Is Surfing Good for the Soul?

[mahak 0]

 

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sing the highwayman to that, eh

[mahak 0]

Are always found at obscure places. Best waves are the ones no one believes you caught, because you were there alone.

 

Now, maybe Babhru can confirm this possibility, but I was alone at a very obscure and hard to get to spot on the Isle of Big, not a known surfer place. Waipio (co-incidently, the feast location of a wonderful rathayatra I attended with Babhru) is north shore of big, and is a very narrow place for the usual giants, although the great tsunami of 1946 did wash to the end of the valley. But I walked the steep road at 5 a.m. one morning with nothing but my churchhill fins. When the sun finally rose, a rogue set was hitting the pristine, awesome beach that everyone must see4 before they die.

 

I swum out, I hated diving under big waves, but there was a break, and I had noted where the bigguns were forming. I waited, let a few go, then I started swimming as the hump grew. I dropped, and as I had a little piece of plywood with finger straps, as big as a catchers clove, I pushed the bottom of the wave. I came back up, deeply tubed, expecting to die, then I popped out. Sat on the beach for an hour, thinking about Lord Yamaraja and what kind of waves he rides with his diamond noose and all, then I walked back up the hill, hitchhiked back to OOkala, and got initiated that afternoon in 1974 in a fire sacrifice performed by Subala Swami. It was a good day.

 

Hare Krsna, ys, mahaksadasa

[mahak 0]

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR><TD align=left>australia has good waves, too!!!

 

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[stonehearted 0]

Whoa! That's a cartoon-perfect left! Even though it looks pretty cold, I'm there.

 

Yep-it's no secret that Oz has plenty really great waves.

[stonehearted 0]

 

 

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I'll watch, thanks. The first time I saw a pic of those monster Teahupoo waves, I had to sit down. I saw it on the cover of a magazine, and standing right there in Long's Drug Store, I exclaimed out loud, "What the hell is that?" I picked up the mag, looked through the pix in the story shaking my head, and marvelled at Laird's moxie.

[Murali_Mohan_das 0]

Prabhus, what is the role of competition in surfing?

 

Do you think that competition is healthy, or does it ruin the purity of the sport?

[Guruvani 0]

 

Prabhus, what is the role of competition in surfing?

 

Do you think that competition is healthy, or does it ruin the purity of the sport?

 

well, for devotees they probably shouldn' t surf competitively unless it is their source of livelyhood.

 

Otherwise, devotees should practice mantra-surfing and try to remember to chant Hare Krishna while they are bathing in the ocean.

 

If we remember Krishna while we are bathing in the ocean then that should be a good thing.

 

Nature and natural wonders should remind us of the beauty of Krishna.

 

After all, Krishna liked to paint Dolphins on the breasts of Radharani, so dolphins and natures beautiful creatures also capture the mind of Lord Krishna.

 

I figure if Krishna is painting dolphins on the breasts of Radharani that the oceans and rivers are also very special to the Lord.

Especially, the Lord is fond of the Yamuna that in the spiritual world is surely one of the most wonderful natural wonders of Vrindavan with dolphins, a sandy beach and probably some really cool waves.

 

Water sports are definitely a part of Krishna's most favorite pastimes.

 

I imagine that the Yamuna in the spiritual Vrindavan is an unlimited river that is almost like an ocean of nectar.

 

Friends, the best surfing is still waiting............. in Vrindavan!

[mahak 0]

hey, haribol, murali-mohan (I cant call you murali anymore because muralidhar surfs, too).

 

Its funny, the cartoon movie I saw last night, "Surf's Up", deals with the issue of competition. I dealt with it extensively in my novel, Kipu'ka, as well, which I posted an excerpt just last week. Ill bring it up if you missed it.

 

The competition is a commercial venture, and not unlike music, once the money is there, there goes the art. There is art, and there is commerce, and, IMHO, they are not compatible.

 

I like the art of surfing, but I like the cheers from the rocks as well. Awesome rides deserve applause, as does a well played original and heartfelt song.

 

See surfs up, bring an eight year old. Haribol, ys, mahaksadasas

[stonehearted 0]

I've never liked competition in surfing. It reduces it to a business, discourages risk-taking, encourages madated moves for scoring points. If I came across a contest on TV, I would probably not watch, even if it were the Eddie or the Pipeline.

 

Good surf movie I saw once: Can't Step Twice on the Same Piece of Water. It's Aussie, I think, and it had great footage.

[muralidhar_das 0]

 

Prabhus, what is the role of competition in surfing?

 

Do you think that competition is healthy, or does it ruin the purity of the sport?

Surf culture always had an element of competitiveness about it, in the land that I grew up in. Competition for waves, and for babes.

 

This for me was the reason I gave up surf-association. Many ex-surfer devotees I know feel the same way.

 

The Duke started off Australian surfing when he came here with a Hawaiian board, in 1915.

 

 

He did a demonstration of surfing at Freshwater beach, which is the next beach north of Manly, in the "northern beaches" area of Sydney.

[Guest guest]

from kipu'ka:

 

....

 

 

The Rambler stopped at the Honolua Bay cove while 15 foot waves blew down from the point. Martin, using the child's surfboard, gulped, yet paddled out, bootless. Only five locals were good enough to be at the outside break and they did not appreciate the intrusion by the one-footed haole. One of them paddled over to Martin to tell him he did not belong and was going to spend the day being their target.

