Yesterday I was strolling up the beach towards the surf and I got chatting to an Old Salty (aged & nefarious surf dog) whom I recognise from the local area surfing the waters near my home at Lennox Head.
"Where are you from?" he asked me..
"Oh I live just up there, on Tara Downs" I said, pointing toward the hill behind the beach upon which I live.
I am No-One, I come from NoWhere
"No, not where do you live, where are you FROM?" he pushed the point, seemingly an attempt to categorise me as a new to the area blow-in from somewhere other than where we currently were.
"Oh I explained, I grew up in Sydney, mainly around Manly, although I've lived here for a long time, nearly 25 years now!" I clarified, seeking to establish my poorly maligned local creds...
That softened his inquisition, 25 years seemingly a passable benchmark for local status. Once my creds were established, the conversation kinda meandered from there, he'd had a cancer scare, a skin graft and it was his first surf in a while, we discussed (of course) the current disposition of the waves and the likely impact of a cyclone currently brewing off Fiji...
The conversation ended softly, BUT what I really wanted to tell this guy, the answer that still resonates in my heart;
"I am No-one, I come from Nowhere..."
The whole idea of surf inspired localism truly perplexes me, as a young fella I've always danced around it, the tribal culture attached to much of surf culture felt uncomfortable. I am nomadic by nature, as a surfer and a yogi I have travelled profusely, seeking new waves and experiences. I have been fortunate to explore many foreign coastlines, places where I was most definitely a blow-in, but so often made to feel truly welcome. Curiously the place where I have often felt least welcome is my own home coastline of Eastern Australia, where many seasoned locals actively discourage visitation rights for anyone not originating from their same post-code.
Game of Thrones devotees will appreciate the reference…
In my journey as a yogi, I have steadily cultivated the art of dis-identification, the idea of being qualified by my post-code seems disingenuous at best. Indeed the idea of being qualified by my skin colour, nationality or opinions about politics has become steadily more distant. As my meditation practice has progressed, the inclination to define myself by anything other that my kindness towards others has been gracefully softened.
Indeed as this process has evolved, the idea of "I am No-one, from Nowhere..." has steadily morphed into;
"I am Everyone, from Everywhere."
At the heart of the Vedic tradition is the proposal that we are all part of the one life, one love, the Atman. The exploration of this experience has been at the heart of my meditation practice for many years, steadily loosening my attachments to those things that are ambiguous, focussing connection towards that which is undying.
Neti Neti / Not This, Not This
Adi Shankaracharya was an 8th Century teacher and mystic widely attributed as the modern father of Advaita Vedanta, a school of non-dualist philosophy.
The famous yogi Adi Shankacharya promoted a meditation technique called, Neti Neti. The technique is one of causation through negation, whereby anything that is not the Atman, the Immortal Self, is reviewed and negated, (Neti Neti / Not This, Not This) leaving behind only that which is the True Self. It is a wonderful practice, simple to explore and the results involve a softening of attachment towards our opinions, attitudes and the cultural oddities that so often
The division of humans around tribal patterns is as old as the history of humankind, and since the flower of meditation began to bloom, yogis have seen these cultural identifications as 'vritti' or disturbances of the mind, things that can ultimately seperate us from the ultimate Truth, of which we are all represent an ineligible part .
The proposal is that even though we must still live in the world, we should soften our attachment to our opinions, of who we are, what we believe in, our attachments to being 'right' in an argument. We can still be a member of a 'tribe' albeit a local at surf spot, a member of a sporting team or participate in cultural and religious practices, but perhaps seek to do so in a way that does not define us or limit our sense of identity.
Going Deeper Still...
As we merge more deeply in this experience, the identification of being human begins to soften, again being human is seen more as an apparition, we are so much more that that, we are Atman, pure consciousness, made manifest for this little while, wearing a human body.
When we experience the connect to all of life as this depth, the angst of separation will palpably dissipate, our inclination towards creating division and the resulting friction will fade, the wellbeing of the collective becomes our perennial desire. Make no mistake, the path of love is a blueprint for a revolution, a gentle revolution that takes us closer to the essence of who we are, and brings us into cosmic union with all life forms, with all of life.
