Surfing

Saltwater Buddha: A Surfer’s Quest to Find Zen on the Sea - a Surfing Book Review

Budhism. I don’t even know how to spell it, let alone know what Buddhism means.

Doesn’t matter. I learned about my own path to enlightenment and sageness by reading Jaimal Yogis’ new book, Saltwater Buddha: A Surfer’s Quest to Find Zen on the Sea.

Now, we know our fellow surfers and literary cognoscenti are accustomed to seeing photos of Hot Surfing Chicks, insightful commentary and interviews with Kelly Slater here at DailyStoke.com. You’ll also know we read every new book that drifts in that is remotely related to surfing.

So before you stop reading, Saltwater Buddha is an exploration of the author’s baptismal as a surfer. It’s about his connection with the ocean, learned at an early age when his air force dad was stationed on a Portuguese island; a connection nearly extinguished while he lived in Sacramento (God bless him); a connection found again when Yogis ran away from home at the age of sixteen. To Hawaii. On a spiritual journey. To find enlightenment. To learn how to surf.

A self-described skinny, white, non-surfing Californian, Yogis drops into a local surfboard shack in Hawaii, and buys a shortboard intent on reconnecting with the waves. “‘I want something I can really whip around,’” I told the shop-owner,” Yogis writes. Of course, as any surfer knows, a shortboard is a particularly unforgiving ride to learn on. And Hawaii often presents unforgiving beasts for waves. Near starvation, mayhem, cuts and bruises (physical and emotional) ensue and presto - you’re caught in this rip current also known as Jaimal Yogis’ journey from boy to man, from kook to competent surfer.

It makes for a great read. (Truth be told, I wasn’t sure I’d like Saltwater Buddha. I’m just not in to spirituality, or so I thought. Turns out I read it in two sittings. As will you.)

In one passage, Jaimal describes his first real encounter with localism/anti-stokealism, albeit after having passed through Kookville and becoming a competent - even good - surfer. Our voyager shows up at Steamer Lane (You know…”You’re not a local unless you’ve lived seven years in Santa Cruz blah blah vomit blah”) a secret spot in California. He describes how he dropped in on some guy and total nastiness ensues. It’s a scene most surfers will have either “enjoyed” themselves or witnessed. (It’s typically  an older guy with a mortgage picking on a grom.) Jaimal vividly explores that burning feeling of negativity that every surfer has felt - and more importantly -  how to combat it. If only the entire surfing world could read this passage. But for copyright infringement, I would post that chapter here as one of the Rules of Surfing or something like that. As Laird Hamilton said in a recent interview with DailyStoke.com: “People acting out in the water are usually bringing their trash from land.”

Reminiscent of both Steven Kotler’s West of Jesus and Tim Kevan’s Why Lawyers Should Surf, Saltwater Buddha is definitely a book to buy if you’re looking for something that’s out of the ordinary, will make you reflect about your own life, your motivations, your journey, and with a healthy dose of great surfing stories.

I’m not striving for the ideal surfer’s paradise anymore, or the perfect life without obstacles. It doesn’t exist. Not that I don’t have preferences or dreams anymore. But it seems like the idea of paradise is just on the horizon, always, while life is here, under my feet, now. Might as well enjoy it, learn to appreciate the good waves, the paddling, the ferocious storms, and the mundane moments—the quiet lulls between swells.

Saltwater Buddha is also a good read for flat days, and not because it’s something to read when you’ve got nothing else to do. No, as the excerpt here summarizes, Saltwater Buddha will help you appreciate all the days in your life - even the ones where you’d rather be surfing.

Officially out May 1, 2009, you can pick up a copy of Saltwater Buddha on Amazon.com, here.

Related Posts

• Surf Nation by Alex Wade - Surfing Book Review