conditions for sustained joy and happiness. This necessarily involves holding an upright posture, balance, with a posture of equanimity. Things can easily turn into a mess with my reactive mind. This is why it’s so important to look, pause, listen more deeply and aim to move with balance. This perspective necessarily puts us in the position of no harm. When we realize every moment is so precious, that nothing’s to be taken for granted, we wake up to the truth that everything fades away, entropy is real and our real work is to forever dig deeper in gratitude for the opportunity to “just be” here and now, making space to find the gift in the given as hard as it may be. This is where the practices of yoga, akido, tai chi and Qi gong all come in. They aim to help us develop better balance and flexibility in the body, the very foundation, the ground zero…in the body not in the head.

Yes, everything does fade away. Yes, we suffer to the extent we attach to keeping things the same. But this does not contradict stewardship and the deepest of desire to take care of things. We move much more carefully and in gratitude for this opportunity to “just be“. We take better care, beginning with the body. We take better care of the family, community, the nation, the global community and the planet. This is the very foundation in moving slower with greater care forever aiming to ease suffering, to not cause harm, and compassionately meet all we encounter with great care, never too busy. One of my grandchildren, before he was two, said he was too busy to go to the park to eat his ice cream cone. When I asked him what “busy“ meant He said, “busy means I don’t care”. This seems to be a good definition whenever we’re using the busy excuse to say we’re too busy to care.

Whether you call it stoic, equanimity or balance, the work of stability through unstable times comes about through a dedicated practice. The essence of the practice is to come into the moment, to look, to pause, to deeply listen and then move with the intention to not cause harm. We seldom have examples in our leadership which demonstrate this since many reach these positions through their powers of persuasion, reactivity and their greed for attention. Yet, when truly lined up with soul time beyond concepts of who we think we are, there’s a capacity to pause and receive grace… to truly see and to hear deeply with the energy that moves forward to healing, no matter what. These practices require stoic discipline that will be able to stand up to the “excusing mind”, the ego mind, that tries to make exceptions to what we know we must do.

In 1972 I was with a Zen teacher, Katagiri Roshi, who was pushing me to some extreme limits of time. He had shown me how to experience expanded sense of time through present minded breathing. One day I came to him with my excusing mind, asking for relief from our rigid schedule. His firm transmission of ‘no excuse, no complaint’ came through my entire being and it’s guided me for the past fifty years of my “practice”. His words were stern and powerful: “Randy….we all have the same twenty-four hours.” Today I have the deepest gratitude for his wisdom and refusal to let me walk away from the “practice”.

Healing is a process. It’s about coming back to wholeness and it’s all about momentum. Don’t become impatient with the speed of healing. Your impatience and complaint will slow the momentum and could possibly reverse the process or shut it down.

The closed mind is the ignoring mind. It ignores new evidence as it comes in and operates under the false illusion that it has all the information. This is the mind of ignorance and we must be very careful when we’re in the face of it. The ignorant will justify their violence upon others and the planet through a belief system that is closed to new information.

Puppy fresh or ship wreck.