 

The locals were being more practical than rude, as inexperianced tourists were dangerous to the point of fatal injury in such waves. But they soon noticed that he was with a noble Hawaiian sistah, so they backed off a bit. Martin found the third wave of a clean-up set, at least 18 feet. All five other surfers, taking the previous waves, were way inside waiting for a lull to paddle out in. They all watched Martin drop into a critical section of wave as if they expected him to die. Martin dropped to the bottom, spun around and rose back up the face of the wave as the crest was about to explode. He found a pocket, shifted his weight and held on as the wave completely swallowed him. 15 full seconds later, he reappeared on the shoulder of the wave to the hoots and happy hollers of the surfers, 10 people on the beach, two professional photographers, and an appreciative and thoroughly impressed Anoina. His biggest wave previous to this bomb was only a 12 footer at Santa Cruz the previous winter, two weeks before he moved to Maui. His heart was pumping much too fast to go back out, so he crawled out of the briny whitewater.

 

..

 

All I do is tell the stories now, but I still dream of being swallowed by the agents of Varunadeva.

 

I didnt quit because of the babes. In fact, in tribute to the classic surfer girl, I had many such friends. Illicit sex never was part of my world with these folks, in fact, I was a roommate of two of the most goddesswlike surf babes ever. When I last saw diane, I gave her a decopauge of Sri Sri Sita Rama, and this was our sharing of loving relationship. Same with fran, mexican rosie, sivadasi and all the babes I knew. vEGETARIANS, Pious, if only the other women would follow suit. Later when I became a brahmacari (see surf story below), the babes did not stop, as Srila Prabhupadas daughters did not lack in any of the six opulences, including the renunciation.

 

I went to temples for years, but only when I met surfer de4votees did I decide to commit. So I went to hawaii to see how the devotees were there. We had a shack on the north shore, next door to a guy named bruce, who owned the quonset hut on rocky point. I would trek to honolulu temple for sunday feasts and samkirtana with the nice devotees there under the guidance of goursundara and govinda dasi, but we would also have nightly kirtanas at rocky point. Goursundara wanted to facilitate our attempts, so one day, a knock on my door, and there was Siddhaswarupananda and the famous aussie surfer, ted spencer, and they wanted to borrow a pair of swimming trunks, and I ever so humbly complied. They went out and ripped some awesome waves, then we had a super kirtana at Bruce's (Siddhas brother) house, great class given by Srila Prabhupadas disciple, and that was that. A week later, I was in a small plane with sashi shekara das, goursundara, and tarun Kanti das flying, to kauai, to mo surf at anuhola (hole in the wall). Not to fention the festival of electric kirtana attended by about two hundred (mostly surfer babes).

 

Haribol, ys, mahaksadasa

 

Some fun, eh.

[stonehearted 0]

I guess I was aware of comptetion for babes, but I was aloof from it somehow. I do remember appreciating some of them and thinking how lucky the guys with them were. One that stands out was Frannie Cunningham, Glenn Kaulukukui's girlfriend. She later married Jock Sutherland.

 

And as for competition for waves, yep--a big pain. I'd usually defer to others until they got to know me and my riding. At some places, that's something that never happened, so I would get the waves I could without hassling anyone. Mostly, though, although there'd be a prowling mindset at the lineup, guys in the Islands would give you props if you knew the rules and could ride well. In California, when I was in my late 40s and 50s, I had to work hard for that. But at two spots I was well respected, even as a bodyboarder: the breaks around Pacific Beach and Mission beach were mine. Lifeguard, young bodyboarders, and even a lot of the board surfers let me get the waves I wanted. Also at Big Rock (see the wave I attached above), the locals accepted me as one of them because I could ride, wasn't afraid (but was very respectful) of the big rock inside, and never dropped in on anyone. That spot has a reputation for nasty territoriality, but I never experienced anything but acceptance and respect, from the first time I wen out there.

 

But that competition for waves is the main reason I rarely get out in the water any more. (See my signature.)

[muralidhar_das 0]

 

from kipu'ka:

 

 

I went to temples for years, but only when I met surfer de4votees did I decide to commit. So I went to hawaii to see how the devotees were there. We had a shack on the north shore, next door to a guy named bruce, who owned the quonset hut on rocky point. I would trek to honolulu temple for sunday feasts and samkirtana with the nice devotees there under the guidance of goursundara and govinda dasi, but we would also have nightly kirtanas at rocky point. Goursundara wanted to facilitate our attempts, so one day, a knock on my door, and there was Siddhaswarupananda and the famous aussie surfer, ted spencer, and they wanted to borrow a pair of swimming trunks, and I ever so humbly complied. They went out and ripped some awesome waves, then we had a super kirtana at Bruce's (Siddhas brother) house, great class given by Srila Prabhupadas disciple, and that was that. A week later, I was in a small plane with sashi shekara das, goursundara, and tarun Kanti das flying, to kauai, to mo surf at anuhola (hole in the wall). Not to fention the festival of electric kirtana attended by about two hundred (mostly surfer babes).

 

Haribol, ys, mahaksadasa

 

Some fun, eh.

 

Yes this is how it was for me too, in those days.

 

Nice story also, about Martin. Really nice.