From Hell to Paradise

“The schizophrenic is drowning in the same waters in which the mystic swims with delight.”~ Joseph Campbell

It is extremely difficult for us to imagine how a hellish experience can turn into a paradise… It defies all our rational and logical thinking. However if we consider the skillful surfer, we will notice their excited anticipation of a very huge and threatening wave…while those who are not familiar with the skill of surfing perceive the oncoming waves as a hellish experience, the surfer finds great delight by intuitively flowing with the wave and overcoming its challenge… They go through a flow experience commonly known as “being in the zone”… It is a time of complete concentration on an activity in which they lose the experience of self and sense of time… .. there are many such activities particularly in the field of athletics offering a similar experience of “being in the zone “

More importantly, it is the universal approach in the spiritual experience… Like the surfer when faced with an extremely threatening situation we may find we cannot escape but instead must move to its center in complete surrender… The loss of self through an act of surrender turns out to be nothing more than giving up control and resistance… There is ecstasy in being liberated from the heavy weight of self-­consciousness… and just as the surfer is dependent on their intuitive powers to guide them through a turbulent wave, the liberated person finds the same intuition will lead them through a turbulent life experience.

The surfer must go through a long period of practice before they can become masters of surfing … And this is also true of the liberated person who must go through extensive spiritual practice before they can fully transcend their personal self …. Just as a surfer needs very challenging waves to fully experience their mastery, the liberated person also needs very challenging life experiences to be fully aware of their freedom.